 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Eastman v. Insurance Co.8/10/2000
APPEAL FROM: Workers' Compensation Court, State of Montana The Honorable Mike McCarter, Judge presiding.
Submitted on Briefs: January 13, 2000
Pursuant to Section I, Paragraph 3(c), Montana Supreme Court 1996 Internal Operating Rules, the following decision shall not be cited as precedent but shall be filed as a public document with the Clerk of the Supreme Court and shall be reported by case title, Supreme Court cause number, and result to the State Reporter Publishing Company and to West Group in the quarterly table of noncitable cases issued by this Court.
Appellant Rick Eastman (Eastman) appeals from the judgment of the Workers' Compensation Court, determining that Eastman was not entitled to rehabilitation benefits for his vo-tech training and that he was not entitled to attorney fees and costs. We affirm.
The sole issue on appeal is whether the Workers' Compensation Court erred in determining that Eastman was not entitled to 104 weeks of rehabilitation benefits for a two-year Major Appliance Repair and HVAC vo-tech program when the insurer did not formulate a rehabilitation plan for Eastman and the court found Eastman's rehabilitation plan did not represent reasonable vocational goals and reemployment and wage potential pursuant to ยง 39-71-2001(1), MCA (1991).
Standard of Review
This Court employs two standards of review for Workers' Compensation Court decisions: Findings of Fact are reviewed to determine if they are supported by substantial, credible evidence, and conclusions of law are reviewed to determine if they are correct. See Turjan v. Valley View Estates (1995), 272 Mont. 386, 390, 901 P.2d 76, 79 (citation omitted).
Factual and Procedural Background
In 1992, Eastman suffered an employment-related back injury. His employer, Familian Northwest, was insured by Insurance Company of North America (North America). North America accepted liability and paid him medical and wage-loss benefits. In 1994, he underwent surgery for the injury and was subsequently rated at a 20% impairment level.
Eastman's time-of-injury job had been classified as heavy labor, and after his injury he was restricted to light to medium work, precluding him from returning to his time-of-injury job. Eastman received temporary total disability benefits until December 1993, when he began receiving partial disability benefits. At that time, North America told Eastman to contact them if he was interested in retraining, but the issue of retraining or rehabilitation did not arise until 1996.
In August 1996, Eastman's attorney contacted a representative of North America, Michele Fairclough (Fairclough), requesting initiation of "temporary total rehab benefits." In November 1996, Eastman and his attorney spoke to Fairclough and informed her that Eastman was meeting with the State's vocational rehabilitation agency to develop a retraining plan for small appliance repair. Eastman's counsel memorialized the conversation in a letter to Fairclough dated November 4, 1996 as follows:
[Eastman] is meeting with SRS to develop a rehab plan for small appliance repair. He is going to provide the information to me which I will then forward to you. It is my understanding that CIGNA will initiate Total Rehab benefits once Rick is enrolled in a full-time retraining plan, and that the job he is retraining to has been approved by his treating physician.
In January 1997, Eastman began a two-year associate's degree program at the Billings Vo-tech in Major Appliance Repair and heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) (hereinafter "vo-tech program"). The first year of the program was
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 Montana Personal Injury Attorneys
Personal Injury Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|