Court Affirms Permanent Total Disability Case Involving Notice Issue on Substantial Evidence Grounds
In Ryan Companies v. Bissell, No. 13-1869 (Iowa App. August 13, 2014), the court of appeals affirmed a decision of the commissioner concluding that the employer had actual notice of claimant's injury, that the injury arose out of and the course of claimant's employment and that claimant was permanently and totally disabled. The major fighting issue in the case seemed to be the question of whether claimant had actually notified the employer of his injury. The agency found that because claimant had told the employer of his injury on the day it occurred (and a foreman had asked if he needed an ambulance), this was sufficient for actual notice. Claimant did not inform the employer that he was going to seek workers' compensation benefits at that time and initially believed that because he had previous back problems this was not work related. Despite this, the agency made a factual finding that the employer had actual notice, and this was upheld by the district court and c...