Christina M. Chappell v. CAROLYN W. COLVIN, Acting Commissioner of Social Security

NOT FOR PUBLICATION
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
CHRISTINA M. CHAPPELL,
Plaintiff - Appellant,
v.
CAROLYN W. COLVIN, Acting
Commissioner of Social Security,
Defendant - Appellee.
No. 13-36012
D.C. No. 3:12-cv-05302-RBL
MEMORANDUM*
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Western District of Washington
Ronald B. Leighton, District Judge, Presiding
Argued and Submitted December 9, 2015
Seattle, Washington
Before: HAWKINS, McKEOWN, and TALLMAN, Circuit Judges.
Plaintiff Christina M. Chappell appeals the district court’s decision affirming
the Social Security Administration’s denial of disability benefits. We affirm.
The Administrative Law Judge (“ALJ”) did not err at steps four and five, as she
gave specific, legitimate reasons based on substantial evidence for giving greater
FILED
DEC 17 2015
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
* This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3.

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weight to non-examining sources than to treating and examining sources; specific,
clear, and convincing reasons for finding Chappell’s testimony not credible; and
germane reasons for rejecting Chappell’s mother’s lay testimony. See Molina v.
Astrue, 674 F.3d 1104, 1111-14 (9th Cir. 2012).
Although the ALJ erred at step three by relying on Dr. Moore’s testimony to
find that Chappell did not meet Listing 12.04’s paragraph C criteria when Dr. Moore
did not specifically testify about the paragraph C criteria, the error was harmless in
light of the other evidence in the record. See id. at 1115.
AFFIRMED.
2

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