Court of Appeals Affirms Holding that Injury Was Scheduled Rather than Industrial Injury
In Janssen v. Merry Lanes, No. 15-1511 (Iowa App. Sept. 14, 2016), the Court of Appeals upheld the determination by the commissioner that claimant's injury was to the leg and not the body as a whole. Claimant suffered an injury to her hamstring while working as a bartender. The deputy concluded that claimant's injury extended to the body as a whole and awarded permanent total disability benefits. The commissioner reversed, concluding that claimant's injury was a scheduled member injury to the leg and awarding 72.6 weeks of benefits.
Claimant argued that the essence of prior court decisions was that the nerves and veins were system wide injuries which extended beyond a scheduled member. In support of this assertion, claimant cited Collins v. IDHS, 529 N.W.2d 627 (Iowa App. 1995) and First Fleet Corp. v. Hannam, No. 14-1254 (Iowa App. July 9, 2015). The court in Janssen reads Collins as not reaching the question of whether reflex sympathetic dystrophy was an injury compensable by the industrial method. The Collins decision, however, specifically indicates that under Barton v. Nevada Poultry Co., 110 N.W.2d 660 (1961), claimant was entitled to industrial disability because her nervous system was a part of the body not included in the schedule. Id. at 629. The Janssen court went on to indicate that in Hannam, the agency had concluded that the conclusion that a nervous system injury was industrial was supported by substantial evidence. In Ms. Janssen's case, however, the court held that since the commissioner found that this was not an industrial injury, and substantial evidence supported this conclusion, the decision of the commissioner should be affirmed. EMG findings cited by the commissioner indicated that the condition was confined to the leg, and these findings were supported by substantial evidence.
Although the result of the case may be correct, the court appears to have misapplied Collins, which stands for the proposition that reflex sympathetic dystrophy/complex regional pain syndrome is an industrial injury. Since RSD/CRPS was not at issue in Ms. Janssen's case, this may not be a major concern, but is something practitioner's should be cognizant of when handling RSD/CRPS cases.
Claimant argued that the essence of prior court decisions was that the nerves and veins were system wide injuries which extended beyond a scheduled member. In support of this assertion, claimant cited Collins v. IDHS, 529 N.W.2d 627 (Iowa App. 1995) and First Fleet Corp. v. Hannam, No. 14-1254 (Iowa App. July 9, 2015). The court in Janssen reads Collins as not reaching the question of whether reflex sympathetic dystrophy was an injury compensable by the industrial method. The Collins decision, however, specifically indicates that under Barton v. Nevada Poultry Co., 110 N.W.2d 660 (1961), claimant was entitled to industrial disability because her nervous system was a part of the body not included in the schedule. Id. at 629. The Janssen court went on to indicate that in Hannam, the agency had concluded that the conclusion that a nervous system injury was industrial was supported by substantial evidence. In Ms. Janssen's case, however, the court held that since the commissioner found that this was not an industrial injury, and substantial evidence supported this conclusion, the decision of the commissioner should be affirmed. EMG findings cited by the commissioner indicated that the condition was confined to the leg, and these findings were supported by substantial evidence.
Although the result of the case may be correct, the court appears to have misapplied Collins, which stands for the proposition that reflex sympathetic dystrophy/complex regional pain syndrome is an industrial injury. Since RSD/CRPS was not at issue in Ms. Janssen's case, this may not be a major concern, but is something practitioner's should be cognizant of when handling RSD/CRPS cases.
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