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Gilbert v. USF Holland12/19/2001
On review from the Iowa Court of Appeals.
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Robert J. Blink, Judge.
Employer and workers' compensation insurance carrier seek further review of court of appeals decision that reversed district court's reversal of industrial commissioner's award of penalty benefits.
This appeal involves the imposition of penalty benefits on an employer and workers' compensation carrier who contested an employee's entitlement to disability benefits. The district court, on judicial review, affirmed the award of disability benefits, but reversed the award of penalty benefits. The employee's appeal was transferred to the court of appeals where the district court ruling on the penalty benefits issue was reversed and the industrial commissioner's award of such benefits was affirmed. We granted further review and now vacate the court of appeals decision and affirm the judgment of the district court.
I. Background Facts and Proceedings.
These legal proceedings began when the appellant, Richard Gilbert, filed a workers' compensation claim for an injury suffered on June 4, 1997. The following recitation of facts is based on the findings made by the industrial commissioner and the documentary evidence submitted at the arbitration hearing.
At the time of his injury , Gilbert was employed by the appellant, USF Holland, Inc., as a city delivery driver in Des Moines, delivering and picking up freight throughout the city. On June 4, 1997, Gilbert made a delivery to Sun Chemical. When he was finished, he bent over to pull up on a dock plate. A dock plate is a heavy metal ramp used to load and unload trucks. It is mechanically balanced so that, despite its approximately 2000-pound weight, it is generally easily engaged or disengaged by pulling on a cord. This time, however, the dock plate allegedly stuck, and "jerked [Gilbert] back down." Gilbert felt some pain in his back at the time, but did not think anything about it. His second attempt to disengage the dock plate was successful. Gilbert then walked over to a nearby desk to sign a weigh bill. When he stood up after signing the bill, "everything just popped loose" and he felt a great deal of pain. He immediately reported the injury to one of the company dispatchers.
The following day Gilbert completed an injury investigation form for his employer. The report asked for the " mployee's handwritten account of HOW injury occurred." Gilbert wrote, "Bent over desk to sign bill[;] when stood back up neck popped." The report further asked the employee why he felt the injury occurred, to which Gilbert responded, "Has no idea what happened." He also wrote that he had "no idea" how he may have contributed to the injury. Gilbert did not make any reference in his report to having pulled on a stuck dock plate prior to signing the weigh bill nor that he felt something in his back at that time. Additionally, he did not mention the dock plate incident to his supervisor who was present when Gilbert completed the form.
Gilbert was initially treated by Dr. Barbara White, whose exam notes from June 5, 1997 stated: "Richard comes to us today after injury last evening when he was leaning over sign some forms at work and at that time he felt a popping in his neck and since that time has had upper thoracic pain with movement and stiffness." Gilbert was also seen by a physical therapist on June 5, who reported in his notes that Gilbert "stat he was injured on the previous day while bending forward upon arising noted popping in his neck and had immediate onset of pain on the right paraspinal muscles of cervical spine." Gilbert also informed the therapist that
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