Provo City v. Utah Labor Commission

2015 UT 32, 345 P.3d 1242, 2015 Utah LEXIS 79, 779 Utah Adv. Rep. 186, 2015 WL 502862
Utah Supreme Court·Decided February 6, 2015·No. 20120724·Published·Cited by 39 cases

Opinion

Justice DURHAM,

opinion of the Court:

INTRODUCTION

4 1 While driving a truck within the seope of his employment with Provo City, Duane Serrano was injured in a car accident. He later applied for and received permanent total disability benefits Provo City and the Workers Compensation Fund (collectively, WCF) appealed from the Utah Labor Commission's order awarding benefits, arguing that (1) Mr. Serrano failed to prove the elements of a permanent total disability claim; (2) the administrative law judge abused her discretion because she initially denied Mr. Serrano's claim, but then awarded benefits after the labor commission instructed her to reconsider the evidence; and (8) any award of benefits should not com-menee on the date that he was deemed to be permanently and totally disabled because of the extraordinary delay in resolving Mr. Serrano's claim. We conclude that none of these arguments merit reversal, and we affirm the labor commission's award of benefits.

BACKGROUND

12 Mr. Serrano was employed by Provo City as a facility service technician. While driving a truck within the seope of his employment, he was injured in an automobile accident. Mr. Serrano alleged that the accident aggravated a congenital spine condition, leading to chronic pain and other disabilities. After the accident, Mr. Serrano continued to work for Provo City. But more than four years later, he concluded that his symptoms were no longer manageable and requested an assignment to a less physically demanding job. When Provo City replied that a suitable position was not available, Mr. Serrano quit.

13 Mr. Serrano subsequently applied for permanent total disability compensation under the Workers' Compensation Act, alleging that by the time he quit, his condition had deteriorated to the point that he could no longer work. The administrative law judge assigned to adjudicate his claim received into evidence over twenty medical evaluations made by doctors and other experts. Although the evaluators generally agreed that Mr. Serrano suffered from continuing impairment caused by the accident, they differed as to its degree. Some doctors opined that Mr. Serrano was malingering, and that he could work if certain restrictions were observed. *1246 Another expert concluded that Mr. Serrano suffered from chronic pain and other ailments aggravated by even basic work activities and that, as a result, he was permanently and totally disabled.

14 After reviewing this evidence, the administrative law judge found that Mr. Serrano had not proven all of the required elements to receive permanent total disability compensation and dismissed his claim with prejudice. Mr. Serrano filed a motion for review with the Utah Labor Commission. The labor commission set aside the administrative law judge's order because it concluded that the judge should have appointed a medical panel to review Mr. Serrano's claim. The labor commission therefore remanded the case back to the judge with directions to appoint a medical panel and to issue a new decision in light of the entire record.

T5 On remand, the administrative law judge referred the case to a medical panel for review. After reviewing the medical panel's report and the medical evidence, the administrative law judge found that the preponderance of the evidence showed that Mr. Serrano was permanently and totally disabled as a result of his accident and awarded him permanent disability payments. The WCF filed a motion for review with the labor commission, asserting that the judge's order was in error. The commission affirmed the administrative law judge's order. The WCF appealed, and the court of appeals certified the case to this court.

ANALYSIS

I. PERMANENT TOTAL DISABILITY

T6 The elements of a permanent total disability claim are laid out in Utah Code section 84A-2-418(1)(b):

To establish entitlement to permanent total disability compensation, the employee shall prove by a preponderance of evidence that:
(i) the employee sustained a significant impairment or combination of impairments as a result of the industrial accident or occupational disease ...;
(ii) the employee has a permanent, total disability; and
iii) the industrial accident or occupational disease is the direct cause of the employee's permanent total disability.

The statute further provides that permanent total disability is comprised of four elements. In order to "establish that an employee has a permanent, total disability{,] the employee shall prove" that:

() the employee is not gainfully employed;
(i) the employee has an impairment or combination of impairments that limit the employee's ability to do basic work activities;
(iii) the industrial or occupationally caused impairment or combination of impairments prevent the employee from performing the essential functions of the work activities for which the employee has been qualified until the time of the industrial accident or occupational disease that is the basis for the employee's permanent total disability claim; and
(iv) the employee cannot perform other work reasonably available.

