Court of Appeals Affirms Award of 45 Weeks of Permanent Partial Disability

In Lopez v. Cargill Meat Solutions, No. 16-1421 (Iowa App. July 6, 2017), the court rejected claimant's allegations that his claim should have been considered as an industrial disability and affirmed the functional award of 45 weeks of benefits.  Claimant argued that his experts presented substantial, credible evidence of industrial disability and it was unfair, irrational and illogical to reject those opinions. The court concluded that the agency had given greater weight to certain expert opinions over others and thoroughly explained the reasons for doing so.  Because those findings were supported by substantial evidence and were not irrational, illogical or wholly unjustifiable, the decision of the agency stood.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Court of Appeals Affirms Denial of Workers' Compensation Benefits; Rules on Credit Issue

Thomas v. Archer Daniels Midland Company , No. 23-0323 (Iowa App. Nov. 8, 2023) Claimant initial suffered a compensable injury to his right eye in 2017.  He subsequently sustained several injuries in 2018 while stepping off a pontoon boat, which he attributed to a lack of depth perception as a result of his eye issues.  The deputy ruled in favor of claimant, but the commissioner reversed, finding that the 2018 injuries were not a sequelae of the original eye injuries.   The Court of Appeals concluded that the decision of the commissioner was supported by substantial evidence and affirmed the decision of the commissioner.  The Court noted that medical causation was a question of fact vested in the commissioner's discretion and noted that although claiant speculated that his fall was caused by his right eye injuries, claimant could not specifically recall what happened and there were no witnesses to provide context.  The speculation of medical experts that vision loss caused the fall
Read more

2021 Workers' Compensation Appeal Decisions

  2021 Workers' Compensation Appeals Decisions The following are appeal decisions decided by the commissioner in 2021, by month. December 2021 Carmer v. Nordstrom , No. 1656062.01 (App. Dec. 29, 2021) - Claimant was found to have sustained an injury to her right shoulder and a sequela injury to her left shoulder.  Both of these injuries were found to be scheduled member injuries, but the injuries were found to be industrially compensable under 85.34(2)(v). Claimant was found to have a 70% industrial disability (Palmer). On appeal, the commissioner affirms that there was a sequela injury to the left shoulder, crediting Dr. Segal's report over that of Dr. Milani.  Most importantly, the commissioner affirms the fact that because the two shoulder injuries were the result of a single incident, this injury was to be treated industrially under 85.34(2)(v).  The commissioner notes that "shoulder" injuries were not added to the list of injuries that were to be treated a schedu
Read more

2024 Workers' Compensation Appeal Decisions

  2024 Workers' Compensation Appeal Decisions April 2024 Hayes v. Christian Retirement Homes, Inc. , No. 21-14161.02 (App. April 10, 2024) - The deputy concluded claimant had failed to demonstrate an injury arising out of employment.  The deputy also concluded that claimant failed to demonstrate a permanent disability (Gerrish-Lampe). On appeal, the commissioner affirms without additional analysis. 4 months from arbitration to appeal decision. Moran v. Prairie View Management, Inc. , No. 20700374.01 (Remand April 4, 2024) - In this case, the commissioner had initially concluded that claimant did not refuse an offer of light duty work and awarded temporary benefits. The district court reversed this finding and the district court's finding was affirmed by the Court of Appeals. The Court concluded that an employee who voluntarily quits work refuses work from that date and any future date and disallowed the award of temporary benefits.  On remand, the commissioner applies the deci
Read more