Golden v. Westark Community College

969 S.W.2d 154, 333 Ark. 41, 1998 Ark. LEXIS 262
CourtSupreme Court of Arkansas
DecidedApril 30, 1998
Docket97-846
StatusPublished
Cited by36 cases

This text of 969 S.W.2d 154 (Golden v. Westark Community College) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Golden v. Westark Community College, 969 S.W.2d 154, 333 Ark. 41, 1998 Ark. LEXIS 262 (Ark. 1998).

Opinion

Robert L. Brown, Justice.

This case is before us on review from the Arkansas Court of Appeals. The Court of Appeals concluded that substantial evidence existed to support the Workers’ Compensation Commission’s decision of 20% permanent partial disability to appellant Bill Golden’s body as a whole. Golden v. Westark Community College, 58 Ark. App. 209, 948 S.W.2d 108 (1997). The Court of Appeals further affirmed the Commission’s determination that benefits for this disability would be offset, dollar-for-dollar, pursuant to Ark. Code Ann. § 11-9-522(f) (Repl. 1996), by any social security retirement benefits received by Golden and that § 11-9-522(f) did not violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Id. We affirm the decision of the Commission and the Court of Appeals with respect to the 20% disability rating but reverse with respect to the constitutionality of § 11-9-522(f), which, we hold, runs counter to the Equal Protection Clause. We remand this matter to the Commission for an order awarding benefits in accordance with this opinion.

On November 26, 1993, appellant Bill Golden was employed as a security guard by appellee Westark Community College (Westark) when he slipped on an icy ramp and suffered a compensable injury to his neck and back. Westark and its workers’ compensation insurance carrier, appellee Public Employee Claims Division (PECD), accepted a 5% permanent physical impairment rating but contested the extent of Golden’s permanent partial disability rating. Westark and PECD also argued that any benefits received by Golden, who was 67 years old at the time of his injury, should be offset by any retirement benefits received as provided by § 11—9—522(f). Golden, in turn, challenged the constitutionality of the offset provision.

In a hearing before the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ), Golden testified that he had neither completed high school nor achieved a General Equivalency Diploma. He testified that he had been in the army from 1943 to 1946; that he had worked as a route salesman for cigarette companies from 1948 to 1954; that he was a laborer and manager for pest-control companies from 1954 to 1985; and that he began his employment with Westark as a security guard in 1986. According to Golden, each of these jobs required physical activity such as lifting objects, crawling under buildings, climbing stairs, and prolonged periods of standing.

With respect to his employment at Westark, he explained that his primary duties were to guard and protect the property, which involved walking from building to building, and that the job had the potential for the use of physical force. Golden stated that after his fall on the ice, he promptly sought treatment from physicians and specialists and claimed that he still suffered from consistent and sharp pains from his lower back up through his neck. His treating physician assigned a permanent physical impairment rating of 5% and instructed him to avoid bending, stooping, climbing stairs, lifting objects weighing in excess of fifteen pounds, standing or walking for prolonged periods of time, and engaging in activities requiring the use of physical force. Because of these limitations, Golden contended that Westark had effectively terminated his employment on January 10, 1995, and that his subsequent attempts to gain suitable employment were in vain.

The ALJ entered an order finding that Golden had suffered a 5% permanent physical impairment rating and a 15% permanent partial disability, or loss-of-income, rating. As a result, the ALJ awarded Golden benefits at the rate of $119 per week for twenty-two and one-half weeks for his 5% permanent physical impairment and concluded that the offset statute, § 11-9-522(f), did not apply to these benefits. With respect to the 15% permanent partial disability rating, the ALJ determined that any weekly compensation benefits would be set off, dollar-for-dollar, pursuant to § 11-9-522(f) against the $575 per month received by Golden in social security retirement benefits. Because of the offset, the ALJ concluded that Golden was not entitled to receive any benefits for his permanent partial disability.

The case was appealed to the full Workers’ Compensation Commission. On August 14, 1996, the Commission, with one dissenter, determined that the term “disability,” as used in the Workers’ Compensation Act, included both a physical-impairment component and a loss-of-earning-capacity component. The Commission, accordingly, concluded that Golden had suffered a 20% permanent partial disability and that the entire amount of Golden’s benefits should be set off, dollar for dollar, against the $575 per month award of social security retirement benefits. Hence, the Commission concluded that Golden was entitled to no award. The Commission also determined that the offset provision of § 11-9-522(f) did not violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

I. Substantial Evidence of 20% Disability

We first consider the Commission’s conclusion that Golden suffered a permanent partial disability of 20% to the body as a whole, with 5% representing the permanent anatomical impairment and 15% representing his loss in earning capacity. Golden contends that there was no substantial evidence to support the Commission’s determination that he only be awarded compensation based on a 20% permanent partial disability. Nonetheless, although he requests a higher disability rating, he does not submit a figure to this court which he deems appropriate but relies instead on this court to fix an appropriate percentage.

In reviewing appeals from the Commission, we view the evidence in the light most favorable to the Commission’s decision and affirm when it is supported by substantial evidence. Olsten Kimberly Quality Care v. Pettey, 328 Ark. 381, 944 S.W.2d 524 (1997); Gansky v. Hi-Tech Eng’g, 325 Ark. 163, 924 S.W.2d 790 (1996). Substantial evidence exists if reasonable minds could reach the same conclusion. Kuhn v. Majestic Hotel, 324 Ark. 21, 918 S.W.2d 158 (1996); Plante v. Tyson Foods, Inc., 319 Ark. 126, 890 S.W.2d 253 (1994). This court will not reverse the Commission’s decision unless fair-minded persons considering the same facts could not have reached the same conclusion. Id.

The Commission reached a 20% permanent partial disability rating for Golden after agreeing with the same conclusion reached by the ALJ. In examining the evidence presented, we note where Golden’s treating physician, Dr. Peter Irwin, opined that Golden had suffered a 5% physical impairment rating, and the ALJ and the Commission added a 15% permanent partial disability rating for loss of income. Taking into consideration Golden’s testimony about what he could do and could not do, his physical limitations, age, education, previous work experience and the opinion of his treating physician, we cannot say that substantial evidence does not support the Commission’s conclusion that there was suitable employment available to him in both the private security and janitorial fields. Nor do we conclude that this conclusion is unreasonable.

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Bluebook (online)
969 S.W.2d 154, 333 Ark. 41, 1998 Ark. LEXIS 262, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/golden-v-westark-community-college-ark-1998.