Court of Appeals Addresses Rate Dispute Under Section 85.36(7)
In Delire v. Key City Transport , No. 16-0720 (Iowa App. Dec. 21, 2016), the court addressed for the second time a rate issue presented by the parties. Claimant was a trucker, who was only three weeks into his employment at the time of his injury. He believed that his yearly earnings were to be $75,000 and his original rate was based on an annual salary of $70,000. This rate was reversed in the original Court of Appeals decision and the case was remanded for further consideration. In the second appeal, the question was whether claimant's rate should be determined based on his salary in two of the three weeks he worked (the third week was significantly less than the other two weeks) or whether all three weeks should be taken into account. The commissioner considered all three weeks. The court indicated that section 85.36(7) addressed the situation more precisely because it applied "in the case of an employee who has been in the employ of the employer less than thirteen c