Santos v. Caryall Transport

17 P.3d 509, 171 Or. App. 467, 2000 Ore. App. LEXIS 2144
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedDecember 20, 2000
Docket96-01407; CA A99312
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 17 P.3d 509 (Santos v. Caryall Transport) 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
Santos v. Caryall Transport, 17 P.3d 509, 171 Or. App. 467, 2000 Ore. App. LEXIS 2144 (Or. Ct. App. 2000).

Opinions

DEITS, C. J.

Employer petitions for reconsideration of our order awarding claimant attorney fees under ORS 656.382(2). We grant the petition, withdraw the order, and deny claimant’s request for attorney fees.

Claimant worked as a transport driver for employer. He injured his lower back in 1991 when he slipped and fell on ice in a hospital parking lot. The fall occurred in the course of his employment. Before claimant received a final award on his claim for injuries from the fall, the legislature amended ORS 656.214(6) to increase the amount of money to be awarded for each degree of disability for injuries that occurred before January 1, 1992. The amendment applied retroactively to all claims that were not final as of its effective date. When employer failed to pay claimant at the new disability rate, claimant sought a hearing before an administrative law judge (ALJ) on that failure. The ALJ ordered employer to recalculate claimant’s permanent partial disability award according to the new rate.

Employer requested review before the Workers’ Compensation Board. The Board held that the amendment applied retroactively, but that claimant had failed to preserve his claim to be paid at the new rate because he had not raised the issue on reconsideration. On claimant’s petition, we reversed in a per curiam decision citing to Crowder v. Alumaflex, 163 Or App 143, 986 P2d 1269 (1999), in which we held that the amendment was retroactive but that the claimant was not required to raise the rate issue on reconsideration, because the amendment had been adopted after reconsideration. Santos v. Caryall Transport, 163 Or App 414, 987 P2d 1271 (1999). We remanded for recalculation of the amount of permanent partial disability.

After prevailing on that issue, claimant sought an award of attorney fees under ORS 656.382(2) for his attorney’s services in this court. Employer objected to an award on the ground that the statute authorizes attorney fees only when the employer or insurer is the party that initiated the review at the level at which the award is requested. We [470]*470awarded fees. On reconsideration, we conclude that employer was correct and withdraw our order awarding fees.

ORS 656.382(2) provides:

“If a request for hearing, request for review, appeal or cross-appeal to the Court of Appeals or petition for review to the Supreme Court is initiated by an employer or insurer, and the Administrative Law Judge, board or court finds that the compensation awarded to a claimant should not be disallowed or reduced, the employer or insurer shall be required to pay to the claimant or the attorney of the claimant a reasonable attorney fee in an amount set by the Administrative Law Judge, board or the court for legal representation by an attorney for the claimant at and prior to the hearing, review on appeal or cross-appeal.” (Emphasis added.)

As the emphasized language makes clear, when the employer initiates a review and compensation is not disallowed or reduced at that level of review, the employer must pay the claimant’s attorney fees in an amount set by the reviewing body for that level of review and for prior levels of review. We have long adhered to the view that ORS 656.382(2) requires that the employer or insurer initiate review at the particular stage at which attorney fees are sought in order for attorney fees to be available under the statute. See Gainor v. SAIF, 51 Or App 869, 870, 627 P2d 41 (1981); Bailey v. Morrison-Knudsen, 5 Or App 592, 598-600, 485 P2d 1254 (1971). Here, employer initiated the appeal to the Board and prevailed at that level. Claimant then initiated and prevailed on his petition for review before us. Under these circumstances, the statute simply does not authorize fees for claimant.

Claimant argues that a 1983 amendment to the statute eliminated the requirement that the employer or insurer initiate the review at the particular level at which attorney fees are sought. We disagree. In 1983, the legislature inserted the words “prior to” in describing the services for which fees are to be awarded once the statutory entitlement to fees is triggered. Or Laws 1983, ch 568, § 1. The amendment made it clear that fees can be awarded for legal services rendered at prior proceedings. However, the amendment did not change the language of the statute on which our above [471]*471interpretation of ORS 656.382(2) was based. Furthermore, neither we nor the Supreme Court has ever interpreted the 1983 amendment in the manner urged by claimant. Both courts have continued to require that, in order to be entitled to fees under ORS 656.382(2), the employer must have initiated the review at the level at which fees are sought.

The reason for the requirement has been described by the Supreme Court. In Bracke v. Baza’r, 294 Or 483, 487, 658 P2d 1158 (1983), the court described the purpose of ORS 656.382(2), as explained in the legislative history:

“During the testimony before legislative committees considering the 1965 revision, opponents of HB 1001 (the vehicle for revision) expressed fear that the adversarial position of the employer or SCD [State Compensation Department] * * * and the claimant * * * might result in the former pursuing appeals at each level for the purpose of wearing down or harassing claimants. The answer was to provide that where the employer or SCD initiated ‘a request for hearing, request for review or court appeal’ and the claimant successfully defended his award, the employer or SCD, as the case might be, would become liable for reasonable attorney fees in addition to the award of benefits. Or Laws 1965, ch 285 § 42(2).”

In SAIF v. Curry, 297 Or 504, 686 P2d 363 (1984), the court similarly focused on the issue of wearing down or harassing the claimant. (“One purpose of the statute is to discourage employers or their insurers from wearing down claimants with harassing and frivolous appeals. The statute does this by providing for an award of attorney fees to the claimant if an employer or insurer initiates a higher level examination of the case and does not win a reduction or elimination of the claimant’s award.”) In Shoulders v. SAIF, 300 Or 606, 615, 716 P2d 751 (1986), the court analyzed both ORS 656.382(2) and ORS 656.386(1), and described what it considered to be the primary distinction between the statutes: Under ORS 656.382

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
17 P.3d 509, 171 Or. App. 467, 2000 Ore. App. LEXIS 2144, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/santos-v-caryall-transport-orctapp-2000.