Urax Cope §$ 34A-2-413(1)(c). Thus, taken as a whole, the permanent total disability statute requires workers to prove six elements: (1) "the employee sustained a significant impairment;" (2) "the employee is not gainfully employed;" (8) "the employee has an impairment or combination of impairments that limit the employee's ability to do basic work activities;" (4) the impairment or impairments "prevent the employee from performing the essential functions of the work activities for which the employee" had been qualified at the time of the accident; (5) "the employee cannot perform other work reasonably available;" and (6) "the industrial accident or occupational disease is the direct cause of the employee's permanent total disability." Id. § 34A-2-413(1)(b)-(c).

T7 The WCF argues that the labor commission erred when it awarded permanent total disability payments because Mr. Serrano failed to prove any of the six necessary elements for such an award. In analyzing the WCEF's arguments, we first determine the standard of review for each element of a permanent total disability claim. We then *1247 apply the appropriate standard of review to each of the WCP'"s assertions of error.

A. Standard of Review

18 Utah Code section 68G-4-403(4) authorizes appellate courts to grant relief to a party substantially prejudiced by an error in the final disposition of a elaim adjudicated by an administrative ageney. This statute lists several categories of remediable errors and implies a standard of review for some, but not all, of these errors. Murray v. Utah Labor Comm'n, 2013 UT 38, ¶ 19, 308 P.3d 461. The statute, for example, authorizes appellate courts to grant relief where an "agency action is based upon a determination of fact, made or implied by the agency, that is not supported by substantial evidence when viewed in light of the whole record before the court." Uran Cope § 68G-4-403(4)(g).

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

Provo City v. Utah Labor Commission, 2015 UT 32, 345 P.3d 1242, 2015 Utah LEXIS 79, 779 Utah Adv. Rep. 186, 2015 WL 502862 (Utah 2015).

2015 UT 32 (Provo City v. Utah Labor Commission) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

Brinks Global Services v. Labor Commission
2025 UT App 191 (Court of Appeals of Utah, 2025)
CR England v. Labor Commission
2024 UT App 170 (Court of Appeals of Utah, 2024)
Stage Department Store v. Labor Commission
2024 UT App 85 (Court of Appeals of Utah, 2024)
Rouse v. Labor Commission
2024 UT App 77 (Court of Appeals of Utah, 2024)
Giron v. Labor Commission
2023 UT App 130 (Court of Appeals of Utah, 2023)
Christensen v. Labor Commission
2023 UT App 100 (Court of Appeals of Utah, 2023)
Hoffman v. Labor Commission
2023 UT App 96 (Court of Appeals of Utah, 2023)
Hospital Housekeeping Systems v. Labor Commission
2023 UT App 90 (Court of Appeals of Utah, 2023)
Vote Solar v. Public Service Commn.
2023 UT 13 (Utah Supreme Court, 2023)
Gamez v. Labor Commission
2022 UT 20 (Utah Supreme Court, 2022)
A1 Pioneer Moving v. Labor Commission
2021 UT App 115 (Court of Appeals of Utah, 2021)
Stevenson v. Labor Commission
2021 UT App 101 (Court of Appeals of Utah, 2021)
Yesco v. Labor Commission
2021 UT App 96 (Court of Appeals of Utah, 2021)
Graphic Packaging Intl v. Labor Commission
2021 UT App 82 (Court of Appeals of Utah, 2021)
Ackley v. Labor Commission
2021 UT App 42 (Court of Appeals of Utah, 2021)
Utah American Energy v. Labor Commission
2021 UT App 33 (Court of Appeals of Utah, 2021)
Watson v. Labor Commission
2020 UT App 170 (Court of Appeals of Utah, 2020)
Fastenal v. Labor Commission
2020 UT App 53 (Court of Appeals of Utah, 2020)
Onysko v. Dept. of Envntl. Quality
2020 UT App 51 (Court of Appeals of Utah, 2020)
Pritchard v. Labor Commission
2019 UT App 184 (Court of Appeals of Utah, 2019)