Case Explained: DOUMITT V. BISIGNANO

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Filed: 2026-07-29 Docket: 3:24-cv-00048-JR The ninth-circuit affirmed the district court’s judgment upholding the Commissioner of Social Security’s denial of disability insurance benefits and supplemental security income. The court applied de novo review, determining that the Administrative Law Judge’s decision was supported by substantial evidence and free of legal error. Specifically, the court held that the ALJ properly adopted a psychological consultant’s opinion limiting the claimant to simple instructions but not detailed or complex ones, and correctly translated this into a residual functional capacity allowing the performance of detailed tasks learnable within thirty days. The court found no inconsistency between the limitation on complex instructions and the allowance for detailed tasks requiring less than thirty days to learn, distinguishing the case from precedent where limitations were restricted to one- or two-step tasks. As a result, the denial of benefits stands. Do It For The Case Law is a news reporting service. Nothing in this episode constitutes legal advice.