Kunkle v. State ex rel. Wyoming Workers' Safety & Compensation Division

2005 WY 49, 109 P.3d 887, 2005 Wyo. LEXIS 55, 2005 WL 850305
CourtWyoming Supreme Court
DecidedApril 14, 2005
DocketNo. 04-131
StatusPublished
Cited by20 cases

This text of 2005 WY 49 (Kunkle v. State ex rel. Wyoming Workers' Safety & Compensation Division) 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
Kunkle v. State ex rel. Wyoming Workers' Safety & Compensation Division, 2005 WY 49, 109 P.3d 887, 2005 Wyo. LEXIS 55, 2005 WL 850305 (Wyo. 2005).

Opinion

KITE, Justice.

[¶ 1] Justin C. Kunkle filed a claim for workers’ compensation benefits claiming he was injured while working in Teton County for Shane Demler Masonry (Demler), a Utah based construction company. The Wyoming Workers’ Compensation Division (Division) denied Mr. Kunkle’s claim, he objected and, after a hearing, the Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH) also denied his claim, finding that Mr. Kunkle did not meet his burden of proof and that Demler “was not an employer principally located in Wyoming.” Mr. Kunkle appealed to the district court, which affirmed the denial of benefits, and he now appeals to this Court. We reverse.

ISSUES

[¶ 2] Mr. Kunkle presents a single issue for review:

The Office of Administrative Hearings erred as a matter of law by applying W.S. [§ 27-14-301] to this ease, and further, by interpreting this statute in a manner that resulted in the denial of workers’ compensation coverage.

The State rephrases the issue as follows:

Whether the Hearing Examiner’s denial of Workers’ Compensation coverage, to an employee of a non-resident employer who has no principal place of business in Wyoming, is in accordance with law.

FACTS

[¶ 3] On January 21, 2002, Demler hired Mr. Kunkle to work as a stone mason on the Four Seasons Hotel in Teton Village, a project which lasted over a year. Demler is a Utah company and was contracted to provide masonry services to the project. On the same day Demler hired Mr. Kunkle, he injured his right knee when he fell from icy scaffolding and landed on a heater, twisting his knee and tearing ligaments. Mr. Kunkle reported the injury to his foreman and was taken to St. John’s Hospital in Jackson. Following treatment at the hospital, Mr. Kunkle was given a leg brace and prescribed physical therapy. No surgery was performed.

[¶ 4] Mr. Kunkle’s physician certified temporary total disability from January 21, 2002, to March 26, 2002, and he applied for both Utah and Wyoming workers’ compensation benefits. The Utah workers’ compensation division denied Mr. Kunkle’s claim on February 13, 2002. Likewise, on March 20, 2002, the Division issued a final determination concluding, “pursuant to Wyoming Statute 27-14-301(a)(i), coverage is required only if the principal place of business is localized in Wyoming. Shane Demler Masonry did not elect to obtain coverage for Wyoming residents on the date of injury.”1

[¶ 5] Mr. Kunkle objected to the Division’s determination and a hearing was held. At the hearing, Mr. Kunkle contended that Demler’s contacts within Wyoming established that Demler was not a temporary employer, but rather was required to obtain workers’ compensation coverage in Wyoming. However, the hearing examiner affirmed the Division’s denial of benefits, concluding that “[Demler] was not an employer principally located in Wyoming, and [Mr. Kunkle] should not receive benefits under the Wyoming Workers’ Compensation Act.”

[¶ 6] Mr. Kunkle timely filed with the district court a petition for review of the hearing examiner’s order. On March 11, 2004, the district court affirmed the order and Mr. Kunkle now appeals.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

[¶ 7] We review agency action following contested case hearings in accordance with Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 16-3-114(c) (LexisNexis 2003), which provides as follows:

(c) To the extent necessary to make a decision and when presented, the reviewing court shall decide all relevant questions of law, interpret constitutional and statutory provisions, and determine the meaning or applicability of the terms of an agency action. In making the following determinations, the court shall review the whole [889]*889record or those parts of it cited by a party and due account shall be taken of the rule of prejudicial error. The reviewing court shall:
(i) Compel agency action unlawfully withheld or unreasonably delayed; and
(ii) Hold unlawful and set aside agency action, findings and conclusions found to be:
(A) Arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion or otherwise not in accordance with law;
(B) Contrary to constitutional right, power, privilege or immunity;
(C) In excess of statutory jurisdiction, authority or limitations or lacking statutory right;
(D) Without observance of procedure required by law; or
(E) Unsupported by substantial evidence in a case reviewed on the record of an agency hearing provided by statute.

[¶ 8] Furthermore, in Hoff v. State ex rel. Wyo. Workers’ Safety and Compensation Div., 2002 WY 129, ¶¶ 5-8, 53 P.3d 107, ¶¶ 5-8 (Wyo.2002), we reiterated the proper application of the substantial evidence and arbitrary and capricious standards of review:

Our standard of review when reviewing administrative agency action was recently clarified in the case of Newman v. State ex. rel. Workers’ Safety and Compensation Div., 2002 WY 91, 49 P.3d 163 (Wyo.2002)....
In appeals where both parties submit evidence at the administrative hearing, Newman mandates that appellate review be limited to application of the substantial evidence test. Newman, 2002 WY 91, 22, 49 P.3d 163. This is true regardless of which party appeals from the agency decision. In addition, this court is required to review the entire record in making its ultimate determination on appeal. Newman, at ¶ 19 and ¶¶ 24-26.

The substantial evidence test to be applied is as follows:

“In reviewing findings of fact, we examine the entire record to determine whether there is substantial evidence to support an agency’s findings. If the agency’s decision is supported by substantial evidence, we cannot properly substitute our judgment for that of the agency and must uphold the findings on appeal. Substantial evidence is relevant evidence which a reasonable mind might accept in support of the agency’s conclusions. It is more than a scintilla of evidence.”
Newman, at ¶ 12 (quoting State ex rel. Workers’ Safety and Compensation Div. v. Jensen, 2001 WY 51, ¶ 10, 24 P.3d 1133, ¶ 10 (Wyo.2001)).
Even when the factual findings are found to be sufficient under the substantial evidence test, Newman further concludes this court may be required to apply the arbitrary-and-capricious standard as a “safety net” to catch other agency action which prejudiced a party’s substantial right to the administrative proceeding or which might be contrary to the other WAPA review standards....

Because Mr. Kunkle and the Division both presented evidence, we will review the decision under the substantial evidence standard.

[¶ 9] We afford no deference to the agency’s legal conclusions. Statutory interpretation raises questions of law over which our review authority is plenary. Conclusions of law made by an administrative agency are affirmed only if they are in accord with the law. Wesaw v. Quality Maintenance, 2001 WY 17, ¶ 8, 19 P.3d 500, ¶ 8 (Wyo.2001).

DISCUSSION

[¶ 10] Mr. Kunkle argues that Wyo. Stat. Ann.

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Bluebook (online)
2005 WY 49, 109 P.3d 887, 2005 Wyo. LEXIS 55, 2005 WL 850305, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kunkle-v-state-ex-rel-wyoming-workers-safety-compensation-division-wyo-2005.