Supreme Court Affirms that Permanent Partial and Permanent Total Disability Benefits Can be Awarded Simultaneously
In a case litigated by Jamie Byrne of Neifert, Byrne & Ozga, the Court in JBS Swift and Co. v. Ochoa , No. 15-0840 (Iowa Dec. 30, 2016) affirmed that under the 2004 amendments to the workers' compensation statute, a claimant could receive a first award of permanent partial disability benefits and then, based on a new injury, receive a permanent total disability award and that these awards can run concurrently. The Court affirmed the action of the Iowa Court of Appeals, which had held that the general assembly removed the barriers to collecting two streams of benefits at the same time, so long as there were two separate injuries and the second injury resulted in permanent total disability benefits. Claimant suffered an initial hernia, which was found to be the cause of 70% industrial disability. She returned to work following this injury and subsequently developed neck and shoulder difficulties. As a result of these problems, she left work and was subsequently ter...