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GILLELAND v. ARMSTRONG RUBBER CO.11/23/1994
Larry Gilleland appeals from a district court order affirming the industrial commissioner's denial of his claim for additional workers' compensation benefits. He contends the scheduled injury provisions of Iowa Code section 85.34(2) (1993) violate the equal protection guarantees of the Iowa and [524 NW2d Page 406]
States Constitutions. He also contends the industrial commissioner erred in giving inordinate weight to the opinion of his treating physician and in failing to reopen the record for additional evidence. We affirm.
I. Background.
Gilleland sustained a work-related broken leg in 1987. On April 6, 1989, Gilleland filed a petition with the industrial commissioner for additional benefits, alleging the 1987 injury had also caused injury to his body as a whole. He also challenged the constitutionality of the scheduled injury provisions of Iowa's workers' compensation scheme.
After a hearing, the deputy commissioner issued a proposed opinion, concluding that Gilleland's alleged injuries were not caused by the 1987 injury. The deputy gave more weight to the treating physician's opinion that Gilleland's back and neck problems were not caused by the 1987 injury than to the contrary opinion of the doctor who saw Gilleland once and based his opinion on Gilleland's subjective complaints. The deputy commissioner found it did not have jurisdiction to address Gilleland's constitutional challenge.
Gilleland appealed to the industrial commissioner. Some three months after his appeal was filed, Gilleland submitted a pro se brief contending, among other things, that the matter should be remanded due to his treating physician's recent, posttrial change of opinion. The treating physician's new opinion indicated Gilleland's back injury was a work-related aggravation of a preexisting condition. The industrial commissioner concluded it could not consider evidence presented by means of an appeal brief and refused to consider the treating physician's new opinion. It adopted the deputy's proposed opinion and affirmed the denial of benefits. On judicial review, the district court affirmed finding section 85.34(2) constitutional. Gilleland now appeals.
II. The Constitutionality of the Scheduled Injury Provisions of Iowa's Workers' Compensation Scheme.
Gilleland contends the scheduled injury provisions of Iowa Code section 85.34(2) violate the equal protection guarantees of the United States and Iowa Constitutions. The equal protection guarantees of the United States Constitution are provided in the Fourteenth Amendment, section one, as follows:
All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State . . . deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
U.S. Const. amend. XIV § 1. The Iowa Constitution puts substantially the same limitations on state legislation, providing:
All laws of a general nature shall have a uniform operation; the general assembly shall not grant to any citizen, or class of citizens, privileges or immunities, which, upon the same terms shall not equally belong to all citizens.
Iowa Const. art. I § 6.
As a threshold issue, Gilleland contends section 85.34(2) is subject to strict scrutiny analysis as opposed to the less stringent rational basis analysis. See Suckow v. NEOWA FS, Inc., 445 N.W.2d 776, 778 (Iowa 1989). In order for a statute to be subject to strict scrutiny it
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