Birgit Putz v. Michael Astrue , 454 F. App'x 632 ( 2011 )

FILED
NOT FOR PUBLICATION OCT 24 2011
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS U .S. C O U R T OF APPE ALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
BIRGIT Y. PUTZ, No. 10-36039
Plaintiff - Appellant, D.C. No. 3:08-cv-05290-RBL
v.
MEMORANDUM *
MICHAEL J. ASTRUE,
Defendant - Appellee.
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Western District of Washington
Ronald B. Leighton, District Judge, Presiding
Argued and Submitted October 11, 2011
Seattle, Washington
Before: KOZINSKI, Chief Judge, PAEZ, Circuit Judge, and BURNS, District
Judge.**
Birgit Putz appeals the district court’s denial of her motion for attorney’s
fees and costs pursuant to the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA), 28 U.S.C.
§ 2412. We affirm.
*
This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by 9th Cir. R. 36-3.
**
The Honorable Larry A. Burns, District Judge for the U.S. District
Court for Southern California, sitting by designation.
To be “substantially justified” under the EAJA, 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d)(1)(A),
the government’s position must have a “reasonable basis in law and fact.” Corbin
v. Apfel, 149 F.3d 1051, 1052 (9th Cir. 1998). A position is likely to be
substantially justified if it is taken in the context of a “dispute over which
‘reasonable minds could differ.’” Gonzales v. Free Speech Coal., 408 F. 3d 613,
618 (9th Cir. 2005).
Although a majority of the prior panel reversed the Administrative Law
Judge’s (ALJ) disability ruling and remanded for payment of benefits, the dispute
was one in which reasonable minds did differ: the ALJ, the district judge, and a
dissenting circuit judge were all convinced that Putz was not disabled. See Putz v.
Astrue, 371 F. App’x 801, 802, 805 (9th Cir. 2010).
The dispute over the ALJ’s disability determination centered on the ALJ’s
assessment of the evidence and not on whether he employed the correct decisional
processes required by the Social Security Administration’s policies and
regulations. For instance, in support of his decision to discredit Putz’s testimony
about the severity of her fatigue, the ALJ enumerated six independent reasons
drawn directly from the evidentiary record, as he was required to do. That this
court ultimately disagreed with his assessment of the evidence does not mean that
the position was unreasonable.
2
As the dissenting panel judge noted, “[m]uch of the evidence in this case is
susceptible to different interpretations.” Putz, 371 F. App’x at 804. In light of the
ambiguity of the evidence and the closeness of the legal and factual questions
posed by Putz’s case, the district court did not err in determining that the
government’s position was substantially justified. Accordingly, it did not abuse its
discretion in denying Putz’s motion for attorney’s fees.
AFFIRMED.
3