Zimmerman v. Industrial Com'n of Utah

785 P.2d 1127, 122 Utah Adv. Rep. 51, 1989 Utah App. LEXIS 189, 1989 WL 151288
CourtCourt of Appeals of Utah
DecidedNovember 28, 1989
Docket890191-CA
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 785 P.2d 1127 (Zimmerman v. Industrial Com'n of Utah) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Utah primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Zimmerman v. Industrial Com'n of Utah, 785 P.2d 1127, 122 Utah Adv. Rep. 51, 1989 Utah App. LEXIS 189, 1989 WL 151288 (Utah Ct. App. 1989).

Opinion

GREENWOOD, Judge:

Stephen P. Zimmerman appeals an Industrial Commission order which denied him permanent disability benefits. We affirm.

In January 1987, Zimmerman was employed by Granite Beef, Inc. His duties consisted of cutting and boxing meat, requiring him to lift heavy boxes and pallets. On January 26, 1987, Zimmerman, while lifting an empty pallet, heard a pop in his low back and felt an immediate sharp pain. He reported the incident to his supervisor and left work to obtain medical attention. At the time of the accident, Zimmerman was twenty-two years of age. He had worked as a laborer since age seventeen and had never complained of back problems prior to the accident. X-rays and a CT scan revealed no acute fracture. His injury was diagnosed as a musculotendinous strain.

Zimmerman applied for disability benefits on February 5, 1987 and received temporary total disability benefits from January 30, 1987 to March 4, 1987. On approximately March 1, 1987, Zimmerman returned to work. While lifting a heavy piece of meat at work, he experienced a recurrence of back pain. He remained off work for another period of time and was again paid temporary total compensation from March 11, 1987 through April 29, 1987. His benefits were terminated, however, when he failed to keep two doctor appointments. Compensation was reinstated on May 27, 1987 and he was paid through June 25, 1987, when his benefits were again suspended for failure to keep a physical therapy appointment.

Following further therapy, on approximately July 1, 1987, Zimmerman began working for a new employer, Wescot Fiberglass Company. After working approximately one month with Wescot, Zimmerman was injured while grinding down the edges of a large fiberglass container. The boards on which he was sitting gave way and he rolled off, landing on his back. He experienced shooting sensations and pain in his lower back and quit work because of pain. He did not file a claim in connection with this accident. Additional temporary total disability benefits, however, were paid by the Workers’ Compensation Fund from September 9, 1987 through January 29, 1988.

On January 6, 1988, a hearing was conducted before an administrative law judge (A.L.J.) on Zimmerman’s claim for permanent disability benefits. The A.L.J. appointed a medical panel to review Zimmerman’s case. The medical panel submitted its report to the A.L.J. on April 29, 1988. The report found as follows:

*1129 1. There is no medically demonstrable causal connection between the applicant’s ongoing problems and the industrial accident of January 26, 1987.
2. All of the residual problems complained of by the applicant were caused by a pre-existing condition. 1
3. We find no period of time after 1/1/88 during which the applicant has been temporarily or totally disabled as a result of the industrial injury.
4. We suggest a current permanent physical impairment of 10% because of the pain and x-ray findings at the sacroiliac joints, understanding that his Reiter’s disease has a good chance of progressing in the future, and there seems to be no way of telling whether it is currently stabilized.
5. Assuming that his condition is stabilized, his total impairment is 10%.
6. No portion of the permanent physical impairment is attributable to the applicant’s industrial injury.
7. The percentage of permanent physical impairment attributable to any cause is 10%.
8. We believe that the industrial injury aggravated the pre-existing condition, since we are unable to find any evidence of pain before the injury.

Following objections by Zimmerman, the A.L.J. resubmitted the case to the medical panel. A supplemental report of the medical panel, released on August 26, 1988, increased Zimmerman’s physical impairment by another ten percent but attributed the increase to a pre-existing spinal steno-sis.

On October 7, 1988, the A.L.J. entered findings of fact, which adopted the medical panel’s findings, conclusions of law, and an order. The A.L.J. determined that the residual problems Zimmerman complained of were caused by his pre-existing conditions of Reiter’s syndrome and spinal stenosis. Because she found that Zimmerman failed to demonstrate that his ongoing medical condition was related to his industrial accident, the A.L.J. denied permanent disability benefits.

On March 19, 1989, the Industrial Commission denied Zimmerman’s motion for review. The Commission adopted the A.L. J.’s findings of fact and determined that the A.L.J. correctly adopted the medical panel finding that Zimmerman’s condition was unrelated to his industrial accident.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

Respondents contend that our review of the Commission’s findings is limited to “whether the Commission’s findings are ‘arbitrary and capricious’ or ‘wholly without cause’ or contrary to the ‘one [inevitable] conclusion from the evidence’ or without ‘any substantial evidence’ to support them.” Lancaster v. Gilbert Dev., 736 P.2d 237, 238 (Utah 1987) (quoting Kaiser Steel Corp. v. Monfredi, 631 P.2d 888, 890 (Utah 1981)). However, because this proceeding was commenced after the effective date of the Utah Administrative Procedures Act (UAPA), Utah Code Ann. § 63-46b-l to -22 (1989), we review the Commission’s decision under the standards set forth in that act. Johnson v. Department of Employment Sec., 121 Utah Adv. Rep. 26, 27 (1989); Grace Drilling Co. v. Board of Review, 776 P.2d 63, 66 (Utah Ct.App.1989). Under the UAPA, 2 the *1130 Board’s findings “will be affirmed only if they are ‘supported by substantial evidence when viewed in light of the whole record before the court.’ This ‘substantial evidence test’ grants appellate courts greater latitude in reviewing the record....” Grace Drilling, 776 P.2d at 67 (quoting Utah Code Ann. § 63-46b-16(4)(g) (1989)).

AGGRAVATION OF PRE-EXISTING CONDITION

Zimmerman first claims that because the industrial accident aggravated his previous asymptomatic conditions, disability benefits should have been granted as required by Utah Code Ann. § 35-1-69 (Supp.1987) (repealed 1988). 3

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Bluebook (online)
785 P.2d 1127, 122 Utah Adv. Rep. 51, 1989 Utah App. LEXIS 189, 1989 WL 151288, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/zimmerman-v-industrial-comn-of-utah-utahctapp-1989.