Court of Appeals Finds There Was No Substantial Evidence to Support Denial of Benefits
Numerous cases on this blog have discussed situations in which the decision of the agency was affirmed on substantial evidence grounds. In Estate of Herman v. Overhead Door Co. of Des Moines, No. 12-0892 (Iowa App. May 15, 2013), the court concludes that because there was no substantial evidence to support the agency's decision that claimant's injury did not arise out of and in the course of employment, claimant (or claimant's estate, since claimant died before this decision) was entitled to benefits. The court concluded that: "because we find the commissioner’s outright rejection of uncontroverted medical opinions is not supported by substantial evidence when the record is viewed as a whole, and we find Herman’s injury arose out of and in the course of his employment as a matter of law, we reverse and remand." Claimant worked in an unheated warehouse, and there was really little dispute that claimant worked in subfreezing temperatures in the winter of 2009, ...