Iowa Workers' Compensation

In Sullivan v. Cummins Filtration-Lake Mills, No. 13-0658 (Iowa App. March 12, 2004), claimant argued that section 85.34(7) of the Iowa Code, the successive disabilities statute, operated to enhance the degree of disability to her hands.  The Court of Appeals, agreeing with the agency, finds that claimant failed to demonstrate that a second injury to claimant's hand was compensable, and therefore section 85.34(7) was not applicable.  The court also found that the commissioner had explained his reasoning sufficiently in the decision and concluded that no award of alternate medical care was applicable as the claimant had failed to prove that her injury was related to her work. Claimant had an initial injury to her right hand in 1999, was paid benefits for her injury and returned to work symptom free.  She later developed symptoms in both hands in 2011, and settled this case for an additional payment for the injury to the right arm.  The two injuries that were before ...

The case of Burton v. Hilltop Care Center , 813 NW2d 250 (Iowa 2012), arose out of a unique set of facts, but has led to a decision in which the court has modified its standard of review principles and simultaneously urged the commissioner's office to rethink its manner of deciding cases. The primary issue involved in Burton was a rate question for a claimant who was allegedly supposed to receive a $1,000 per year raise, but was paid (for 15 months) a wage that was $1,000 more on a monthly basis than she had previously been receiving.  The commissioner and court of appeals concluded that the rate should be decided on the basis of the $1,000 additional per month that had been paid, and defendants challenged this conclusion, in addition to challenging a penalty finding and the award of a 30% industrial disability from abdominal injuries sustained by the claimant. In setting forth its standard of review for the case, the court cites the familiar principles of substantial evidence...