 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Young v. Industrial Commission of Arizona2/11/2003
Amended by Order filed 2-25-03
We must decide in this special action whether the administrative law judge ("ALJ") erred by awarding scheduled benefits for petitioner Larry Young's Arizona industrial injury . Petitioner contends that his injury should be unscheduled because of two prior out-of-state industrial awards. For the reasons that follow, we hold that if a prior out-of-state industrial injury resulted in an award that would have been scheduled had it occurred in Arizona, a loss of earning capacity for such injury is conclusively presumed, and a subsequent Arizona scheduled industrial injury becomes unscheduled for purposes of calculating permanent disability benefits.
Factual and Procedural History
1. The Arizona Injury
Petitioner injured his left knee in the course and scope of his employment with respondent Peach Springs Unified School District 8 on August 15, 2000. Respondent carrier, the State Compensation Fund, accepted the claim and authorized benefits. Petitioner stopped working on the afternoon of August 16, 2000, and did not return.
In March 2001, petitioner sought medical treatment for his right knee, stating that it had become painful and swollen because he had been placing all of his weight on his right leg after he injured his left knee. The carrier denied treatment for the right knee, and the matter was referred for a hearing pursuant to Arizona Revised Statutes ("A.R.S.") section 23-1061(J).
In July 2001, a month before the hearing on benefits for the right knee, the carrier closed the left knee claim with permanent impairment and a scheduled award for 3% functional loss of the left leg. Petitioner protested the closure, contending that his condition was not stationary and that his injury should be unscheduled. The Industrial Commission of Arizona consolidated these issues with the upcoming hearing on medical benefits for the right knee.
2. The Hearing
On the first day of hearing, Petitioner's counsel agreed that the left knee was stationary, which narrowed the issues to: (1) treatment for the right knee, which depended on whether the right knee was related to the Arizona injury or its sequelae, (2) degree of left leg impairment, and (3) whether the Arizona injury should be unscheduled.
The parties agreed that if the ALJ found the right knee claim to be connected to the left knee injury then the right and left knee impairments together would unschedule the Arizona injury. Petitioner also argued that the existence of two prior California industrial injuries would also unschedule the Arizona injury. Although the parties decided to address first the causal relationship between the right knee and the Arizona injury, petitioner was permitted to testify on all issues, including the California injuries.
Petitioner testified that he worked for the California Highway Patrol from 1967 until 1981, when he retired for medical reasons. In the course of his employment as a patrolman, petitioner sustained injuries to his back and elbow, resulting in separate California Workers' Compensation Appeals Board awards dated August 5, 1982. The California awards, which were entered into evidence, specified a 21% permanent disability to petitioner's back, and a 4% permanent disability to his elbow. The awards compensated petitioner for both injuries and provided continuing medical benefits for his back.
3. Post-Hearing Memoranda
After the testimony of petitioner and three physicians, the hearing closed on December 3, 2001. By letter dated December 5, 2001, petitioner's counsel argued that if the ALJ denied medical benefits for t
Page 1 2 3 4 Arizona Personal Injury Attorneys
Personal Injury Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|