## Facts

- Thomas E. McCartey sought Social Security Disability benefits based on lower back injury and severe depression.
- His impairments traced to a 1987 workplace accident in which a heavy door injured his lower back; by 1991, pain prevented continued work.
- He had long-standing depression that substantially worsened around 1990 and included an extended period of severe isolation and self-harm behavior.
- In 1997, the Department of Veterans Affairs granted a non-service-connected pension, finding him unable to maintain substantially gainful employment.
- The VA assigned an 80% total disability rating, primarily for depression and secondarily for the back injury, supported by records describing serious functional limits (including poor concentration, anxiety attacks, and difficulty functioning in work settings).
- An Administrative Law Judge denied Social Security benefits; the written decision did not mention or evaluate the VA disability rating.
- The district court affirmed the denial, and McCartey appealed.

## Issues

1. Whether the ALJ committed legal error by denying Social Security Disability benefits without considering and weighing the VA disability rating finding McCartey unable to work.
2. What evidentiary weight a VA disability determination must receive in Social Security disability adjudications, and what explanation is required to discount it.
3. Whether the proper remedy was a remand for further proceedings or a remand for payment of benefits.

## Decision

- The Ninth Circuit reversed the district court’s judgment affirming the Commissioner’s denial.
- The court held the ALJ erred by ignoring the VA’s disability rating.
- The court ruled that VA disability determinations are entitled to great weight in Social Security proceedings.
- The court remanded with instructions to award benefits, concluding the record was fully developed and further proceedings would serve no useful purpose.

## Legal Principles

- A VA disability rating must be given great weight in Social Security disability proceedings because the two federal disability schemes are closely similar in purpose and methodology.
- An ALJ may discount a VA disability determination only by providing persuasive, specific, valid reasons supported by the record.
- An ALJ’s failure to address a VA disability rating constitutes legal error and can require reversal.
- When the record is fully developed and the properly credited evidence compels a disability finding, a court may remand for payment of benefits rather than for additional administrative proceedings.

## Conclusion

The Ninth Circuit held that the ALJ committed reversible legal error by failing to consider the VA’s disability rating; because VA determinations generally receive great weight and the record supported disability when properly credited, the court ordered a remand for payment of Social Security Disability benefits.


McCartey v. Massanari, 298 F.3d 1072 (9th Cir. 2002)