Brenda S. Mendez v. CAROLYN W. COLVIN, Commissioner of Social Security

NOT FOR PUBLICATION
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
BRENDA S. MENDEZ,
Plaintiff-Appellant,
v.
CAROLYN W. COLVIN, Commissioner
of Social Security,
Defendant-Appellee.
No. 14-17323
D.C. No. 2:13-cv-00838-NVW
MEMORANDUM*
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the District of Arizona
Neil V. Wake, District Judge, Presiding
Submitted December 15, 2016**
San Francisco, California
Before: KOZINSKI, BYBEE, and N.R. SMITH, Circuit Judges.
Brenda S. Mendez appeals the decision of the district court remanding her
Social Security disability insurance benefits claim for further proceedings before
the administrative law judge (“ALJ”) rather than for a determination of benefits.
FILED
DEC 19 2016
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.
** The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision
without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2).

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The district court did not abuse its discretion in remanding for further
proceedings, because there are outstanding issues that must be resolved before a
determination of disability can me made. Benecke v. Barnhart, 379 F.3d 587, 590,
593 (9th Cir. 2004). Here, the record presents “conflicting evidence, and not all
essential factual issues have been resolved” by the ALJ, including (1) assessing
Mendez’s credibility, (2) weighing the opinions of medical providers, and (3)
incorporating Mendez’s residual functional capacity into the job descriptions
presented by the vocational expert. See Treichler v. Comm’r of Soc. Sec. Admin.,
775 F.3d 1090, 1101 (9th Cir. 2014). Therefore, remand for an award of benefits
under the credit-as-true rule is inappropriate. See id.
AFFIRMED.
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