John Ceal Folk, III v. Social Security Administration, Commissioner

[DO NOT PUBLISH]
In the
United States Court of Appeals
For the Eleventh Circuit
____________________
No. 22-10500
Non-Argument Calendar
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JOHN CEAL FOLK, III,
Plaintiff-Appellant,
versus
SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION, COMMISSIONER,
Defendant-Appellee.
____________________
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Northern District of Alabama
D.C. Docket No. 4:20-cv-00902-GMB
____________________
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2 Opinion of the Court 22-10500
Before JORDAN, LUCK, and LAGOA, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:
John Folk appeals the district court’s order affirming the So-
cial Security Commissioner’s denial of his claims for a period of dis-
ability and disability insurance benefits. He argues that the admin-
istrative law judge failed to accord proper weight to the opinion of
his treating physician, Dr. Farrukh Jamil, and failed to show good
cause in doing so. We affirm.
The district court affirmed the Commissioner’s decision on
two alternative and separate grounds. First, Mr. Folk abandoned
the “proper weight” argument by making a perfunctory claim and
failing to provide substantive analysis.
See D.E. 20 at 8-9. Second,
even if Mr. Folk did not abandon the “proper weight” argument,
the ALJ had good cause for assigning little weight to Dr. Jamil’s
statements and opinions.
See id. at 9-12.
On appeal, Mr. Folk challenges the second of these grounds,
but he does not mention or address the first.
See Appellant’s Br. at
7-20.
“To obtain reversal of a district court judgment that is based
on multiple, independent grounds, an appellant must convince us
that every stated ground for the judgment against him is incorrect.
When an appellant fails to challenge properly on appeal one of the
grounds on which the district court based its judgment, he is
deemed to have abandoned any challenge of that ground, and it
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22-10500 Opinion of the Court 3
follows that the judgment is due to be affirmed.”
Sapuppo v. All-
state Floridian Ins. Co., 739 F.3d 678, 680 (11th Cir. 2014). Because
Mr. Folk has failed to argue that the district court’s first ground—
that he had abandoned the “proper weight” argument—was erro-
neous, we affirm.
AFFIRMED.
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