I recently had a Social Security Disability hearing for a 59 year old man (John Doe) who had been a plant manager for a cement company. The district office had denied his claim on the grounds that he retained the ability to perform light work (lift up to 20 pounds). The district office concluded that his work as he did it was a medium job (lifting up to 50 pounds). The office then concluded that he could not do the job as he did it, but that he could do it as described in the Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT). The DOT described the plant manager position as “light duty,” as is generally done in the national economy.

Since the district office found that he had the residual functional capacity (RFC) to perform light duty and that the plant manager position was light duty as defined by the DOT, they denied his disability claim.

In reviewing Mr. Doe’s case with him, I discovered that he had less than a high school education, had worked for his employer for 35 years, did not hire or fire, did not prepare reports, and does not supervise two other workers, but he did much of the work himself. I came to the conclusion that his occupation sounded more like a “maintenance mechanic” than a “plant manager” under DOT. I consulted the book and yes, his job seemed to be that of a maintenance mechanic.

At the hearing before the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ), I affirmed that John Doe was disabled under Grid due to the fact that he was of advanced age (59), had limited education (less than high school), was reduced to light duty for his ailments, and his actual job title at the cement plant was as a maintenance mechanic, although he was called a plant manager.

The vocational expert (VE) who was at the hearing agreed that, according to John Doe’s testimony, he was actually a maintenance mechanic and not a plant manager. He also agreed that John Doe could not fill the job of maintenance mechanic as he did or as described in the national economy because he required a mid-level job (lifting up to 50 pounds).

However, the ALJ was disturbed by the fact that John Doe had stated throughout his application that he was a “plant manager” on the forms he had filled out. I persuaded him with affidavits from his former owner and former director of security that his role was that of a maintenance mechanic and not that of a plant manager. Based on the affidavits, the ALJ awarded John Doe his disability benefits.

In short, the crux of John Doe’s case was determining that his prior work as a plant manager did not actually fall within DOT’s defined plant manager duties. Rather, his previous job was as a maintenance mechanic. Once I established his current previous occupation, I won the case.