FILED
NOT FOR PUBLICATION JUL 15 2014
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
CHRISTOPHER DEAN, No. 13-35153
Plaintiff - Appellant, D.C. No. 3:11-cv-01283-SI
v.
MEMORANDUM*
COMMISSIONER SOCIAL SECURITY
ADMINISTRATION,
Defendant - Appellee.
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the District of Oregon
Michael H. Simon, District Judge, Presiding
Submitted July 10, 2014**
Portland, Oregon
Before: PREGERSON, PAEZ, and WATFORD, Circuit Judges.
Christopher Dean (“Dean”) appeals the district court’s judgment affirming
the decision of the administrative law judge (“ALJ”) denying his application for
disability benefits. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291, and we affirm.
*
This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by 9th Cir. R. 36-3.
**
The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision
without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2).
The ALJ did not err in finding that Dean’s impairments did not meet or
equal Listing 1.04B. There is no objective medical evidence that Dean’s spinal
arachnoiditis was “manifested by severe burning or painful dysesthesia, resulting
in the need for changes in position or posture more than once every 2 hours.” 20
C.F.R. § 404, Subpart P, Appendix 1, Listing 1.04B. The only evidence of severe
burning or painful dysesthesia resulting in the need for changes in position or
posture more than once every two hours is Dean’s own discredited testimony and
the testimony of his wife, to which the ALJ gave little weight. The ALJ’s
determination is thus supported by substantial evidence. See Orn v. Astrue, 495
F.3d 625, 630 (9th Cir. 2007).
The ALJ did not err in giving little weight to Dean’s wife’s testimony. The
ALJ properly considered Ms. Dean’s testimony, but gave germane reasons that are
supported by substantial evidence for disregarding it. See Nguyen v. Chater, 100
F.3d 1462, 1467 (9th Cir. 1996). Moreover, we will uphold the ALJ’s decision
“[w]here evidence is susceptible to more than one rational interpretation.” Orn,
495 F.3d at 630.
The ALJ’s hypothetical question to the vocational expert included all of
Dean’s medically determinable limitations. See Embrey v. Bowen, 849 F.2d 418,
422 (9th Cir. 1988) (the ALJ must pose a hypothetical question to the vocational
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expert that “set[s] out all the limitations and restrictions of the particular claimant,
including, for example, pain and an inability to lift certain weights”). Dean
contends that the ALJ failed to include in the hypothetical limitations related to
Dean’s plantar fasciitis, his alleged inability to sit or stand for more than a few
minutes at a time, and limitations described by Ms. Dean. The medical evidence
does not support Dean’s contentions, however, and the ALJ properly rejected
Dean’s and Ms. Dean’s subjective testimonies. Because the hypothetical question
“contained all of the limitations that the ALJ found credible and supported by
substantial evidence in the record,” it was proper. Bayliss v. Barnhart, 427 F.3d
1211, 1217 (9th Cir. 2005).
AFFIRMED.
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