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Heartland Express v. Gardner12/17/2003
Self-insured employer appeals from a district court ruling affirming a workers' compensation commissioner decision to award employee benefits, challenging the commissioner's subject matter jurisdiction. REVERSED AND DISMISSED.
In this appeal, we must decide whether the workers' compensation commissioner had subject matter jurisdiction over an employee's claim for benefits. If the commissioner had jurisdiction over the claim, we must further consider whether a new hearing date should have been granted and whether the commissioner's determination as to the employee's industrial disability was supported by substantial evidence. Ultimately, we do not reach these latter issues because we find the first issue-relating to subject matter jurisdiction-dispositive.
I. Background Facts and Proceedings
James Gardner (Gardner), a Georgia resident, was an over-the-road truck driver for Heartland Express, Inc., (Heartland), an Iowa corporation. Gardner's employment included leasing his tractor and providing driving and delivery services to Heartland for the transport of goods. Gardner entered into a contractual relationship with Heartland in Coralville, Iowa, where Heartland maintains its corporate offices. His pre-employment physical, new employee orientation, and initial equipment inspections each occurred in Iowa. During his employment with Heartland, Gardner was largely managed from Iowa. He received his work assignments and paychecks from the Iowa offices, and any other paperwork related to his employment was apparently sent to or from Iowa. However, Gardner's actual transportation work for Heartland took him to approximately forty states-including Georgia and Iowa-and he spent no more or less time in any one state.
On February 16, 1994, Gardner sustained an injury to his back while attempting to adjust a pin in one of the axle areas of his tractor-trailer at a delivery location in Georgia. Gardner completed his route and then notified Heartland of the injury. He was eventually referred to an occupational medicine specialist, Domenic Esposito, M.D. Dr. Esposito diagnosed Gardner's injury as a "large ruptured disc" in his spine. He recommended Gardner undergo a specific corrective surgery.
Gardner requested and received permission from Heartland to get a second opinion from another physician, Alfred Bonati, M.D. Dr. Bonati recommended a different surgery that he believed would hasten Gardner's healing time. He performed two surgeries on Gardner's back in July 1994. After the surgeries, Gardner began experiencing lower extremity pain, which he had not experienced before. The combined effect of his back injury, back surgery, and lower extremity pain kept Gardner from returning to work. He was soon forced to sell his tractor due to his inability to make payments on it.
Sometime during this period, Heartland transferred Gardner's care to another physician, Charles Wingo, M.D. Dr. Wingo suggested further surgery, and yet another physician, Gary Lowery, M.D., confirmed his diagnosis. Dr. Lowery performed two more surgeries on Gardner's back. On December 11, 1996, it was determined that Gardner had reached his maximum medical improvement. Except for limited employment at his father's convenience store, Gardner had not worked for almost three years.
In July 1997, Gardner underwent a functional capacity evaluation to determine whether he would be able to return to work full time. Although the evaluation revealed that Gardner could work up to eight hours a day and was "highly motivated to return to work," it also indicated that he might be unable to meet all of the physical requirements of the truck driving profession. Not surprisingly, when Ga
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