Iowa Workers' Compensation

Hernandez v. Osceola Foods , No. 12-1658 (Iowa App. April 24, 2013) involved a review-reopening claim following an earlier settlement.  At the time of the settlement, claimant had 30 pound restrictions and was working for Osceola Foods.  She remained there for two years after the settlement, but was fired for falsely filling out an employment application for her husband.  She sought other work, and began to work for another company, Farley's and Sanders Candy.  In her application for Farley's, which was through a temporary agency, she did not reveal that she had restrictions, and indicated she was able to perform all duties, which included lifting up to 50 pounds.  A few months later, when the new employer found out about the restrictions, Ms. Hernandez was fired. Claimant sought review-reopening and was denied at the agency level, with the agency finding that claimant's loss of earnings was due to her dishonest conduct rather than to her work injury.  The court of appeal

Millenkamp v. Millenkamp , No. 11-2068 (Iowa App. April 10, 2013) is a case that has been bouncing back and forth between the agency and the appellate courts since claimant's initial injury in 2001, when claimant suffered a traumatic brain injury while working in his cattle business.  The current dispute concerns a situation where claimant had been treating with a physician who retired from the practice.  That physician recommended that claimant see another physician, Dr. Neiman, who provided treatment to claimant.  Prior to seeing Dr. Neiman, it does not appear as if the employer knew that the authorized treating physician had retired. According to the court, when the employer learned that the authorized treater had retired, it sought to provide care for claimant, first with Dr. Young, who refused to see claimant, and then with Dr. Cullen, who claimant refused to see because he had been hired by the defendants.  Claimant argued that because his treating physician had recommended