Dillard v. Industrial Claim Appeals Office

134 P.3d 407, 2006 WL 1313170
CourtSupreme Court of Colorado
DecidedMay 15, 2006
Docket05SC494
StatusPublished
Cited by28 cases

This text of 134 P.3d 407 (Dillard v. Industrial Claim Appeals Office) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Colorado primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Dillard v. Industrial Claim Appeals Office, 134 P.3d 407, 2006 WL 1313170 (Colo. 2006).

Opinions

HOBBS, Justice.

We granted certiorari to review the court of appeals decision in Dillard v. Industrial Claim Appeals Office, 121 P.3d 301 (Colo.App.2005).1 The issue in this case is whether a claimant may combine a mental impairment rating with a physical impairment rating for the purpose of exceeding the then-applicable sixty thousand dollar cap in favor of the one hundred twenty thousand dollar cap, both of which are contained in section 8-42-107.5, C.R.S. (2005), of Colorado’s Workers’ Compensation Act.2 This section caps benefits from combined temporary disability payments and permanent partial disability payments. No claimant whose impairment rating is twenty-five percent or less may receive more than sixty thousand dollars from combined temporary disability payments and permanent partial disability payments; those claimants who have an impairment rating above twenty-five percent receive the benefit of the higher cap.

In the case before us, the division-sponsored medical examination (DIME) physician rated claimant’s whole person impairment at a total of 29%: 23% for the claimant’s cervical spine, 2% for the left hip, and 5% for mental impairment.

The 5% mental impairment rating, when combined with the physical impairments ratings and converted to a whole person rating, produced a DIME rating of 29%, pushing Dillard’s impairment rating above 25%. She therefore asserts entitlement to the higher cap contained in section 8-42-107.5. We disagree. Along with the administrative law judge, a panel of the Industrial Claim Appeals Office, and the court of appeals, we hold that section 8-42-107(7)(b)(III), C.R.S. (2005), precludes combining a mental impairment rating with a physical impairment rating for the purpose of obtaining the benefit of the higher cap set forth in section 8-42-107.5.

Accordingly, we uphold the judgment of the court of appeals.

[409]*409I.

In 1999, Debra Dillard (“Dillard”) worked as an administrative assistant ‘for Pepsi Bottling Group (“Pepsi”), in Grand Junction, Colorado. On December 19 of that year, she slipped on ice in front of her workplace and hit her head on the sidewalk.

Dillard immediately complained of pain in her head and cervical region. She proceeded directly to the emergency room via an ambulance. At the hospital, doctors diagnosed her with scalp hematoma and a closed head injury.

Several days later, pain and stiffness in Dillard’s neck became unbearable and she again sought medical advice. An MRI uncovered damage to one and possibly two discs in Dillard’s cervical spine. After conservative treatments failed, doctors removed her C4-C5 disc and fused bones in her cervical spine together with plates and screws. When Dillard’s pain did not adequately subside, doctors repeated the operation for her C6-C7 disc.

Throughout this time, Dillard was prescribed Serzone for depression and Xanax for anxiety and complained that she could not sleep and often cried throughout the night. She blamed her emotional distress upon her physical inability to engage in many everyday (as well as recreational) activities, intense and constant pain, as well as a perceived threat to her marriage and family. However, Dillard did not initially claim disability benefits for mental impairment.

When Dillard reached maximum medical improvement, her attending physician determined that her total body permanent impairment rating was 20% of the whole person. He did not take into account Dillard’s anxiety and depression. Dillard received an independent medical examination. The independent medical examiner determined that Dillard’s whole person impairment rating was 29%, upon combining the impairment for Dillard’s depression and anxiety with her physical impairments.

Whether or not Dillard’s impairment rating should include the mental impairment rating as well as the physical impairment rating for purposes of the section 8^42-107.5 cap is the subject of this dispute. An impairment rating above 25% would entitle her to have the benefit of the higher cap for temporary disability and permanent partial disability payments under section 8-42-107.5.

According to the record, Dillard received $51,569.33 in temporary disability benefits and, in gross, is entitled to $79,969.89 in permanent partial disability benefits. Therefore, under the $60,000 cap, Dillard received $8,430.67dn permanent partial disability benefits. If she qualifies for the $120,000 cap she could receive substantially more.

II.

We hold that section 8-42-107(7)(b)(III), C.R.S. (2005), precludes combining a mental impairment rating with a physical impairment rating for the purpose of obtaining the benefit of the higher cap set forth in section 8^42-107.5, C.R.S. (2005).

A.

Standard of Review

This case concerns the correct construction of sections 8^42-107(7)(b)(III) and 8-42-107.5, C.R.S. (2005). We review questions of statutory construction de novo. People v. Cross, 127 P.3d 71, 73 (Colo.2006).

In construing the Workers’ Compensation Act, our objective is to effectuate the intent of the General Assembly; we construe the statutory provisions as a whole, reconciling potential conflicting provisions, when possible. Lobato v. Indus. Claim Appeals Office, 105 P.3d 220, 223 (Colo.2005); see also Resolution Trust Corp. v. Heiserman, 898 P.2d 1049, 1054 (Colo.1995) (“[I]f courts can give effect to the ordinary meaning of the words adopted by a legislative body, the statute should be construed as written since it may be presumed that the General Assembly meant what it clearly said.”).

When we construe a statute, we do not adopt a construction that renders words superfluous, or injects additional terms, that contravene the legislature’s obvious intent. Cross, 127 P.3d at 73.

[410]*410B.

Mental Impairment Claims and Statutory Caps

The issue in this ease concerns temporary disability and permanent partial disability benefits under Colorado’s Workers’ Compensation Act.3 Temporary disability benefits compensate a worker for lost work while she recovers from work-related injuries. A worker receives temporary benefits until, among other possibilities, she reaches maximum medical improvement.4 §§ 8-42-105, - 106, C.R.S. (2005) (describing temporary total and temporary partial disability benefits).

Some workers never fully recover from their injuries. In such cases, when a worker reaches maximum medical improvement but still remains permanently disabled, she then receives permanent disability benefits. See §§ 8-42-107, -111 (describing permanent partial and permanent total disability benefits).

If a worker is only partially disabled on a permanent basis, the amount of time for which she is eligible to receive benefits is calculated differently based upon the type of injury she sustained: a scheduled injury, a nonseheduled injury, or a mental impairment. See § 8 — 42—107(l)(b)(2), (7)(b)(I), (8).

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Bluebook (online)
134 P.3d 407, 2006 WL 1313170, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dillard-v-industrial-claim-appeals-office-colo-2006.