Cook v. Labor Commission

2013 UT App 286, 317 P.3d 464, 748 Utah Adv. Rep. 43, 2013 WL 6200205, 2013 Utah App. LEXIS 288
CourtCourt of Appeals of Utah
DecidedNovember 29, 2013
DocketNo. 20111030-CA
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 2013 UT App 286 (Cook v. Labor Commission) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Utah primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Cook v. Labor Commission, 2013 UT App 286, 317 P.3d 464, 748 Utah Adv. Rep. 43, 2013 WL 6200205, 2013 Utah App. LEXIS 288 (Utah Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

Opinion

CHRISTIANSEN, Judge:

1 Petitioners Tysha R. Cook and Tristan Ritchie seek review of a final order entered by the Labor Commission Appeals Board denying their claims for compensation based upon the Utah Workers Compensation Act and the Utah Occupational Disease Act. We decline to disturb the Appeals Board's decision.

BACKGROUND

I 2 In late 1993, Gina Cook was an employee working in the data processing center of Zions Bank (the Bank). Cook's department became very busy because the Bank was converting to a new computer system and simultaneously undergoing a merger with another bank. The combination of these events created a heavy workload that required Cook to work overtime hours starting February through May 1994. The Bank instructed its employees that they should not request any time off during this period due to the increased demands.

13 At some point in November 19983, Cook noticed a lump on her lower lip. The Bank gave Cook partial time off on February 1, 1994, to visit with an ear, nose, and throat specialist, who recommended that Cook schedule an appointment at a hospital for surgery to remove the lump, but did not consider the procedure to be urgent. The surgery would require Cook to miss an entire day of work. Cook immediately began asking the Bank for permission to take a full day off to undergo the surgery, but her requests were repeatedly denied. It was not until April 22, some twelve weeks later, that the Bank granted Cook an entire day off for the procedure, but she fell sick that day and was unable to undergo surgery. Cook tried to reschedule for May 6-the hospital's next available date-but the Bank did not grant her another full day off until May 20, the date Cook finally underwent surgery.

{4 Biopsy results from the surgery revealed that Cook had a rare, aggressive form of malignant melanoma. Cook sought additional evaluation and treatment in an attempt to halt the cancer's progress. Unfortunately, [466]*466the treatments were ultimately unsuccessful and Cook died on March 18, 1996.

5 Following her death, Cook's daughters, Krista Rae Cook and Tiffani Cherie Cook, initiated several lawsuits against the Bank.1 In the first of these suits, see Cook v. Zions First Nat'l Bank (Cook II ), 2002 UT 105, 57 P.3d 1084, Cook's daughters asserted that the Bank's refusal to grant her requests for sick leave breached Cook's employment contract and resulted in Cook's wrongful death. Id. 16. The Bank filed a motion to dismiss, arguing that the wrongful death claim was subject to the exclusive jurisdiction and exclusive remedy provisions of the Utah Workers' Compensation Act (UWCA) and that the Labor Commission was the proper adjudicative authority. Id. The Bank also argued that breaches of contract cannot give rise to wrongful death actions. Id. The district court granted the motion to dismiss, determining that the UWCA barred the suit. Id. The case was appealed to the Utah Supreme Court, which affirmed the district court, holding that "the plain language of the UWCA precludes plaintiffs' wrongful death claim" and that the UWCA "provides the exclusive remedy available to them." Id. ¶¶ 13-14.

T6 Cook's daughters also sued the Bank for breach of contract. See Cook v. Zions First Nat'l Bank (Cook III), 2004 UT App 69U, 2004 WL 530730. In that case, this court concluded that, consistent with the supreme court's holding in Cook II, Cook's daughters' claims were barred by the exclusive remedy provision of the UWCA because they were " 'essentially tort claims masquerading as breach of contract claims."" Id. para. 4 & n. 2 (quoting Shattuck-Owen v. Snowbird Corp., 2000 UT 94, ¶ 20 16 P.3d 555).

T7 Because both Cook II and Cook III held that the only available remedy for Cook's death was an action under the UWCA, Cook's estate, now represented by her granddaughters, Tysha R. Cook and Tristan Ritchie (Petitioners), filed a claim for dependent benefits with the Labor Commission (the Commission) on March 17, 2006. See generally Utah Code Ann. § 34A-1-801 (LexisNexis 2011) 2 ("The commission has the duty and the full power, jurisdiction, and authority to determine the facts and apply the law in this chapter or any other title or chapter it administers."). Petitioners requested benefits pursuant to the UWCA, or alternatively, pursuant to the Utah Occupational Disease Act (UODA), which also comes under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Commission.

18 The case was referred to an Administrative Law Judge (the ALJ) who held an evidentiary hearing and made extensive factual findings regarding the work environment at the Bank during the months Cook sought leave for her needed surgery. The ALJ also convened a medical panel composed of three physicians whose practice specialties were in the fields of neurology, dermatology, and dermatopathology. The panel members examined Cook's medical records and pathology slides and submitted a report containing their medical opinions. The ALJ ultimately determined that the UWCA did not apply to Petitioners' claims; rather, the ALJ interpreted the UODA to be the governing statute. Relying heavily upon the medical panel's report, the ALJ concluded that Petitioners were not entitled to benefits under the UODA because Petitioners had failed to establish medical causation linking the Bank's conduct to Cook's cancer and death.

T9 Petitioners filed a motion for review before the Labor Commission Appeals Board (the Board) challenging the ALJ's determination that the UWCA did not apply. The Board observed that Petitioners' "motion for [467]*467review [did] not challenge [the ALJ's] determination that Mrs. Cook's death [was] not compensable as an occupational disease." Accordingly, the Board did not review the ALJ's determination under the UODA. Instead, the Board found that even if the UWCA applied to Petitioners' claim, Cook's death was not compensable because Petitioners had failed to establish medical causation. Like the ALJ, the Board relied heavily on the medical panel's report in coming to this same conclusion. Petitioners now seek judicial review of the Board's decision.

ISSUES AND STANDARDS OF REVIEW

¶ 10 The central issue for our review is whether the Board's determination that Petitioners failed to establish medical causation linking the Bank's conduct to Cook's cancer and death was adequately supported by substantial evidence. Because "[mJedical causation is an issue of fact," we "review the Commission's findings under the substantial evidence standard" and "will sustain the Commission's factual determination concerning medical causation only if its finding is adequately supported by the record." Chase v. Industrial Comm'n, 872 P.2d 475, 479 (Utah Ct.App.1994); accord Utah Code Ann. § 63G-4-403(4)(g) (LexisNexis 2011); Murray v. Labor Comm'n, 2013 UT 38, ¶ 19, 308 P.3d 461. In other words, the Board's factual findings are "accorded substantial deference and will not be overturned if based on substantial evidence, even if another conclusion from the evidence is permissible." See Hurley v. Board of Review of the Indus. Comm'n, 767 P.2d 524, 526-27 (Utah 1988).3

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2013 UT App 286, 317 P.3d 464, 748 Utah Adv. Rep. 43, 2013 WL 6200205, 2013 Utah App. LEXIS 288, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cook-v-labor-commission-utahctapp-2013.