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Wallace v. Professional Farm Systems12/7/2000
APPEAL FROM: Montana Workers' Compensation Court, The Honorable Mike McCarter, Judge presiding.
Submitted on Briefs: July 20, 2000
Justice Terry N. Trieweiler
The Claimant, Carl Wallace, filed a petition in the Workers' Compensation Court seeking retroactive reinstatement of total disability benefits from the Defendant, State Compensation Insurance Fund. The Workers' Compensation Court denied Wallace's petition and Wallace appeals from that decision. We affirm the judgment of the Workers' Compensation Court.
The sole issue raised on appeal is:
Did the Workers' Compensation Court err when it held that the State Fund was not required to comply with the steps set forth in Coles v. Seven Eleven Stores (1985), 217 Mont. 343, 704 P.2d 1048, or the 14-day notice requirement of § 39-71-609, MCA (1981) prior to converting Wallace's temporary total disability benefits to permanent partial disability benefits?
FACTUAL BACKGROUND
At the time of his work-related injury, the Claimant, Carl Wallace was employed by Professional Farm Systems, primarily "selling grain handling equipment and storage."
On May 21, 1982, he suffered a herniated inter-vertebral disc in his lower back while delivering a grain bin to a farmer. Wallace filed a claim with the Respondent, State Fund. The Fund accepted liability and began paying him temporary total disability benefits in 1983. Wallace continued to experience pain. He was evaluated at the Mayo Clinic in 1985 and 1993. The diagnosis was an early onset of arachnoiditis causing fixation of the lumbar roots, leading to friction with spine movement and radicular pain.
In May 1985, Wallace attempted to go back to work. The State Fund converted his benefits to permanent partial disability benefits, but resumed paying him total temporary disability benefits when he was forced to quit in November 1985 due to his back injury. In 1986, Wallace received training to be a real estate salesperson. His doctors determined that real estate would provide a healthy working environment within his physical limitations. Additionally, in November 1986, the State Fund requested that Dr. David Friedrick examine Wallace to evaluate his medical impairment. Dr. Friedrick found that he had reached maximum medical improvement and provided a 5 percent impairment rating.
Wallace obtained his realtor 's license and began working at Bison Realty on April 2, 1987. After Wallace received his first commission from a real estate sale, the State Fund reduced his payments to the partial disability rate. The State Fund admitted that Friedrick's report affected this decision but that they had not notified Wallace of Friedrick's report. He did not receive notice of Dr. Friedrick's diagnosis until 1997 when it was produced as part of the discovery in this proceeding.
After petitioning the Workers' Compensation Court for retroactive payments of his temporary total disability benefits, Wallace and the State Fund agreed to allow the Workers' Compensation Court decide the issues presented as a matter of law. Wallace filed a Motion for Summary Judgment to which the State Fund responded. The Court denied Wallace's motion, and held that the State Fund properly reduced Wallace's benefit rate.
DISCUSSION
Did the Workers' Compensation Court err when it held that the State Fund was not required to comply with the steps set forth in Coles v. Seven Eleven Stores (1985), 217 Mont. 343, 704 P.2d 1048, or the 14-day notice requirement of § 39-71-609, MCA (1981), prior to converting Wallace's temporary total disability benefits to permanent partial disability benefits
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