Devier v. Social Security Administration, Commissioner

Plaintiff Jana Devier filed applications for Disability Insurance Benefits and Supplemental Security Income, alleging disability due to various physical and mental impairments. After a hearing, an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) denied her claims, finding that she retained the residual functional capacity to perform her past relevant work as an accounting clerk and other jobs existing in significant numbers in the national economy. Devier sought judicial review in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama, arguing that the ALJ improperly discounted her subjective complaints of pain and failed to accord proper weight to the opinions of her treating physicians. On December 18, 2018, the court issued a memorandum opinion and order.

The district court affirmed the Commissioner's final decision, holding that the ALJ applied the correct legal standards and that the decision was supported by substantial evidence.

Whether the Administrative Law Judge properly evaluated the medical opinion evidence and the plaintiff's subjective symptom testimony, and whether the denial of benefits was supported by substantial evidence.

The case serves as a routine example of federal court deference to an ALJ's credibility determinations and weighing of medical evidence in Social Security disability appeals. It reinforces the substantial evidence standard that makes it difficult for claimants to overturn agency decisions.