South Carolina District Court Reverses ALJ

May 28, 2015. In this case, on referral from a national Social Security representative group, we successfully argued for the primacy of the treating source evidence, which was uncontradicted in the record (except for a very outdated nonexamining consultant’s assessment). Relatedly, the ALJ had failed to comply with long-standing Fourth Circuit precedent and with 404.1529’s requirements that the evaluation of pain is a two-step process. Finally, the court also agreed that the ALJ’s minimalist mental RFC finding for “simple routine repetitive tasks” did not adequately capture the complexity of the claimant’s mental impairments as described in the SSA consultative examiner’s opinion he purported to give “significant weight” to.