Brenda Diedrich v. Nancy Berryhill, 874 F.3d 634

Background:

Brenda Diedrich applied for SSDI (Title II) and SSI (Title XVI); DDS found her disabled as of her 2009 application date, entitling her to SSI, but she was not insured for SSDI after June 30, 2008.
Diedrich alleged an earlier onset (Oct. 1, 2002) so disability would fall within her insured period for SSDI.
Medical records show serious, longstanding mental-health symptoms (bipolar, PTSD, depression, hallucinations, blackouts/split personalities) with gaps in mental-health documentation around the date-last-insured.
At hearing, Diedrich and her fiancé David Niebaum testified about severe symptoms; a vocational expert testified; the ALJ did not call a medical advisor.
The ALJ denied SSDI: found Diedrich not disabled for the insured period, gave little weight to Niebaum’s third-party report, and found Diedrich only partially credible. The district court affirmed; the Ninth Circuit partially reversed and remanded.

Issues:

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether ALJ erred by not calling a medical advisor under SSR 83-20 when onset must be inferred	Diedrich: record gaps around date-last-insured and slowly progressive symptoms required a medical advisor to infer onset date	Commissioner: SSR 83-20 inapplicable; ALJ found claimant not disabled so Sam controls; DDS consultants already reviewed records	Court: ALJ erred — where onset must be inferred and records are inadequate, ALJ should call a medical advisor at hearing; Sam did not apply here
Whether ALJ permissibly discounted fiancé Niebaum’s lay observations	Diedrich: Niebaum’s observations (daily, detailed) are competent lay evidence probative of pre-expiration symptoms	Commissioner: relationship bias, lack of corroborating medical evidence, observations began after date-last-insured	Court: ALJ erred — reasons given (relationship, lack of medical support, observations post-insurance) were not germane; Niebaum’s testimony should not have been given "little weight"
Whether ALJ properly found Diedrich only partially credible	Diedrich: ALJ relied on isolated/poorly reasoned points and mischaracterized records; symptoms waxed/waned so isolated normal findings don't undermine credibility	Commissioner: ALJ cited specific records showing limited symptoms and cited daily activities inconsistent with total disability	Court: ALJ erred — reasons (orthopedist silence, isolated therapy notes, lack of records mentioning multiple personalities, limited ADLs) were not clear and convincing bases to discount testimony
Remedy: whether errors were harmless or require remand	Diedrich: errors affected the onset-date determination and credibility/lay-witness weight; not harmless	Commissioner: errors harmless or supported by substantial evidence	Court: errors not harmless; vacated ALJ decision and remanded for proceedings including calling a medical advisor

Key Cases Cited

Treichler v. Comm’r of Soc. Sec. Admin., 775 F.3d 1090 (9th Cir. 2014) (ALJ responsibility to resolve record conflicts)
Molina v. Astrue, 674 F.3d 1104 (9th Cir. 2012) (standards for weighing evidence and harmless-error review)
Armstrong v. Comm’r of Soc. Sec. Admin., 160 F.3d 587 (9th Cir. 1998) (SSR 83-20 requires medical expert when onset must be inferred)
DeLorme v. Sullivan, 924 F.2d 841 (9th Cir. 1991) (ALJ must call medical advisor if onset date requires medical inference)
Morgan v. Sullivan, 945 F.2d 1079 (9th Cir. 1991) (medical-expert assistance required for mental-disorder onset in some cases)
Sam v. Astrue, 550 F.3d 808 (9th Cir. 2008) (SSR 83-20 not required where ALJ finds claimant never disabled)
Garrison v. Colvin, 759 F.3d 995 (9th Cir. 2014) (limits on cherry-picking isolated normal findings when symptoms wax and wane)
Lewis v. Apfel, 236 F.3d 503 (9th Cir. 2001) (lay-witness testimony is competent evidence and must be credited or expressly discounted with germane reasons)
Valentine v. Comm’r Soc. Sec. Admin., 574 F.3d 685 (9th Cir. 2009) (family/friends’ observations are valuable lay testimony)