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Lawrence v. North Dakota Workers Compensation Bureau3/23/2000
age or monthly rent pursuant to a contractual lease, which he would have continued to incur in California had he returned to Bismarck to accept the modified job offer;
9. The Claimant presented absolutely no evidence or proof to the Bureau to substantiate his allegations that he cannot financially afford to return to Bismarck to accept the transitional job offer.
RATIONALE
The Bureau adopts that portion of the Administrative Law Judge's rationale which sets forth that the question to be answered in this case is whether the Claimant was justified in refusing the various job offers made to him by the employer, and whether he voluntarily limited his income by declining said job offers.
The Bureau further adopts that portion of the ALJ's rationale that the Claimant's argument regarding "personal vehicle" is without merit, that portion which states the Claimant would have greater access to medical providers including physical therapy in Bismarck as opposed to the remote area in which he lives, and that portion which states that the Claimant should be expected to attempt the modified job offer of Jobbers.
The Bureau specifically rejects that portion of the ALJ's "Rationale" that states that "Claimant's refusal to accept the job without some provision for payment of his living expenses is justified."
FINDINGS OF FACT
Recommended Findings of Fact 2, 3, 5, 6 and 7 are hereby adopted as part of the Bureau's Findings of Fact;
The first sentence of Recommended Finding of Fact I is likewise hereby adopted as part of the Bureau's Findings of Fact;
Recommended Finding of Fact 4 is modified to reflect that Dr. Naugle released the Claimant to work four hours a day for four weeks, increasing to six hours per day for two weeks, and then eight hours per day thereafter;
Recommended Finding of Fact 8 is not adopted by the Bureau; to the contrary, the greater weight of the evidence shows that the Claimant was not justified in rejecting the employer's job offer, and because of his lack of justification, he voluntarily limited his income and remains uneligible for disability benefits during the period of his continuation or refusal to accept employment.
The employer, by providing the Claimant with full-time wages, for part-time work, the free use of a company vehicle, paid airfare from California to Bismarck, went well beyond what any reasonable employer should be required to provide an employee with respect to a modified transitional job offer pursuant to North Dakota law.
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
1. Recommended Conclusion of Law 1 is hereby adopted as part of the Bureau's Conclusions of Law; Recommended Conclusions of Law 2 and 3 are specifically not adopted by the Bureau.
2. Section 65-05-08(7) of the North Dakota Century Code provides that:
"If the employee voluntarily limits income or refuses to accept employment suitable to the employee's capacity, offered to or procured for the employee, the employee is not entitled to any disability or vocational rehabilitation benefits during the limitation of income or refusal to accept employment unless the bureau determines the limitation or refusal is justified." 3. Pursuant to North Dakota law, it is for the Bureau to determine whether the refusal to accept employment suitable to the employee's capacity is justified. Under the facts and circumstances of this case, the Bureau does not find that the Claimant was justified in refusing the job offer made by Jobbers. 4. The modified job offer was within the Claimant's physical restrictions as well as his ability to learn. The job was to initially
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