Margaret Williams v. Donna E. Shalala, Secretary, United States Department of Health and Human Services

The majority upholds the administrative law judge’s (“ALJ”) conclusion that Margaret Williams, a 64 year old woman with borderline range intelligence and a history of depression who suffers from a severe somato-form disorder and whose entire employment history consists of one week over a decade ago as a cleaning woman, is not disabled within the meaning of Social Security Administration (“SSA”) regulations and is qualified to work as, inter alia, a file clerk or telephone receptionist. I believe this improbable conclusion was reached by the ALJ on the basis of a misapplication of the treating…