ORDER1

SHERI POLSTER CHAPPELL, District Judge.

This matter comes before the Court on Defendant's Motion to Dismiss (Doc. #15) filed on June 17, 2016. Plaintiff failed to file a response in opposition, and the time to do so has now expired. The matter is ripe for review.

Background

The facts of this action are very limited. Plaintiff filed this action, "petitioning the [C]ourt to allow [his] Social Security disability case to be transferred from South Carolina (Walterboro) to Florida (Naples)." (Doc. #16 at 1). Plaintiff alleges that he had a disability hearing set for May/June 2015. (Doc. #16 at 1). But, because he was living in Florida and did not have the finances nor transportation necessary to travel to South Carolina, he missed the hearing. (Doc. #16 at 1). This resulted in the Administrative Law Judge ("ALJ") issuing "a denial of hearing," despite the fact that Plaintiff's father had explained to the judge that Plaintiff would not be able to attend. (Doc. #16 at 1). After receiving the denial of hearing, Plaintiff's father "wrote the Social Security App[eals] Office explaining what had occurred with [Plaintiff's] case and why [Plaintiff] could not attend." (Doc. #16 at 1). Plaintiff's father also explained that Plaintiff requested to have any future hearings held in Florida. (Doc. #16 at 1). Despite these efforts, the Social Security Appeals Office sent Plaintiff a letter "advising they were denying [Plaintiff's] request of review of the [Administrative Law Judge's] decision of denial." (Doc. #16 at 1).

Discussion

Defendant moves to dismiss this action on the basis that Plaintiff has failed to exhaust his administrative remedies, and therefore the Court lacks subject matter jurisdiction. In support, Defendant avers that neither the ALJ's dismissal of Plaintiff's request for a hearing, nor the Appeals Council's denial of Plaintiff's request for review, constitutes a "final decision." This is problematic, Defendant explains, because the Court's review is limited to a final decision of the Commissioner made after a hearing. The Court agrees.

Judicial review of Social Security decision is governed by 42 U.S.C. § 405. That statute provides, in pertinent part:

§ 405(g). To seek judicial review, a social security claimant must exhaust each step of the administrative review process, including "an initial determination, reconsideration, a hearing before an ALJ, and review by the Appeals Council." Anderson v. Comm'r, SSA, 544 F. App'x 861, 862 (11th Cir. 2013) (emphasis added; citation omitted).

Here, it is clear that Plaintiff failed to exhaust each step of the administrative review process. While Plaintiff requested, and was granted, a hearing before an ALJ on his Social Security claim, Plaintiff failed to attend the hearing. Therefore, the ALJ never issued a decision that the Appeals Council could review. Absent such a decision and such review, the Court finds that there was not a final administrative decision, as required by § 405(g). Consequently, the Court lacks subject matter jurisdiction over this action. See Anderson, 544 F. App'x at 861-862 (holding that the district court correctly held that it lacked jurisdiction where an ALJ never held a hearing on the plaintiff's Social Security claim).

Accordingly, it is now

ORDERED:

DONE and ORDERED.