Iowa Workers' Compensation

In Mike Brooks, Inc. v. House , No. 843 NW2d 885 (Iowa 2014), the Supreme Court, which had accepted further review, reversed the decision of the Court of Appeals and concluded that the agency decision was supported by substantial evidence, thereby affirming the permanent total disability award of the agency.  The agency had previously found that claimant was permanently and totally disabled, a finding that had been affirmed by the district court. At the Court of Appeals level, a 2-1 majority of the court had concluded that the decision of the agency had not been supported by the evidence.  The court had concluded that the doctors who had found causation did not know of a second injury that claimant had sustained at work after he had been found to have reached maximum medical improvement.  The Court of Appeals found that the treaters had not known of this incident and that the IME doctor's opinion was internally inconsistent because it relied on the opinion of Dr. Hatfie...

In a case which runs counter to most of the cases that appear in these synopses, the Iowa Court of Appeals in Mike Brooks, Inc.   v. House , No. 13-0303 (Iowa App. Aug. 21, 2013), held that the decision of the agency was not supported by substantial evidence.  This despite the fact that there was no medical evidence supporting the contention of defendants.  Judge Vaitheswaran dissented and would have affirmed the case on substantial evidence grounds. Claimant had suffered an admitted injury in March of 2007.  Claimant returned to work, but testified that he continued to experience significant back problems while working.  In January of 2008, he reported to the company doctor that he had pushed a door at work and had felt increased pain as a result of that incident.  He was seen by a surgeon, Dr. Hatfield, who ultimately performed three surgeries.  Claimant returned to work briefly following the first surgery but was unable to continue working as a tr...