Kemery v. SAIF Corp.

918 P.2d 124, 141 Or. App. 314, 1996 Ore. App. LEXIS 714
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedMay 29, 1996
Docket92-13322; CA A88234
StatusPublished

This text of 918 P.2d 124 (Kemery v. SAIF Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Oregon primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Kemery v. SAIF Corp., 918 P.2d 124, 141 Or. App. 314, 1996 Ore. App. LEXIS 714 (Or. Ct. App. 1996).

Opinion

DE MUNIZ, J.

Claimant seeks review of an order of the Workers’ Compensation Board (Board) holding that claimant’s right to benefits under the Inmate Injury Act, ORS 655.505 et seq,1 was time-barred, even though he reported his injury to a supervisor within the applicable 90-day time limit. ORS 655.520(3). We affirm.

Claimant, an inmate at Oregon State Penitentiary, accidentally cut off his finger while working in the prison kitchen on November 4,1991. On January 10,1992, claimant filled out and signed a “Report of Injury” form and gave it to his supervisor. His supervisor filled out and signed the pertinent portions of that form on January 21,1992, and gave it to a prison safety officer. Department of General Services (department), which at that time administered inmate injury claims, did not receive the form until July 8,1992, apparently because the safety officer neglected to forward it. SAIF Corporation, acting for the department, denied the claim because it was not “filed with the department” within 90 days of claimant’s injury, as required by ORS 655.520(3). Claimant appealed, and a referee agreed with SAIF. The Board affirmed the referee.

ORS 655.520(3) provides, in part:

“The rights to benefits under ORS 655.505 to 655.550 [the Inmate Injury Act] shall be barred unless written claim is filed with the department within 90 days after the injury, or if death results therefrom, within 90 days after death.”

Claimant assigns error to the Board’s holding that ORS 655.520(3) bars his claim, arguing that he provided a written injury report to his supervisor within 90 days of his injury and should not be held responsible for the safety officer’s failure to forward that form for more than six months. SAIF contends that the plain language of ORS 655.520(3) bars the claim because it was not “filed” with the department for more than eight months after the injury.

[317]*317Whether claimant met the statutory deadline depends on the meaning of the term “filed,” as used in ORS 655.520(3). Construction and application of a statute is a question of law. ORS 183.482(8)(a); Salem-Keizer School Dist. #24J v. Employment Dept., 137 Or App 320, 323, 904 P2d 1082 (1995). In construing a statute, we must discern the legislature’s intent. PGE v. Bureau of Labor and Industries, 317 Or 606, 610, 859 P2d 1143 (1993). At the first level of analysis, we consider the statute’s text and context. Id. at 610-11. If intent is clear at this level, our inquiry ends. Id. at 611.

Claimant essentially argues that he “filed” a claim once he handed his supervisor the injury report form. However, the text of ORS 655.520(3) requires that the claim be “filed with the department.” (Emphasis supplied.) At the time of claimant’s injury, ORS 655.505(2) defined “Department” as “the Department of General Services.”2 See also ORS 655.520(1) (1991) (inmate compensation claims “shall be filed by application with the Department of General Services”). Claimant’s prison supervisor was an employee of the Department of Corrections, not the Department of General Services.

The context of ORS 655.520(3) also does not support claimant’s position. That context includes related provisions of the same statute. PGE, 317 Or at 611. ORS 655.520(1) at that time provided, in part:

“Claims for entitlement to benefits under ORS 655.505 to 655.550 [the Inmate Injury Act] shall be filed by application with the Department of General Services in the manner provided for worker’s claims in ORS chapter 656, to the extent not inconsistent with ORS 655.505 to 655.550[.]” (Emphasis supplied.)

Through that statute, the legislature intended to incorporate into the Inmate Injury Act all the relevant filing provisions of the Workers’ Compensation Act (ORS chapter 656), to the extent that those provisions are not inconsistent with the [318]*318inmate compensation statute. Dept, of Justice v. Spear, 308 Or 594, 596, 783 P2d 998 (1989); Johnson u. SAIF, 267 Or 299, 303, 516 P2d 1289 (1973).

At the time of claimant’s injury, workers instituted a claim under the Workers’ Compensation Act by providing their employers with written notice of their injury within 30 days, either by mailing it to their employer or personally delivering it to their employer, foreman or other supervisor. ORS 656.265(l)-(3).3 Workers under that system fulfill their “filing” obligations by doing essentially what claimant did here — notifying the employer of their injury in writing within the applicable time period. However, filing procedures under the Workers’ Compensation Act do not apply to inmate compensation claims because they are “inconsistent” with the Inmate Injury Act. ORS 655.520(1); see also Dept, of Justice v. Bryant, 101 Or App 226, 229, 790 P2d 42, rev den 310 Or 205 (1990) (exceptions to late filing in ORS 656.265(4) are inconsistent with, and thus do not apply to, inmate injury claims under ORS chapter 655).

The Workers’ Compensation Act at that time required that workers notify their “employer” within 30 days of injury, ORS 656.265(1), but the inmate compensation statute then required filing with the “department” within 90 days. ORS 655.520(3).

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Related

Johnson v. State Accident Insurance Fund
516 P.2d 1289 (Oregon Supreme Court, 1973)
Salem-Keizer School District 24J v. Employment Department
904 P.2d 1082 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 1995)
Dept. of Justice v. Spear
783 P.2d 998 (Oregon Supreme Court, 1989)
Portland General Electric Co. v. Bureau of Labor & Industries
859 P.2d 1143 (Oregon Supreme Court, 1993)
State, Department of Justice v. Bryant
790 P.2d 42 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 1990)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
918 P.2d 124, 141 Or. App. 314, 1996 Ore. App. LEXIS 714, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kemery-v-saif-corp-orctapp-1996.