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

2002 WY 62, 44 P.3d 90, 2002 Wyo. LEXIS 60
CourtWyoming Supreme Court
DecidedApril 16, 2002
DocketNo. 01-127
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 2002 WY 62 (Logue 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
Logue v. State ex rel. Wyoming Workers' Safety & Compensation Division, 2002 WY 62, 44 P.3d 90, 2002 Wyo. LEXIS 60 (Wyo. 2002).

Opinions

VOIGT, Justice.

[11] The Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH) awarded Judy B. Logue (the appellant) worker's compensation benefits for a neck injury, but denied benefits for a lower back injury. Following a contested case hearing, the hearing examiner found that the appellant failed timely to report and file her claim for the alleged back injury. This created a presumption that the benefits for the back injury would be denied unless the appellant could establish by clear and convine-ing evidence that neither her employer nor the Wyoming Workers' Safety and Compensation Division (the Division) was prejudiced by the late filing. The appellant presented no evidence to rebut the presumption, and the hearing examiner denied benefits for the back injury. We affirm.

ISSUES

[12] The appellant states the issue as:

Whether Appellant failed to timely report and file a report of her low back injury.

The Division, as appellee, phrases the issue as:

Did the Hearing Examiner correctly find that Appellant's reporting obligations arose when she knew, no later than January 2000, that her back injury was work-related and compensable?

FACTS

[13] The appellant worked as a meat cutter at a Safeway store in Casper. In October 1999, the appellant suffered an injury to her neck while lifting a case of large frozen turkeys from a pallet.1 The appellant testified that prior to that date, she did not have any physical problems associated with her work at Safeway.2 The appellant believed [93]*93she had pulled a muscle in her neck and told her immediate supervisor about the incident after she finished unloading the pallet. She testified that she felt a pop in her neck and began experiencing pain in her neck shortly after the incident. Approximately two weeks later, the appellant tripped over a pallet. She testified she thought she had pulled a muscle in her back. She did not report this injury to her supervisor. The appellant further testified that after the second injury, her pain would come and go but never went completely away, and her leg often went to sleep.

[T4] In December of 1999, the pain worsened. The appellant testified that she knew sometime after Christmas 1999 that her neck and back symptoms had increased and the pain had not subsided. She had not, at that point, consulted with a doctor. On May 23, 2000, when she went for an annual checkup, the appellant told her family physician about the pain in her neck and back, and stated, "I can't stand the pain in my neck no longer." She further stated that her leg was constantly going numb, and that it felt like it was continually being stuck with needles. The doctor ordered x-rays and informed the appellant on May 24, 2000, that she had degenerative disks in her neck and back, and limited her to lifting no more than twenty-five pounds.

[T5] The appellant was referred to two additional doctors and was ultimately referred to a rehabilitative specialist, Dr. Hem-ler, for treatment. The appellant saw Dr. Hemler on September 22, 2000. He diagnosed her with degenerative osteoarthritis with cervical (neck) segmental pain and lumbar (back) degenerative disease. Dr. Hemler concluded that these conditions arose directly as a result of the appellant's employment and that she had a work-related injury. He again saw the appellant on November 9, 2000, and stated that the appellant's condition was unlikely to improve medically. Dr. Hemler diagnosed the appellant as having five percent impairment in the neck area and having five percent impairment to the back. This equaled a ten percent total body impairment, which he considered to be directly related to the appellant's combined work-related injuries.

[T6] After learning on May 24, 2000, that she had degenerative disks in her neck and back, the appellant informed the Safeway store manager of her condition. He prepared an Employer's Report of Injury, which he fazed to Safeway's corporate office on May 25, 2000. The manager's report indicated that the appellant notified him of her condition on May 25, 2000, but left blank the date of her actual injury. The appellant completed an Employee's Report of Injury on May 25, 2000, indicating that the date of injury was May 28, 2000, and that she reported the incident to her employer on May 25, 2000. The appellant filed a worker's compensation claim on June 9, 2000.

[17] - On August 8, 2000, the Division sent the appellant a Final Determination letter in response to her claim. It concluded that it could not pay her benefits because: (1) the Division was prejudiced by the late filing of the claim, and (2) the Division had not received any medical information relating to the injury. The appellant timely objected to this determination on August 18, 2000. After a contested case hearing on March 12, 2001, the OAH issued an Order Awarding and Denying Benefits dated April 12, 2001. The OAH awarded the appellant benefits for medical and temporary total disability for her neck condition, but denied benefits for the back injury. The appellant petitioned the district court on April 26, 2001, for review of the OAH's order. The district court certified review to this Court on June 4, 2001.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

[18] When the district court certifies directly to this Court an administrative agency's decision, we review that agency decision "under the same appellate standards applicable to the reviewing court of the first instance." Matter of Bessemer Mt., 856 P.2d 450, 453 (Wyo.1993), cert. denied, 519 U.S. 1091, 117 S.Ct. 765, 136 L.Ed.2d 712 (1997). Our review is limited to a determination of the factors specified in Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 16-3-l14(c) (LexisNexis 2001). The reviewing court shall:

[94]*94Hold 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; _
Ce
(E) Unsupported by substantial evidence in a case reviewed on the record of an agency hearing provided by statute.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 16-8-114(c)@).

The interpretation and correct application of the provisions of the Wyoming Worker's Compensation Act are a question of law over which our review authority is plenary. In re Jensen, 2001 WY 51, ¶ 10, 24 P.3d 1133, 1136 (Wyo.2001). We affirm an administrative agency's conclusions of law only if they are in accord with the law. We do not afford any deference to the agency's determination, and we will correct any error made by the agency in either interpreting or applying the law. Id.

[T10] In reviewing the findings of fact, we examine the entire record to determine whether there is substantial evidence to support an agency's findings. Id. If the agency's decision is supported by substantial evidence, we cannot properly substitute our judgment for that of the agency, and we must uphold the findings on appeal. Substantial evidence is relevant evidence that a reasonable mind might accept in support of the agency's conclusion. It is more than a scintilla of evidence. Id.

[¥11] In a worker's compensation case, the claimant has the burden of proving the statutory elements that comprise a "com-pensable injury." Matter of Workers' Compensation Claim of Jacobs, 924 P.2d 982, 984 (Wyo.1996).

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2002 WY 62, 44 P.3d 90, 2002 Wyo. LEXIS 60, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/logue-v-state-ex-rel-wyoming-workers-safety-compensation-division-wyo-2002.