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Excel Corp. v. Smithart12/18/2002
On review from the Iowa Court of Appeals.
Appeal from district court decision on petition for judicial review of an award for workers' compensation benefits. DECISION OF COURT OF APPEALS VACATED; DISTRICT COURT JUDGMENT REVERSED; CASE REMANDED TO WORKERS' COMPENSATION COMMISSIONER.
In this workers' compensation appeal, we are asked to revisit our rule governing apportionment of disability resulting from multiple work injuries, and our rule governing employer accommodations in determining industrial disability. The workers' compensation commissioner awarded benefits to the worker based on a finding of two separate injuries to the same area of the body, refused to apportion the resulting disability, and refused to consider accommodations made by the employer following the injuries. Our review follows review by the district court and the court of appeals. We vacate the decision of the court of appeals, reverse the decision of the district court, and remand the case to the workers' compensation commissioner for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
I. Background Facts and Proceedings
Joseph Smithart began working for Excel Corporation in Ottumwa, Iowa, in 1989. He worked as a laborer, and held a number of different jobs for the company over the years. Smithart performed unskilled manual labor for a variety of other employers prior to his employment with Excel. He was born in 1951 and left school after the ninth grade. Standard intelligence tests showed Smithart functions within the borderline range of mental retardation.
Smithart sustained a number of injuries while working at Excel. Most of the injuries were to his lower back, but he was able to return to work after each episode.
One of the back injuries occurred on November 30, 1995, while Smithart was lifting boxes of meat. He returned to work shortly after the injury, with a fifty pound lifting restriction imposed by his doctor.
Smithart also hurt his back on May 6, 1997, again while lifting boxes. Following this incident, his doctor imposed a twenty-five pound lifting restriction. Medical treatment for his back injuries over the period of his employment has essentially been limited to the administration of pain medication, such as aspirin. He has never had surgery on his back.
Smithart filed nine workers' compensation claims for benefits based on the injuries to his back. One claim was filed on October 13, 1997, based on his November 30, 1995, injury. He also filed a claim on May 4, 1999, based on the May 6, 1997, incident.
A consolidated hearing on the claims revealed Smithart continued to work at Excel despite his back injuries. Excel always provided him with jobs within his lifting restrictions, and Smithart rarely missed any work, even after the injuries. Medical tests indicated the presence of degenerative disc disease in his back, with a possible herniated disc. One medical doctor gave Smithart a permanent impairment rating of five percent, while another doctor gave him a permanent rating of eight percent.
The workers' compensation commissioner found Smithart sustained an industrial disability of twenty percent as a result of the November 1995 injury. The commissioner also found Smithart sustained a separate injury in May 1997, supported by the enhanced lifting restriction, resulting in an industrial disability of forty percent. The separate injuries were found to be a part of an ongoing cumulative injury. The commissioner dismissed the remaining seven claims. The commissioner found Smithart failed to prove an injury was sustained in six of the claims, and failed to establish a permanent disability in the remai
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