Barrett v. Berryhill

Barrett applied for disability insurance benefits and supplemental security income based on limitations from bipolar disorder and alcohol addiction. If an administrative law judge (ALJ) had found him disabled, then Barrett would shoulder the burden of showing that his alcoholism was not material to his disability. An ALJ found that he was not disabled, however, even considering his alcohol addiction, and denied him benefits. The district court and Seventh Circuit affirmed, noting that the ALJ determined that Barrett’s impairments, including his alcoholism, taken together were at most moderately limiting, and that he could have sustained full-time employment. That conclusion is supported by substantial evidence: Barrett performed in workplace-like settings tasks such as summarizing depositions and medical records and maintaining attendance records of 100 people. He also sat for the LSAT—though the ALJ emphasized his “above-average” score when it was in fact below average, the fact that he sat for the test and achieved the score he did was consistent with someone capable of working. View "Barrett v. Berryhill" on Justia Law