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In re Worker's Compensation of Pohl5/25/1999
se from district courts." Shaffer v. State ex rel. Workers' Safety and Compensation Div., 960 P.2d 504, 507-08 (Wyo. 1998) (quoting Nelson v. Sheridan Manor, 939 P.2d 252, 255 (Wyo. 1997)). We will, however, consider two types of issues raised for the first time on appeal: jurisdictional issues and "issues of such a fundamental nature that they must be considered." WW Enterprises, Inc. v. City of Cheyenne, 956 P.2d 353, 356 (Wyo. 1998); Ricci v. New Hampshire Ins. Co., 721 P.2d 1081, 1088 (Wyo. 1986); State Tax Comm'n v. BHP Petroleum Co. Inc., 856 P.2d 428, 437-38 (Wyo. 1993). Because Pohl's first issue presents a jurisdictional question, it is subject to our review.
Her second claim presents a more difficult question. However, because Pohl had no opportunity to present the issue to the Medical Commission hearing panel, we will also consider the second issue. In its scheduling order, the Medical Commission requested that the parties provide a disclosure statement setting forth "contested medical issues to be determined at the hearing." Thus, the Medical Commission clearly limited its review to medical issues, giving no indication that legal issues would be reviewed. Pohl relied on the scheduling order and did not raise her legal contentions with the Medical Commission. Because Pohl raised her second issue at the first available opportunity (in her petition for review with the district court), we will entertain the issue on appeal.
Referral to the Medical Commission
Pohl claims that the Medical Commission did not have jurisdiction to hear her claim because her injury occurred before the Medical Commission was established. Relying on Starr v. Sunlight Ranches, 890 P.2d 1096 (Wyo. 1995), Pohl claims she has a vested, substantive right to a hearing before a hearing examiner from the Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH). The Division argues that the Starr decision has been vitiated by subsequent legislative action.
In 1993, the Wyoming legislature created the Workers' Compensation Medical Commission to hear medically contested cases. Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 27-14-616(b)(iv) (effective January 1, 1994). In Starr v. Sunlight Ranches, 890 P.2d 1096, we were presented with the question of whether the Medical Commission possessed jurisdiction to hear a medically contested case that arose from an injury that occurred prior to the Medical Commission's effective date. In answering a certified question, we held that "the Medical Commission lacked subject matter jurisdiction to consider Starr's claim because Starr's right to a hearing before the Office of Administrative Hearings is a substantive right and was fixed at the time of his injury." Id.
We also stated that we would not give retroactive effect to the Medical Commission statute or the rules and regulations adopted pursuant thereto. Id.
After our decision in Starr was released, the legislature promulgated the following:
"(a) In response to the order of the Wyoming supreme court in the matter of Steven B. Starr v. Sunlight Ranches, et al., February 21, 1995, it was the intent of the legislature that the medical commission established under W. S. 27-14-616(a) pursuant to 1993 Wyoming Session Laws, Chapter 229, was to have subject matter jurisdiction over medically contested cases commencing on or after January 1, 1994, regardless of the date of injury."
"(b) The legislature therefore declares that the medical commission shall have subject matter jurisdiction over all medically contested cases commencing on or after January 1, 1994, regardless of the injury date." 1996 Wyo. Sess. Laws, ch. 82, § 3.
Given this expository legislation, the question becomes whether
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