Unreported / Non-Citable
Background
Maximus Grisso applied for Title II Social Security Disability Insurance benefits on April 25, 2020, alleging disability before his September 20, 2019 date last insured. The SSA denied his application initially, on reconsideration, and after an October 2023 hearing before an Administrative Law Judge. The ALJ’s January 2024 decision concluded that Grisso had three severe mental impairments — major depression, generalized anxiety disorder, and ADHD — but that his fibromyalgia did not rise to the level of a severe physical impairment during the relevant period. The ALJ ultimately found Grisso not disabled. Grisso sought judicial review under 42 U.S.C. § 405(g) and moved for summary judgment.
The Court’s Holding
Judge James Donato granted Grisso’s motion for summary judgment and remanded the case to the SSA for further proceedings.
Reviewing under the standard articulated in Tibbetts v. Kijakazi and Burch v. Barnhart, the court held that the ALJ’s step two finding that Grisso’s fibromyalgia was not a severe impairment was not supported by substantial evidence and constituted reversible legal error. Step two of the five-step analysis under 20 C.F.R. § 416.920 is a “de minimis screening device used to dispose of groundless claims” under Webb v. Barnhart. Under the Ninth Circuit’s recent decision in Glanden v. Kijakazi, an ALJ may find an impairment not severe at step two “only if the evidence establishes a slight abnormality that has no more than a minimal effect on an individual’s ability to work.”
The ALJ’s step two analysis was not consistent with that standard. The ALJ stated that Grisso testified to having pain issues but did not adequately engage with the record evidence supporting fibromyalgia as a severe impairment, nor did the ALJ apply the proper de minimis filter. Because the step two error was not harmless, remand was required without the court needing to reach Grisso’s other arguments.
Key Takeaways
- Step two of the SSA five-step disability evaluation is a de minimis filter. ALJs must apply the Glanden v. Kijakazi standard and find an impairment not severe only when the evidence shows a slight abnormality with no more than a minimal effect on the ability to work.
- Fibromyalgia, with its characteristic combination of chronic widespread pain, fatigue, and cognitive difficulties, is a frequent area of step two reversal — especially when the ALJ’s analysis is conclusory or fails to engage with the medical record.
- A reversible step two error obviates the need for the court to reach later-step arguments. Plaintiffs’ counsel should consider leading with the step two analysis when fibromyalgia or other functionally significant impairments are deemed non-severe.
- Date-last-insured cases require the ALJ to focus on the relevant period, but step two analysis still applies to evidence of impairments documented during that period.
Why It Matters
SSA reversal-and-remand orders are routine but consequential. This decision adds to a growing line of Northern District opinions reversing ALJ step two findings that fibromyalgia is not a severe impairment. The Ninth Circuit’s 2023 Glanden v. Kijakazi decision has tightened the standard, and ALJs who summarily dismiss fibromyalgia at step two without engaging with the record now face routine reversal.
For SSA disability practitioners, the practical lesson is to challenge step two findings on fibromyalgia and similar pain disorders by carefully cataloging the specific medical evidence the ALJ ignored or downplayed. For ALJs and the SSA, the message is that the de minimis screening filter cannot be used as a mechanism for substantive disability findings disguised as step two analysis.