Leroy McFadden v. NANCY A. BERRYHILL, Acting Commissioner of Social Security

NOT FOR PUBLICATION
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
LEROY MCFADDEN,
Plaintiff-Appellant,
v.
NANCY A. BERRYHILL, Acting
Commissioner of Social Security,
Defendant-Appellee.
No. 16-35666
D.C. No. 9:15-cv-0082-DLC
MEMORANDUM*
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the District of Montana
Dana L. Christensen, Chief Judge, Presiding
Submitted February 9, 2018**
Seattle, Washington
Before: M. SMITH and MURGUIA, Circuit Judges, and GORDON,*** District
Judge.
Leroy McFadden appeals from the district court’s denial of his motion for
* This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3.
** The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision
without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2).
*** The Honorable Andrew P. Gordon, United States District Judge for
the District of Nevada, sitting by designation.
FILED
FEB 22 2018
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS

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summary judgment and affirmance of Acting Commissioner Berryhill’s denial of
disability insurance benefits. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291,
and we affirm.
We review the district court’s order de novo. Molina v. Astrue, 674 F.3d
1104, 1110 (9th Cir. 2012). “An ALJ’s disability determination should be upheld
unless it contains legal error or is not supported by substantial evidence.” Garrison
v. Colvin, 759 F.3d 995, 1009 (9th Cir. 2014). Legal errors are harmless if they do
not alter the ALJ’s final disability determination. Molina, 674 F.3d at 1115.
The ALJ improperly discounted the medical opinion of McFadden’s treating
physician, Dr. Vanichkachorn, leading the ALJ to miscalculate McFadden’s RFC.
However, this error is harmless. The vocational expert testified at Step 5 of the
disability evaluation that even accounting for the additional limitations suggested
by Dr. Vanichkachorn, work exists in the national economy that McFadden could
perform. Therefore, the ALJ’s errors did not change the ultimate non-disability
determination. The ALJ did not otherwise err in his findings and determinations.
AFFIRMED.

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