Davis v. Apfel

Argued: May 12, 1998 Appeal from a judgment of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (Shira A. Scheindlin, Judge), granting judgment on the pleadings for the Commissioner of Social Security and denying appellant's claim for disability insurance benefits. Appellant argues that a regulation that revised the definition of a disability due to asthma was not properly noticed and was otherwise arbitrary. In addition, appellant challenges the Administrative Law Judge's determination that he is not disabled, as well as that Judge's reliance on a report authored by an examiner who is now subject to disciplinary proceedings. Affirmed. Mark Davis appeals from Judge Scheindlin's grant of judgment on the pleadings for the Commissioner of Social Security (""Commissioner"") and denial, on the ground that he had not established his asthma was a disability, of Davis's claim for disability insurance benefits. On appeal, Davis restates his arguments to the district court, namely that the proposed regulation that changed the Commissioner's definition of a disability due to asthma was not properly noticed and was otherwise arbitrary, that the Administrative Law Judge's (""ALJ's"") decision erroneously relied on a report authored by a doctor now subject to disciplinary proceedings, and that the ALJ erred, for a number of reasons, when she determined that Davis was not disabled. We affirm for substantially the reasons stated in Judge Scheindlin's opinion, Davis v. Callahan, 96 Civ. 9367 (SAS), 1997 WL 438772 (S.D.N.Y. Aug. 4, 1997).