In Re Worker's Comp. Claim of Wright

983 P.2d 1227
CourtWyoming Supreme Court
DecidedJuly 12, 1999
Docket98-294
StatusPublished

This text of 983 P.2d 1227 (In Re Worker's Comp. Claim of Wright) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Wyoming Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Re Worker's Comp. Claim of Wright, 983 P.2d 1227 (Wyo. 1999).

Opinion

983 P.2d 1227 (1999)

In the Matter of the WORKER'S COMPENSATION CLAIM OF Shawn T. WRIGHT, an Employee of Wyoming Analytical Laboratories, Inc.:
State of Wyoming, ex rel., Wyoming Workers' Safety and Compensation Division, Appellant (Respondent),
v.
Shawn T. Wright, Appellee (Petitioner).

No. 98-294.

Supreme Court of Wyoming.

July 12, 1999.

*1229 Gay Woodhouse, Attorney General; John W. Renneisen, Deputy Attorney General; Gerald W. Laska, Senior Assistant Attorney General; and Bernard P. Haggerty, Senior Assistant Attorney General. Argument by Mr. Haggerty, Representing Appellant.

George Santini, Cheyenne, WY, Representing Appellee.

Before LEHMAN, C.J., and THOMAS, MACY, GOLDEN, and HILL, JJ.

HILL, Justice.

After an expedited hearing, the Medical Commission (the Commission) found that Appellee Shawn Wright should be awarded compensation for tests conducted to determine whether there was a causal connection between his current condition and his initial injury. However, the Commission found that these tests established that his current malady was not work-related and, therefore, future claims for the same injury were not compensable. On appeal, the district court held that the Medical Commission was without statutory authority to hold an expedited procedure. As a result, the district court reversed the Medical Commission's order, and remanded the matter for a full evidentiary hearing. Appellant Wyoming Workers' Safety and Compensation Division (the Division) then appealed the matter to this Court. We find that Wright clearly waived his procedural claims by his failure to object to the expedited procedure and by virtue of his subsequent participation. Consequently, we reverse the district court's order and reinstate the order of the Medical Commission with clarification.

ISSUES

The Division phrases the issue as follows:

The Medical Commission decided the contested case in an expedited proceeding according to its Rules. The Employee did not object.
A. Was the Medical Commission's decision within its statutory authority?

Appellee Shawn Wright (Wright) divides this issue into three parts:

1. Did the Medical Commission exceed its jurisdiction and authority by failing to adhere to the contested case procedures mandated under the Wyoming Administrative Procedure Act?
2. Does the Medical Commission have statutory authority to convert a trial-type contested case hearing into an expedited proceeding?
3. Does the Medical Commission have jurisdiction to prospectively deny claims for workers' compensation benefits?

FACTS

After receiving a compensable injury in 1995,[1] Wright underwent an MRI in December of 1996 to determine whether there was an intercranial cause for his continuing problems relating to the use of his right arm. Thereafter, Wright was referred to Dr. Bennett for neuropsychological testing in April of 1997. The results of the MRI were normal, and Dr. Bennett concluded that Wright's condition was not related to a brain injury. Thus, the tests demonstrated no causal relationship between Wright's current complaints and his 1995 injury.

Wright submitted two claims to the Division for the MRI in December of 1996. The first was a hospital bill for $839.00, and the second, a $162.00 charge from the radiologist. The Division denied these claims, stating the results of the MRI demonstrated it was not connected to the original injury. Wright objected, *1230 and the matter was referred by the Division to the Medical Commission.

In its referral, the Division requested a small claims hearing because the amount at issue was less than $2,000.00. Wright utilized his opportunity to object, arguing that the small claims venue was inappropriate because future claims he intended to file relating to his present injury would exceed the $2,000.00 limit. The Medical Commission heeded Wright's objection and issued an order converting the small claims proceeding into a contested case hearing.

The Medical Commission then issued a scheduling order which stated that:

6. Upon request of a party or on the Commission's own motion, a medically contested case may be expedited if the case i[s]:
(i) a matter in which there are no disputed issues of material fact; or
(ii) a matter in which the parties agree to an expedited proceeding.

Following the submission of disclosure statements by both parties, the Medical Commission issued an Order Expediting Case, pursuant to Chapter 11, Section 1 of the Rules of the Medical Commission. The order provided the parties ten days to request reconsideration of the decision to expedite. Neither party objected, and thereafter Wright filed additional exhibits with the Commission. The exhibits filed by Wright contained medical reports concerning consultations and treatments subsequent to the claims filed with the Division. The record does not indicate which, if any, of these charges were filed as claims.

The Commission served the parties with its decision on August 29, 1997. The Commission found that the MRI and the neuropsychological testing were compensable, as they were reasonable and necessary to rule out causation as to the compensable injury and Wright's current complaints. However, the Commission found that the additional procedures were not compensable, stating:

Any and all claims by Shawn Wright for a MRI of the brain and neuropsychological testing by Thomas L. Bennett, Ph.D. shall be calculated and paid at the rates provided by the Wyoming Workers' Compensation Act and the Rules and Regulations of the Objector/Defendant. Any and all claims for additional testing or treatment of his right upper extremity tremors is not compensable under the Wyoming Workers' Compensation Act.

One day prior to service of the Commission's order, Wright filed a second notice of additional exhibits containing medical reports from recent consultations. Upon receiving the Commission's decision, Wright filed a timely notice for reconsideration, claiming newly discovered evidence as found in his latest exhibits, and charging error as a matter of law in the denial of claims which had not yet been filed with the Division. On September 24, 1997, Wright filed another notice of additional exhibits containing his most recent medical reports.

Two days later, Wright filed a petition for judicial review. In his brief to the district court, he raised the following issues:

1. Does the Medical Commission have jurisdiction to prospectively deny claims for workers' compensation benefits?
2. Did the Medical Commission exceed its jurisdiction by ruling on matters which had not been referred to it for contested case determination?
3. Does the Medical Commission have statutory authority to convert a contested case into an expedited proceeding?
4. Did the Medical Commission by hearing this matter as an expedited proceeding violate the contested case provisions of the Wyoming Administrative Procedure Act?

The district court did not address Wright's issues designated 1, 2, and 3, nor did it address the Division's argument that Wright's claims were waived. Instead, the district court found that the dispositive issue was the Commission's lack of statutory authority to conduct expedited proceedings. The district court, therefore, reversed and remanded the case for a full evidentiary hearing. The Division appeals from this order.

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983 P.2d 1227, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-workers-comp-claim-of-wright-wyo-1999.