Skodras v. Callahan
Case Date: 04/01/1999
Court: United States Court of Appeals
Docket No: 98-1677
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United States Court of Appeals For the First Circuit No. 98-1677 PATRICIA SKODRAS, Plaintiff, Appellant, v. JOHN J. CALLAHAN, Defendant, Appellee. APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF RHODE ISLAND [Hon. Timothy M. Boudewyns, U.S. Magistrate Judge] Before Stahl, Circuit Judge, Coffin, Senior Circuit Judge, and Lipez, Circuit Judge. Donna M. Nesselbush and Green, Greenberg & Nesselbush on brief for appellant. Margaret E. Curran, United States Attorney, Michael P. Iannotti, Assistant U.S. Attorney, and Wayne G. Lewis, Assistant Regional Counsel, on brief for appellee. March 25, 1999 Per Curiam. Claimant Patricia Skodras appeals from a district court judgment affirming the decision of the Commissioner of Social Security that she was not entitled to disability benefits. We have carefully reviewed the record and claimant's contentions on appeal and conclude that the judgment must be affirmed essentially for the reasons stated in the February 26, 1998 Memorandum and Order of the magistrate judge. We add only the following comments. Claimant's arguments that the administrative law judge (ALJ) ignored the opinions of her treating physicians and instead relied on his own lay opinion in determining that she was not disabled proceed on the assumption that to constitute "substantial gainful activity" for the purpose of deciding whether a claimant was disabled during a particular period, work performed during that period must have been executed on a full-time basis. However, the Social Security regulations specifically state that "[y]our work may be substantial even if it is done on a part-time basis or if you do less, get paid less, or have less responsibility than when you worked before." 20 C.F.R. |