Iowa Supreme Court Holds That a Second Injury for SIF Purposes Can Encompass an Injury That Includes Both a Scheduled and Unscheduled Component, But That the Fund Receives Credit For the "Full Amount of the Employer's Liability for the Second Qualifying Injury"
Second Injury Fund of Iowa v. Strable , No. 24-0056 (Iowa Dec. 13, 2024) In this Second Injury Fund case, the Court addresses the issue of whether a second injury for Fund purposes can be brought when that injury also encompasses non-scheduled injuries. This particular issue had previously been decided by the Court in Delaney v. SIF , 6 NW3d 714, 717 (Iowa 2024) and the Court affirms its finding in Delaney that such an injury can be the subject of a Fund claim. Strable goes beyond Delaney in also considering the credits accorded the Fund in such a situation, finding that those credits include not only the scheduled value of all such claims, but the industrial value of those claims. In this case, claimant had a first injury in the form of injuries to the arm (carpal tunnel). She subsequently suffered an ankle injury, which included unscheduled sequela injuries (back and mental health injuries). She settled the ankle injury by way of a commutation and settled the u...