Iowa Workers' Compensation

In Evenson v. Winnebago Industries , No. 17-1419 (Iowa Jan. 18, 2019), the court held that the failure to file a notice of appeal with the district court in a timely manner meant that the Supreme Court did not have jurisdiction to consider the appeal.  Accordingly, the appeal was dismissed Two appeals were filed in this workers' compensation action, one originating in Winnebago County and the other in Polk County. Although the appeals were timely filed with the Supreme Court and copies were sent to opposing counsel, there was no filing of the appeal with the clerks of the respective counties until a corrected notice was filed with the Polk County Clerk 144 days after service.  Appellate Rule 6.101(1)(b) holds that time for filing a notice of appeal is tolled when the notice is served, "provided the notice is filed with the district court clerk within a reasonable time." Thus, the question before the court was whether filing 144 days after service was a reasonable time. ...

In Evenson v. Winnebago Industries, No. 14-2097 (Iowa June 3, 2016), the Supreme Court concluded that an employer's matching contributions to a 401(k) plan are not weekly earnings for rate purposes. The Court also concluded that the district court erred in affirming the date on which the healing period commenced and ended and the date on which PPD benefits commenced. On the rate issue, the court noted that "gross earnings" was defined in section 85.61(9) as recurring payment by the employer before deductions and excluding irregular bonuses, overtime pay, reimbursement of expenses and the employer's contribution for welfare benefits.  The Court notes that although an employee's 401(k) plan is related tangentially to his or her wage or salary, an employer's 401(k) plan matching contributions are based on the employee's choice and contribution.  Although the portion the employee chooses to contribute to the plan comes from his wages, the added contribution ...