Facts

Sharon Alexander sought judicial review of the Commissioner of Social Security's denial of her application for disability insurance benefits.

PLAINTIFF'S CONTENTIONS: Plaintiff contended the Administrative Law Judge erred in rejecting plaintiff's subjective symptom testimony and failed to properly consider the opinions of her workers' compensation agreed medical examiner.

DEFENDANT'S CONTENTIONS: Defendant contended the ALJ properly rejected plaintiff's subjective symptom testimony and properly rejected the opinions of plaintiff's workers' compensation agreed medical examiner. Defendant claimed the ALJ was not required to discuss every piece of evidence in the record, and plaintiff failed to show any inconsistency between the ALJ's findings and the medical examiner's opinions.

Result

The court reversed the Commissioner's decision and granted plaintiff's request for remand, finding the ALJ did not provide specific, clear and convincing reasoning for discounting plaintiff's subjective symptom testimony. Specifically, the ALJ's only reason articulated was that the testimony was inconsistent with the medical record, but the court held this cannot be the only reason. Further, the court found the ALJ seemingly arbitrarily discounted plaintiff's workers' compensation records entirely without appropriate explanation.