U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, 2007

The court held that a district court reviewing a final denial of Social Security benefits must consider material evidence that the claimant properly submitted to and the Appeals Council considered, even if the evidence was not before the administrative law judge.

The Eleventh Circuit affirmed the remand because the removing defendants did not establish from the removal documents that the claims potentially exceeded CAFA’s $5 million aggregate amount-in-controversy requirement.