United States District Court, D. Colorado
ORDER VACATING DECISION OF SOCIAL SECURITY APPEALS
COUNCIL
WILLIAM J. MARTINEZ UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE.
This is
a Social Security benefits appeal brought under 42 U.S.C.
§ 405(g). Plaintiff Ngoc Kim Tran (“Tran”)
challenges the final decision of Defendant, the Social
Security Administration (“Administration”),
denying his application for supplemental security income. The
denial was affirmed by an administrative law judge
(“ALJ”), who ruled that Tran was not disabled
within the meaning of the Social Security Act. The Social
Security Appeals Council then denied review, and this appeal
followed.
For the
reasons set forth below, the Appeals Council's decision
is vacated and this case is remanded to the Administration
for further proceedings consistent with this order.
I.
BACKGROUND
Tran
was born in Vietnam in 1973 and was 37 years old on the
alleged onset date of February 1, 2011. (Administrative
Record (“R.”) [ECF No. 12] at 106.) His highest
level of educational achievement is an associate's
degree. (R. at 65.) In the fifteen years preceding the
alleged onset date, he worked as a plastic products hand
finisher. (R. at 80, 113.)
Tran
applied for disability insurance benefits on December 29,
2014 (R. at 176), and for supplemental security income on
January 23, 2015 (R. at 178). In his own words, he claimed
the following disabilities:
primary severe Mental problem
demand me to do something and see thing is not there
hear thing is not there
cannot concentrate anything
cannot perform any duties
short term memory loss
Isolated myself in the room
cannot handle a noise
it is hard to get a long [sic] with ...