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Vassar v. J.R. Simplot Co.6/29/2000
BOISE JANUARY 2000 TERM
2000 OPINION NO. 55
FREDERICK C. LYON, CLERK
Appeal from the Industrial Commission.
Order determining benefits for worker 's compensation , affirmed.
This is an appeal from the Industrial Commission's determination of disability resulting from Cindy Vassar's 1994 industrial injury. Vassar appealed from the Commission's determination. We affirm.
BACKGROUND AND PRIOR PROCEEDINGS
J.R. Simplot Company hired Vassar as a truck driver in August 1994. On October 14, 1994, Vassar slipped on a snowy step while checking the refrigeration unit on her truck and sustained an injury to her neck that caused bilateral hand numbness.
Vassar received total temporary disability benefits from Simplot through June 1995 when Simplot determined that she had become medically stable. In March 1996, Vassar filed a complaint with the Industrial Commission. She sought total temporary benefits from the time that Simplot stopped paying, together with medical and partial permanent disability benefits. Following a hearing and a period of post-hearing discovery, the referee entered a decision that was adopted in part by the Industrial Commission and apparently modified over the dissent of Commissioner Kerns. The Commission found that Vassar had suffered a neck injury that caused permanent physical impairment equal to 14% of the whole person. The Commission also determined that Vassar suffered disability in excess of physical impairment and found that overall she had suffered a 25% impairment. This finding rejected Vassar's expert testimony that she had suffered a 58% overall disability. Vassar appealed from this determination.
In support of its determination, the Commission made the following findings of fact:
27. Permanent Disability. Douglas Crum, Claimant's vocational expert, opined that Claimant has an overall disability of 58%. Defendant's expert, Terry Montague, testified that he does not give disability ratings, but questions the extent of Claimant's disability. The Commission considered the following pertinent medical and non-medical factors.
28. Claimant was born on February 7, 1952, and was 45 years old at the time of hearing. She is a 1970 high school graduate with average grades. Claimant grew up on a farm and has done work for her father throughout the years. She has training in cosmetology (which training she has not used) and about 22 years of truck driving experience. Claimant lives in the Treasure Valley and has access to the largest labor market in Idaho.
29. Claimant is limited to light-sedentary work and should not perform repetitive work involving her hands that would aggravate median nerve entrapment. She can sit or stand up to 60 minutes at a time up to six hours a day, or walk up to 7 hours a day. There is a disagreement whether these restrictions alone restrict Claimant from truck driving. In 1991, after Claimant complained that she could not tolerate truck driving, Dr. Schneider told Claimant that she could not return to work as a truck driver because of her low-back injury.[ ] Claimant testified that she did return to driving and used lumpers[ ] for a while. However, the record does not clearly establish that Claimant worked continuously as a truck driver. In addition, Claimant drove a beet truck during the 1996 harvest. Mr. Montague testified that that work is physically demanding and involves long hours of sitting. He was surprised to learn that she did the work.
30. Mr. Montague further testified that there were numerous jobs available that Claimant could perform within the $5.00 and $6.00/hour range. Claimant was e
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