Ericksson v. Commissioner of Social Security

How courts have described this case

Verbatim parenthetical descriptions written by other courts when citing this decision. Ranked by citation-network relevance.

• concluding that the district court abused its discretion in finding the government’s position was substantially justified
• holding same as Lamay in case involving termination of benefits
• awarding legal fees when the ALJ had ignored or mischaracterized evidence
• analysis is whether the position can be “justified to a degree that could satisfy a reasonable person” (quoting Pierce, 487 U.S. at 565)
• “[T]he record demonstrates that the first ALJ improperly disregarded or mischarac-terized evidence of Ericksson’s continuing disability, and that the second ALJ awarded Ericksson benefits based, in substantial part, on a proper assessment of this very evidence.”
• the government “bears the burden of showing that [its] position was ‘substantially justified,’ which the Supreme Court has construed to mean ‘justified to a degree that could satisfy a reasonable person.’” (quoting Pierce v. Underwood, 487 U.S. 552, 565 (1988)

Source: CourtListener parenthetical corpus (CC0).