Buechler v. North Dakota Workmen's Compensation Bureau

222 N.W.2d 858, 1974 N.D. LEXIS 162
CourtNorth Dakota Supreme Court
DecidedOctober 31, 1974
DocketCiv. 9009
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 222 N.W.2d 858 (Buechler v. North Dakota Workmen's Compensation Bureau) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering North Dakota Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Buechler v. North Dakota Workmen's Compensation Bureau, 222 N.W.2d 858, 1974 N.D. LEXIS 162 (N.D. 1974).

Opinions

PAULSON, Judge.

This is an appeal from a judgment of the Burleigh County District Court, which judgment affirmed the final order of the North Dakota Workmen’s Compensation Bureau denying compensation to the appellant, Martin Buechler, on the basis of a permanent partial disability award, pursuant to § 65-05-12 of the North Dakota Century Code.

Mr. Buechler sustained a severe back injury on November 4, 1968, when he fell into a basement excavation. At the time of the injury, he was employed by Dakota Sand and Gravel Company as a manual laborer. Mr. Buechler filed a claim with the North Dakota Workmen’s Compensation Bureau [hereinafter the Bureau] on December 9, 1968.

As a result of the injury, Mr. Buechler has had several back operations and was adjudged by the Bureau to be permanently and totally disabled. A permanent total disability award was made to Mr. Buechler by the Bureau, effective April 17, 1973. All medical benefits directly related to Mr. Buechler’s injury of November 4, 1968, have been paid by the Bureau and he has received compensation benefits as of November 4, 1968.

Subsequent to the permanent total disability award, it was determined, based upon a medical report submitted on May 4, 1973, by Dr. Ralph L. Kilzer, that Mr. Bue-chler has a 22 percent disability of the whole man. Based upon this determination, Mr. Buechler then filed a claim with the Bureau for a permanent partial disability award, under the provisions of § 65-05-12, N.D.C.C. The Bureau denied his claim in a final order dated June 1, 1973. Mr. Buechler then appealed from the June 1, 1973, order to the Burleigh County District Court, which court, on December 21, 1973, [860]*860affirmed the final order of the Bureau. It is from this judgment that the appeal is taken.

The sole question before this court is whether or not a claimant receiving benefits for permanent total disability is entitled to benefits for permanent partial disability, pursuant to § 65-05-12, N.D.C.C.

Mr. Buechler contends that he should receive compensation in the form of a permanent partial disability award in addition to the award for permanent total disability, in view of the statutory provisions of Chapter 65-05, N.D.C.C. The Bureau has made a permanent total disability award to Mr. Buechler pursuant to § 65-05-09, N.D.C.C. [§ 3, Ch. 558, 1969 S.L.], which section provides:

“Temporary or Permanent Disability— Weekly and Aggregate Compensation. —If an injury causes temporary, or permanent total disability, the fund shall pay to the disabled employee during such disability a weekly compensation equal to fifty-five percent of the average weekly wage in this state, computed to the next highest dollar, as shall be determined on July 1 of each year by the unemployment compensation division of the North Dakota employment security bureau. In case of temporary or permanent total disability, there shall be paid to such disabled employee an additional sum of five dollars per week for each dependent child under the age of eighteen years living or unborn at the date of the injury, or born during the period of disability; and for each child over eighteen years and incapable of self-support due to physical or mental disability and whose maintenance is the responsibility of the claimant. Dependency awards for the children may be made direct to either parent at the discretion of the bureau. In no case shall the combined compensation and dependency award exceed the net wage, after deductions for taxes, earned by the claimant at the time of the injury, except in the case of volunteer firemen and volunteer civil defense trainees. When a claimant who is permanently and totally disabled and must be maintained in a nursing home or similar facility has no dependent parent, spouse, or children, part or all of his weekly compensation may be used by the bureau to help defray the cost of such care.”

Mr. Buechler further contends that the Bureau erred in denying his application for compensation benefits for a permanent partial disability pursuant to § 65-05-12, N.D. C.C. [§ 1, Ch. 562, 1969 S.L.], which provides, in pertinent part:

“Permanent Partial Disability — Weekly Compensation — Time Paid. — If the injury causes permanent partial disability, other than scheduled injuries, as elsewhere provided in this chapter, the percentage which such disability bears to total disability shall be determined, and the fund shall pay to the disabled employee a weekly compensation in the sum of thirty-one dollars and fifty cents per week for the following periods: . . . ”

Mr. Buechler bases his claim on the premise that §§ 65-05-09 and 65-05-12, N.D.C.C., as set forth above, allow recovery for two entirely distinct and different disabilities, since there is nothing in either statute to prohibit the concurrent payment of both permanent total disability and permanent partial disability compensation.

The Bureau, in rebuttal to Mr. Buechler’s contentions, argues that a permanent total disability award is inclusive of all disabilities, scheduled or otherwise, for which an individual might receive compensation under Chapter 65-05, N.D.C.C. The Bureau further argues that § 65-05-09, N.D.C.C., speaks for itself; that there can be no greater award than a permanent total disability award.

The problem which confronts this court does not involve a factual dispute — there is no controversy as to the nature or severity of the injuries suffered by Mr. Buechler. Rather, the problem is one of statutory interpretation.

[861]*861In Boettner v. Twin City Construction Company, 214 N.W.2d 635 (N.D.1974), in paragraph 4 of the syllabus, this court enunciated the general rule on statutory construction of the Workmen’s Compensation Act:

“The Workmen’s Compensation Act is to be construed liberally in favor of an injured workman so as to promote the well being of the workman.”

The Workmen’s Compensation Act is to be construed liberally so that its beneficent purposes may not be thwarted by technical refinements of interpretation. State v. Broadway Investment Company, 85 N.W.2d 251 (N.D.1957).

A perusal of § 65-05-09 and § OS-OS — 12, N.D.C.C., does not reveal the statutory conflict alleged by the Bureau. There is nothing in the language of either statute that precludes recovery under the other. The only limitation contained in either statute is that which precludes a double recovery for an injury, pursuant to § 65-05-12, and for other scheduled injuries provided for in §§ 65-05-13 and 65-05-14, N.D.C.C. The 1969 Legislature amended § 65-05-12 by inserting the following phrase “other than scheduled injuries, as elsewhere provided in this chapter,”. The Legislature also added, in 1969, the following provision to both §§ 65-05-13 and 65-05-14:

“Recovery under this section shall bar an additional award of permanent partial disability for the same injury, as elsewhere provided in this chapter.”

The obvious intent of these amendments to the statutes was to preclude a double recovery, both for a permanent partial disability and for other scheduled injuries. In Magreta v. Ambassador Steel Company, 378 Mich. 689,

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Buechler v. North Dakota Workmen's Compensation Bureau
222 N.W.2d 858 (North Dakota Supreme Court, 1974)

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Bluebook (online)
222 N.W.2d 858, 1974 N.D. LEXIS 162, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/buechler-v-north-dakota-workmens-compensation-bureau-nd-1974.