Graves v. Brockway-Smith Co.

2012 ME 128, 55 A.3d 456, 2012 Me. LEXIS 128
CourtSupreme Judicial Court of Maine
DecidedNovember 15, 2012
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 2012 ME 128 (Graves v. Brockway-Smith Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Judicial Court of Maine primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Graves v. Brockway-Smith Co., 2012 ME 128, 55 A.3d 456, 2012 Me. LEXIS 128 (Me. 2012).

Opinions

SILVER, J.

[¶ 1] Brockway-Smith Company and MMTA Workers’ Compensation Trust appeal from a decision of a Workers’ Compensation Board hearing officer (Goodnough, HO) awarding incapacity benefits to Richard Graves for a 2003 work-related injury to his left shoulder. Brockway-Smith contends that Graves’s claim for the 2003 injury is barred for failure to file it within the six-year limitations period in 39-A M.R.S. § 306(2) (2011).1 We are asked to decide whether that six-year period was tolled until the employer filed a first report of injury with the Workers’ Compensation Board, even though at the time of the injury the employer was not required to file a first report pursuant to 39-A M.R.S. § 303 (2011). We agree that the limitations period did not begin to run until the first report was filed, and we affirm the hearing officer’s decision.

I. BACKGROUND

[¶ 2] Richard Graves worked for Brockway-Smith first as a truck driver, then as a warehouse worker, from 1986 until 2009. Graves suffered a gradual overuse injury to his left shoulder in January 2003, caused by repeatedly cutting open cardboard boxes with a knife.2 He was diagnosed with calcific tendinitis, and received treatment through May of 2003. He did not miss any work but was under a restriction at that time to minimize use of the left shoulder. He continued to experience low-level pain, and Brockway-Smith accommodated him on an informal basis. Graves received no additional medical treatment for his shoulder until May 2008. He underwent left shoulder replacement surgery in 2009.

[¶ 3] Graves timely reported the 2003 injury to Brockway-Smith. Brockway-Smith completed a first report of injury, but because it was a “medical only” injury — Graves did not lose any time from work — Brockway-Smith was not required to and did not file the report with the Board. See 39-A M.R.S. § 303. Brock-way-Smith paid all medical bills for the injury, the last of which was paid on June 27, 2003.

[458]*458[¶ 4] Graves filed a petition for award for the 2008 shoulder injury on March 15, 2010. Brockway-Smith filed a first report of injury after receiving the petition, and asserted as a defense that Graves’s petition was filed beyond the limitations period provided for in 39-A M.R.S. § 806(2).

[¶ 5] The hearing officer determined that the claim was not barred, following our decision in Wilson v. Bath Iron Works, 2008 ME 47, 942 A.2d 1237, abrogated by Jensen v. S.D. Warren Co., 2009 ME 35, ¶ 26, 968 A.2d 528. In Wilson, we held that pursuant to 39-A M.R.S. § 306(1) (2007),3 “the statute of limitations expires two years after the date of injury or two years after the date the employer files the first report of injury, whichever is later.” 2008 ME 47, ¶ 15, 942 A.2d 1237. Based on the language in section 306(2), the hearing officer concluded that the six-year period similarly did not begin to run until the employer filed the first report of injury in 2010.

[¶ 6] The hearing officer proceeded to grant the petition and awarded Graves partial incapacity benefits for the period following his termination from Brockway-Smith (January 30, 2009, until June 9, 2009); total incapacity benefits for the period following his shoulder replacement surgery (June 9, 2009, until September 3, 2009); and partial incapacity benefits thereafter.

[¶ 7] Graves filed a motion for additional findings of fact and conclusions of law pursuant to 39-A M.R.S. § 318 (2011), and both parties filed proposed findings. The hearing officer granted the motion and, based on evidence of a work search and our decision in Monaghan v. Jordan’s Meats, 2007 ME 100, 928 A.2d 786, changed the decision to award Graves ongoing 100% partial incapacity benefits beginning July 10, 2010. The hearing officer also issued additional findings of fact and conclusions of law regarding the six-year limitations period but did not alter the decision on that issue.

[¶ 8] Pursuant to 39-A M.R.S. § 320 (2011),4 the hearing officer then submitted to the full Workers’ Compensation Board the question of whether the holding in Wilson, which involved application of the two-year statute of limitations in 39-A M.R.S. § 306(1), should be applied to cases involving the six-year statute of limitations in section 306(2). The Board denied the request for review. Brockway-Smith then filed a petition for appellate review, which we granted pursuant to 39-A M.R.S. § 322(3) (2011) and.M.R.App. P. 23(c).

II. DISCUSSION

A. Statutes of Limitations and the Standard of Review

[¶ 9] We are called upon to construe the limitations period provided for in 39-A M.R.S. § 306(2). “When construing provisions of the Workers’ Compensation Act, our purpose is to give effect to the Legislature’s intent.” Hanson v. S.D. [459]*459Warren Co., 2010 ME 51, ¶ 12, 997 A.2d 730. “In so doing, we first look to the plain meaning of the statutory language, and construe that language to avoid absurd, illogical, or inconsistent results.” Id. We also consider “the whole statutory scheme of which the section at issue forms a part so that a harmonious result, presumably the intent of the Legislature, may be achieved.” Davis v. Scott Paper Co., 507 A.2d 581, 583 (Me.1986). “If the statutory language is ambiguous, we then look beyond the plain meaning and consider other indicia of legislative intent, including legislative history.” Damon v. S.D. Warren Co., 2010 ME 24, ¶ 10, 990 A.2d 1028. “Statutory language is ambiguous if it is reasonably susceptible of different interpretations.” Id.

[¶ 10] The parties in this case each argue that the Legislature’s intent is dis-cernable from the plain language of section 306(2), but they argue for competing plain language interpretations. Brockway-Smith contends that the language in section 306(2) means that the six-year limitations period begins to run when the employer has made a payment within the two-year period prescribed in 39-A M.R.S. § 306(1) (2011). Graves contends it means that the six-year period does not begin to run until a payment is made after the employer files a first report of injury.

B. Title 39-A M.R.S. § 306 (2011) and its Statutory Context

[¶ 11] Title 39-A M.R.S. § 3065 provides, in relevant part:

1. Statute of limitations. Except as provided in this section, a petition brought under this Act is barred unless filed within 2 years after the date of injury or the date the employee’s employer files a first report of injury as required in section 303, whichever is later.
2. Payment of benefits. If an employer or insurer pays benefits under this Act, with or without prejudice, within the period provided in subsection 1, the period during which an employee or other interested party must file a petition is 6 years from the date of the most recent payment.

[¶ 12] Title 39-A M.R.S. § 303 is referenced in section 306(1). Pursuant to section 303, an employer is not required to file a first report of injury until an employee has lost a day’s work.6 Section 303 provides, in relevant part:

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2012 ME 128, 55 A.3d 456, 2012 Me. LEXIS 128, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/graves-v-brockway-smith-co-me-2012.