Iowa Workers' Compensation

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...

The passage of HF 2581 in 2004 eliminated the provision that overlapping streams of benefits were impermissible under section 85.36(9)(c) of the Code.   In Drake University v. Davis , 769 N.W.2d 176 (Iowa 2009), the Supreme Court held that in a situation where a claimant had a PPD award followed by a subsequent award of PTD benefits, both benefits could be received simultaneously, because the language of section 85.34(7) of the Code, which addressed issues of apportionment, did not reference awards under section 85.34(3) of the Code, only awards under section 85.34(2). In JBS Swift v. Ochoa, No. 15-0840 (Iowa App. May 25, 2016), the Court of Appeals followed Davis  and affirmed the commissioner's award of an overlapping 70% industrial disability and a subsequent PTD award.  The court noted that the awards were both supported by substantial evidence and indicated, in discussing Davis , that "we are not at liberty to overrule controlling supreme court precedent." ...