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Workers' Safety And Comp. Div. v. Bruhn12/24/1997
es in pertinent part:
(c). . . . The reviewing court shall:
(ii) Hold unlawful and set aside agency action, findings and conclusions found to be:
(A) Arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion or otherwise not in accordance with law[.]
DISCUSSION
The division contends that the hearing examiner's order was arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, and contrary to law, arguing that it misapplied the plain meaning of the Wyoming Worker's Compensation Act.
In order to resolve this issue, we must interpret the language of the relevant statutes.
We endeavor to interpret statutes in accordance with the Legislature's intent. We begin by making an "`inquiry respecting the ordinary and obvious meaning of the words employed according to their arrangement and connection.'" Parker Land and Cattle Company v. Wyoming Game and Fish Commission, 845 P.2d 1040, 1042 (Wyo. 1993) (quoting Rasmussen v. Baker, 7 Wyo. 117, 133, 50 P. 819, 823 (1897)). We construe the statute as a whole, giving effect to every word, clause, and sentence, and we construe together all parts of the statute in pari materia.
State Department of Revenue and Taxation v. Pacificorp, 872 P.2d 1163, 1166 (Wyo. 1994). "When the Court determines, as a matter of law, that a statute is clear and unambiguous, it must give effect to the plain language of the statute and should not resort to the rules of statutory construction." Lancto v. City of Rawlins, 892 P.2d 800, 802-03 (Wyo. 1995). If, on the other hand, the Court determines that a statute is ambiguous, it may use extrinsic aids of statutory interpretation to help it determine the legislature's intent. Newton v. State ex rel. Wyoming Workers' Compensation Division, 922 P.2d 863, 865 (Wyo. 1996).
WYO. STAT. § 27-14-102(a)(xi) (1997) defines a compensable injury :
(xi) "Injury" means any harmful change in the human organism other than normal aging and includes damage to or loss of any artificial replacement and death, arising out of and in the course of employment while at work in or about the premises occupied, used or controlled by the employer and incurred while at work in places where the employer's business requires an employee's presence and which subjects the employee to extrahazardous duties incident to the business.
(Emphasis added.) The statutory language of § 27-14-102(a)(xi) is clear and unambiguous. An injury is received "in the course of employment" when it occurs while the employee is performing the duties for which she was hired. Kiger v. Idaho Corporation, 85 Idaho 424, 380 P.2d 208, 210 (1963). An injury "aris out of" the employment when a causal connection exists between the injury and the conditions under which the work is required to be performed. Id. Under these guidelines, "`if the injury can be seen to have followed as a natural incident of the work and to have been contemplated by a reasonable person familiar with the whole situation as a result of the exposure occasioned by the nature of the employment, then it arises "out of" the employment.'" Id. (quoting Eriksen v. Nez Perce County, 72 Idaho 1, 235 P.2d 736, 738-39 (1951)). An injury is not compensable if it cannot fairly be traced to the employment as a contributing cause and if it comes from a hazard that the employee would have been equally exposed to outside of the employment. 380 P.2d at 210-11.
The hearing examiner opined that this case hinged upon how § 27-14-403(e) is interpreted. That provision sets out the benefits which are available for a deceased employee's survivors " f an injured employee dies as a result of the work related injury." (Emph
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