U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, 1999

The court affirmed the denial of SSI benefits. It declined to consider Jones’s argument about erosion of the occupational base because she had not raised it in the district court, and held that an ALJ may rely on vocational-expert testimony when it conflicts with the Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT).

The court held that the district court had to resolve the University’s subject-matter-jurisdiction challenge before deciding whether Alabama’s Attorney General could dismiss the action, because resolving that authority question required substantive rulings on state law.