Stewart v. North Dakota Workers Compensation Bureau

1999 ND 174, 599 N.W.2d 280, 1999 N.D. LEXIS 194, 1999 WL 651984
CourtNorth Dakota Supreme Court
DecidedAugust 27, 1999
Docket990057
StatusPublished
Cited by26 cases

This text of 1999 ND 174 (Stewart v. North Dakota Workers Compensation Bureau) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering North Dakota Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Stewart v. North Dakota Workers Compensation Bureau, 1999 ND 174, 599 N.W.2d 280, 1999 N.D. LEXIS 194, 1999 WL 651984 (N.D. 1999).

Opinions

KAPSNER, Justice.

[¶ 1] The North Dakota Workers Compensation Bureau appeals from a judgment vacating the Bureau’s order and remanding for reinstatement of Patrick Stewart’s benefits. We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand for entry of judgment consistent with this opinion.

I

[¶ 2] In 1993 Stewart injured his left shoulder at work. The Bureau awarded benefits, including temporary total disability benefits. In October 1996 the Bureau hired a private investigator, Francine Johnson, to investigate Stewart. She videotaped Stewart on five occasions between October and December 1996 performing various activities, including operating a backhoe, driving, truck, shoveling, and operating snow removal equipment.

[¶ 3] On November 5 and November 30, 1996, Stewart signed income and work status cards indicating he had performed work but had not received pay. On December 19, 1996, Johnson interviewed Stewart. Stewart admitted he had been operating equipment and removing snow [283]*283to help a friend, Jason Duncan, who owned an excavating business, but denied he had been paid for his activities. Four days later, on December 23, 1996, the Bureau issued a notice of intention to discontinue benefits (NOID) to Stewart, stating the reason for termination as:

Information received by the bureau indicates that you have provided a false statement regarding your return to work status.

The notice gave Stewart 21 days to respond. Stewart’s benefits were terminated effective January 13,1997. The Bureau subsequently interviewed and deposed Jason Duncan. In May 1997 the Bureau subpoenaed the bank records of Jason Duncan’s business, Outback Excavating, and discovered six checks totaling $1,410.00 written to Stewart between June and November of 1996.

[¶ 4] On October 24, 1997, more than ten months after issuing the NOID and nine months after administratively discontinuing Stewart’s monthly benefits, the Bureau finally issued an order terminating benefits and ordering Stewart to repay $2,357.14 in benefits previously received. Stewart requested a hearing, which was held on April 7, 1998. Stewart testified the checks from Outback Excavating were for items of personal property he had sold to Jason Duncan, not payment for work he had performed. The administrative law judge (ALJ) issued a recommended decision on April 27, 1998, finding the evidence did not establish that Stewart had made false statements or willfully failed to report income, and recommending reversal of the Bureau’s order terminating benefits and ordering repayment of benefits.

[¶ 5] The Bureau rejected the ALJ’s recommendations and, on May 29, 1998, issued its findings of fact, conclusions of law, and order determining Stewart had made material false statements regarding his work status and receipt of income. The Bureau affirmed that part of its October 24, 1997, order which terminated Stewart’s benefits, but reversed that part of the order which required repayment of benefits received prior to January 13, 1997.

[¶ 6] Stewart appealed to the district court, which concluded the Bureau had failed to provide adequate notice as required by the due process clause and N.D.C.C. § 65-05-08.1(6) because the NOID failed to inform him of the evidence upon which the Bureau was relying to terminate benefits. The court further concluded the ten-month delay between the NOID and issuance of an appealable order was unreasonable. The court vacated the Bureau’s order and remanded for reinstatement of Stewart’s benefits. The court denied the Bureau’s motion for reconsideration, and the Bureau appealed to this Court.1

II

[¶ 7] In an appeal from a judgment involving the decision of an administrative agency, we review the decision of the agency, not the decision of the district court, and our review is limited to the record before the agency. Bruns v. North Dakota Workers Compensation Bureau, 1999 ND 116, ¶ 7, 595 N.W.2d 298; Flink v. North Dakota Workers Compensation Bureau, 1998 ND 11, ¶ 8, 574 N.W.2d 784. Under N.D.C.C. §§ 28-32-19 and 28-32-21, we affirm the agency’s decision unless its findings of fact are not supported by a preponderance of the evidence, its conclusions of law are not supported by its findings of fact, its decision is not supported by its conclusions of law, its decision is not in accordance with the law or violates the claimant’s constitutional rights, or the agency’s rules or procedures deprived the [284]*284claimant of a fair hearing. Bruns, at ¶ 7. In reviewing the agency’s findings of fact, we exercise restraint and do not make independent findings or substitute our judgment for that of the agency, but determine only whether a reasoning mind reasonably could have determined the findings were proven by the weight of the evidence from the entire record. Id. It is the agency’s responsibility to assess the credibility of witnesses and resolve conflicts in the evidence. Theige v. North Dakota Workers Compensation Bureau, 1997 ND 160, ¶ 9, 567 N.W.2d 334.

Ill

[¶ 8] The Bureau asserts the district court erred in concluding the NOID violated the provisions of N.D.C.C. § 65-05-08.1(6) and Stewart’s right to due process; erred in finding the ten-month delay in issuing an appealable order was unreasonable; and erred in ordering reinstatement of Stewart’s benefits until the Bureau rein-itiates the termination process.

A

[¶ 9] The district court concluded the NOID failed to comply with N.D.C.C. § 65-05-08.1(6) because it did not include a summary of the evidence the Bureau was relying upon to terminate benefits. The Bureau asserts the district court applied the wrong version of the statute.

[¶ 10] At the time the NOID was issued in December 1996, N.D.C.C. § 65-05-08.1(6) provided:

Upon receipt of a report or other evidence indicating a claimant who is receiving temporary total disability benefits has been or will be released to return to work, the bureau shall issue and mail to the claimant a notice of intention to discontinue benefits. Such benefits may thereafter be discontinued on the date of release to return to work or twenty-one days following mailing of the notice, whichever is later. The notice must include a statement of the reason for the action, a brief summary of the evidence relied upon by the bureau, and an explanation of the right to respond and the procedure for challenging the* action and submitting additional evidence to the bureau.

The legislature amended this statute in 1997, removing the requirement that the notice include a summary of the evidence and incorporating the remaining provisions into N.D.C.C. § 65-05-08.1(5). See 1997 N.D. Sess. Laws ch. 542, § 2.

[¶ 11] The legislature specified the 1997 amendment was “effective for all claims, regardless of the date of injury.” 1997 N.D. Sess. Laws ch. 542, § 7. The Bureau asserts this amendment may therefore be applied retroactively to cure any defects in the December 1996 NOID, so that the failure to include a summary of the evidence does not invalidate the NOID.

[¶ 12] We find it unnecessary to decide which version of the statute would apply because, in either case, due process requires a summary of the evidence be provided to the claimant before termination of benefits. We addressed the due process implications of termination of disability benefits in Beckler v. North Dakota Workers Compensation Bureau,

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
1999 ND 174, 599 N.W.2d 280, 1999 N.D. LEXIS 194, 1999 WL 651984, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/stewart-v-north-dakota-workers-compensation-bureau-nd-1999.