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Anderson v. Longmont Toyota12/6/2004
of the back pain. Despite the relationship between the back pain and the original injury, the ALJ ruled that Anderson's resignation from Longmont Toyota was a volitional act that severed the causal relationship between his wage loss and the work injury. The ALJ found section 82-42-105(4) barred him from receiving TTD benefits for the worsening condition.
On review, the ICAO concluded that the ALJ had misconstrued section 8-42-105(4) as a permanent bar to all temporary disability benefits where the claimant is determined to be "responsible" for the loss of employment. Determining that Anderson's wage loss after September 13, 2000 resulted from his worsened condition, not his voluntary resignation from Longmont Toyota, the ICAO held that the petitioner could claim TTD benefits.
Longmont Toyota appealed the ICAO ruling to the court of appeals. The court of appeals held that "ยง 8-42-105(4) is to be construed as a permanent bar to receipt of temporary disability benefits when a claimant is responsible for his or her separation from employment and the separation is for causes within the employee's control, but unrelated to the industrial injury ." Longmont Toyota, 85 P.3d at 551. Anderson and the ICAO then filed their certiorari petitions.
B. Sorter Construction
Sorter Construction involves a workers' compensation claim for a worsened condition that arose after claimant's termination for cause. Timothy Krause was working for Sorter Construction when he sustained a work-related injury . The company offered him modified duties, which he performed until February 22, 2002 when he walked off the job following a heated argument with his supervisor. Sorter Construction terminated Krause later that day for failing to obey instructions. On March 27, 2002, Krause underwent surgery to treat the work-related injury. As a result of this surgery, he was medically restricted from returning to all work.
When Krause sought TTD benefits, Sorter Construction asserted that section 8-42-105(4) prevented Krause from receiving benefits because it had terminated him for cause. The ALJ and the ICAO reasoned that the wage loss did not result from the employee's termination of employment; rather, his worsened condition resulted from the prior industrial injury at Sorter Construction and the wage loss would have occurred whether or not Krause was responsible for terminating the employment.
Relying on Longmont Toyota, the court of appeals again ruled that section 8-42-105(4) is an absolute bar to any subsequent claim, including a worsening condition claim. As with Longmont Toyota, the court of appeals set aside the ICAO order and remanded the case for the ALJ's entry of a new order denying claimant TTD benefits. We granted the ICAO's and Krause's petitions for certiorari.
II.
We hold that section 8-42-105(4) bars TTD wage loss claims when the voluntary or for-cause termination of the modified employment causes the wage loss, but not when the worsening of a prior work-related injury incurred during that employment causes the wage loss.
A. Standard of Review and Statutory Construction
The proper construction of section 8-42-105 of the Act is a question of law we review de novo. In conducting our analysis, we give considerable weight to an agency's interpretation of its own enabling statute, but we are not bound by the agency's legal interpretations. Colorado Dep't of Labor and Employment v. Esser, 30 P.3d 189, 193 (Colo. 2001).
Our duty is to effectuate the intent and purpose of the General Assembly. Weld County School Dist. RE-12 v. Bymer, 955 P.2d 550, 554 (Colo. 1998). We apply the plain and ordinary mea
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