 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Grenz v. Fire & Casualty of Connecticut8/17/1993
Rehearing Denied September 16, 1993.
Submitted on Briefs August 5, 1993.
Claimant Samuel Grenz appeals from an order of the Workers' Compensation Court dismissing his petition for workers' compensation benefits. We affirm.
The dispositive issue on appeal is whether the Workers' Compensation Court erred in concluding that the one-year statute of limitations barred Grenz' workers' compensation claim for disabilities allegedly resulting from a series of microtraumas.
In 1984, Samuel Grenz injured his right elbow while working for the American Stud Company (American Stud) in Flathead County, Montana. He continued his employment with American Stud until 1985. American Stud's insurer, Fire and Casualty of Connecticut (F&C), paid disability and medical benefits for the bumped elbow until 1991.
With the 1984 injury began a seemingly endless stream of litigation that has resulted in multiple appeals to this Court and innumerable proceedings in the Workers' Compensation Court. For purposes of this opinion, we need address only the recent procedural and factual history of this case.
In 1991, this Court affirmed the Workers' Compensation Court's determination that Grenz was not permanently totally disabled as a result of his 1984 elbow injury. Grenz v. Fire and Cas. of Connecticut (1991), 250 Mont. 373, 380, 820 P.2d 742, 746 (hereafter Grenz I, although it was not, in fact, the first Grenz appeal). We concluded that Grenz had failed to prove the causal connection between his degenerative arthritis and the 1984 elbow injury. Grenz I, 820 P.2d at 746.
In Grenz I, Grenz also attempted to argue on appeal that his degenerative arthritis was caused by a series of "microtraumas" associated with the heavy lifting, jarring, and vibrations of the machinery at his employment; these microtraumas, he asserted, were suffered subsequent to and separately from his 1984 elbow injury. We refused to consider this argument as Grenz had not raised in it the Workers' Compensation Court. To the contrary, Grenz had steadfastly maintained that the 1984 elbow injury was his only basis for compensation. Grenz I, 820 P.2d at 746.
Following Grenz I, Grenz filed a new claim for workers' compensation benefits, asserting that his arthritis was caused by microtraumas, separate and apart from, and subsequent to, the 1984 elbow injury. F&C moved to dismiss the petition, arguing that Grenz' claim was barred by res judicata or, alternatively, by the one-year statute of limitations of the Workers' Compensation Act. The Workers' Compensation Court granted F&C's motion on the basis of res judicata. Grenz appealed.
In Grenz v. Fire and Cas. of Connecticut (1992), 255 Mont. 121, 124, 841 P.2d 494, 496 (Grenz II), we reversed the Workers' Compensation Court's determination that his microtrauma claim was barred by res judicata, and remanded with limiting instructions:
Reversed and remanded with instructions to the Workers' Compensation Court to proceed to a determination of the insurer's alternative basis for its motion to dismiss, namely, that Grenz's latest claims are time barred.
On remand, the hearing examiner determined that Grenz had not filed his new claim within one year after he had stopped working for American Stud in 1985 and, therefore, he had not complied with ยง 39-71-601, MCA (1983). Thus, the hearing examiner ordered the dismissal of Grenz' new claim. The Workers' Compensation Court adopted the hearing examiner's order on April 21, 1993. Grenz appeals.
Did the Workers' Compensation Court err in concluding that the one-year statute of limitations barred Grenz' wo
Page 1 2 3 4 Montana Personal Injury Attorneys
Personal Injury Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|