Eaves v. Social Security Administration, Commissioner

Plaintiff Ricky Eaves filed applications for disability insurance benefits and supplemental security income, alleging disability due to degenerative disc disease, depression, and other impairments. An administrative law judge (ALJ) denied his claims after finding Eaves could perform his past relevant work as a forklift driver. After the district court affirmed the ALJ's decision, Eaves appealed to the Eleventh Circuit, arguing the ALJ improperly evaluated his subjective complaints of pain and failed to adequately consider medical evidence. The case was decided on September 11, 2018.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the district court’s decision, holding that the ALJ’s denial of benefits was supported by substantial evidence.

Whether the ALJ properly evaluated Eaves’s subjective complaints of pain and whether the ALJ's residual functional capacity finding was supported by substantial evidence.

This unpublished decision reinforces the deferential substantial evidence standard applied by federal courts when reviewing administrative denials of Social Security benefits, underscoring the difficulty for claimants to overturn adverse disability determinations on appeal.