Kohlman v. Indiana University

670 N.E.2d 42, 1996 Ind. App. LEXIS 1066, 1996 WL 467261
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedAugust 19, 1996
Docket93A02-9512-EX-750
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 670 N.E.2d 42 (Kohlman v. Indiana University) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Kohlman v. Indiana University, 670 N.E.2d 42, 1996 Ind. App. LEXIS 1066, 1996 WL 467261 (Ind. Ct. App. 1996).

Opinions

OPINION

FRIEDLANDER, Judge.

Evelia R. Kohlman appeals a negative award entered by the Worker’s Compensation Board of Indiana (the Board), which denied her request for temporary partial disability benefits, presenting the following restated issue for review:

Does the Indiana Worker’s Compensation Act permit an employer to deny TPD benefits after an employee’s injuries have reached a permanent and quiescent state?

We affirm.

The facts favorable to the judgment are that on September 15, 1993, Kohlman was driving a bus for her employer, Indiana University (I.U.) when she hit a “pothole”. The force of the impact jerked the steering wheel, resulting in injury to Kohlman’s neck, wrist, hand, arm, and shoulder. I.U. acknowledged liability for Kohlman’s injuries under the Indiana Worker’s Compensation Act (the Act) and, pursuant to an agreement, paid Kohlman $246.13 per week in temporary total disability benefits (TTD) during the time she was unable to work.

In December of 1993, Kohlman’s treating physician released her to return to work with restrictions which prevented her from driving a bus. Kohlman sought treatment from her own physician, who released her to return to work on January 16, 1995, with similar work restrictions. Kohlman’s physician declared that she had a 4% permanent partial impairment (PPI) rating. Because of the physical restrictions placed upon her, Kohl-man was unable to return to her previous job. Instead, she returned to work for I.U. as a receptionist, earning $170.85 per week.

In addition to paying TTD benefits while she was unable to work, I.U. also compensated Kohlman in the amount of $2,000 based upon the 4% permanent impairment rating and paid all of her medical bills. A hearing was conducted before a single member of the Board, at which time the parties stipulated [43]*43that the only issue was whether Kohlman was entitled to temporary partial disability (TPD) benefits because of the continuing wage loss she incurred as a result of the permanent restrictions placed upon her. Following a hearing before a single Board member, Kohlman was denied TPD benefits. The hearing officer entered the following findings and conclusions:

The sole issue presented in this case is whether or not plaintiff is entitled to temporary partial disability benefits because of the continuing wage loss she is currently suffering as a result of the permanent restrictions placed upon her.
Without addressing each argument advanced by plaintiff in her well-presented Memorandum of Law, the issue is best addressed by the quotation for [sic] Covarubias v. Decatur Casting, etc., 171 Ind. App. 533, 358 N.E.2d 174 (2 Dist.1976) contained in page 11 of plaintiffs memorandum.
Once the injury has reached a permanent and quiescent state, however, the treatment period ends, and the extent of the permanent injury is assessed for compensation purposes. Permanent total disability and permanent partial impairment are intended to compensate for this permanent loss.
Thus once the injury has stabilized to a permanent and quiescent state, temporary disability ceases, and the extent of permanent injury resulting in a degree of impairment or total disability is determined pursuant to the schedules in Ind. Ann. Stat. 22-3-3-10, supra. (Emphasis added)
This page leads to the conclusion that temporary partial disability ceases once an injury has stabilized to a permanent nd [sic] quiescent state.
Temporary total disability and • temporary partial disability are two legislative schemes for compensating injured employees during a period of temporary disability. The two schemes have similarities and differences. Both are intended to provide wage replacement benefits during the injured employee’s period of disability. The language of Covarubias quoted above encompasses both forms of benefits and instructs that such benefits cease once permanence and quiescence is realized.
Said hearing judge now finds for the defendant and against plaintiff on plaintiffs Application for Benefits filed April 20, 1994.

Record at 59-60. Kohlman appealed to the full Board, which rejected her argument that there was no statutory authority for the denial of TPD benefits. Kohlman appeals the Board’s denial.1

Kohlman contends that the following provision authorizes TPD benefits in the instant case:

With respect to injuries occurring on and after July 1, 1974 causing temporary partial disability for work, compensation shall be paid to the injured employee during such disability as prescribed in section 7 of this chapter, a weekly compensation equal to 66 and 2/3rds percent of the difference between his average weekly wages and the weekly wages at which he is actually employed after the injury, for a period not to exceed 300 weeks....

Ind.Code Ann. § 22-3-3-9 (West 1991) (emphasis supplied). Subsection 9 undeniably creates an obligation on the part of employers to pay TPD benefits under certain circumstances. However, determining the scope and duration of that obligation requires that we consider other relevant provisions of the Act in conjunction with subsection 9. This is especially true when determining the availability of TPD benefits after an employee receives compensation for permanent impairment.

This court has determined that an employer may terminate temporary disability benefits once the permanency of the employee’s injury has been established. In Covarubias v. Decatur Casting, etc., 171 Ind.App. 533, 358 N.E.2d 174 (1976), we stated:

[0]nce the injury has stabilized to a permanent and quiescent state, temporary disability ceases, and the extent of permanent injury resulting in a degree of impair[44]*44ment or total disability is determined pursuant to the schedules in Ind.Ann.Stat. 22-3-3-10....

Id, 358 N.E.2d at 176 (emphasis in original).

In Covarubias, the claimant argued that he was permanently and totally disabled because he was unable to return to work of the same kind and character as that which he was doing at the time of the injury. In response to that contention, this court observed that “this argument overlooks the distinction between ‘temporary total disability’ and ‘permanent total disability”’ [emphasis in original]. Id., 358 N.E.2d at 176. We then determined that:

Temporary total disability payments are intended to compensate the employee for the treatment period immediately following the injury.... It is during this period that the ability to return to work of the same kind or character is relevant to a workmen’s compensation claim. Once the treatment has reached a permanent and quiescent state, however, the treatment period ends, and the extent of the permanent injury is assessed for compensation purposes.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Perkins v. Jayco
905 N.E.2d 1085 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2009)
Mark A. Mack v. Great Dane Trailers, Cross-Appellee
308 F.3d 776 (Seventh Circuit, 2002)
Campbell v. Shelton
727 N.E.2d 495 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2000)
Kohlman v. Indiana University
670 N.E.2d 42 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1996)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
670 N.E.2d 42, 1996 Ind. App. LEXIS 1066, 1996 WL 467261, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kohlman-v-indiana-university-indctapp-1996.