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Kelly v. Baltimore County1/31/2005
right after the injury occurred. He testified that he had been in incidents involving fights with suspects since he suffered the original injury, but he had never reinjured his back until the motor vehicle accident on October 24, 2002.
The Commission issued a decision in Kelly's favor, finding: " he accidental injury sustained on October 24, 2002 exacerbated [Kelly's] pre-existing condition requiring the need for surgery...." The County was ordered to pay for all of Kelly's medical bills that were related to the January 27, 2003 surgery, and to provide Kelly with compensation for his recovery period following the surgery.
The County sought judicial review of the Commission's decision in the Circuit Court for Baltimore County pursuant to Md. Rule 7-201, and requested a jury trial. The County then filed a motion for summary judgment, requesting that the court summarily reverse the decision of the Commission and enter judgment in its favor. Relying on the record from the proceedings before the Commission, and without any supplemental evidence offered by way of affidavit or deposition testimony, the County argued that the case involves a complex medical question, which requires the claimant to produce medical testimony to connect the need for surgery and treatment to the employment-related accident.
Kelly opposed the County's motion, arguing that there was sufficient medical evidence in the record before the Commission to support his claim and the Commission's finding that the surgery was related to the accident. Kelly further asserted that there was a genuine dispute concerning the material fact of whether the aggravation of his back injury and the surgery were causally connected to the motor vehicle accident. In response to the motion, Kelly offered no supplemental evidence, but instead relied on the evidence in the record from the Commission. Kelly also argued that the Commission's finding of causation was entitled to a presumption that it was correct.
After a hearing, the circuit court, without opinion, granted the County's motion for summary judgment and entered judgment in the County's favor. Kelly noted a timely appeal.
JUDICIAL REVIEW
In S.B. Thomas, Inc. v. Thompson, 114 Md. App. 357 (1997), Judge Moylan, writing for this Court, described the two different procedural modes that can be pursued by a party seeking judicial review of a decision of the Commission:
One is pursuant to Labor and Employment Art. § 9-745(e), which replicates the routine appeal process from administrative agency decisions generally. According to that modality, the circuit court reviews the Commission's action on the record and determines whether the Commission 1) acted within its power and 2) correctly construed the law and facts.
The other and more unusual modality is that spelled out by § 9-745(d), which provides for what is essentially a trial de novo.
Id. at 364.
Judge Moylan discussed the difference between these two forms of appeal in General Motors Corp. v. Bark, 79 Md. App. 68, 76 (1989):
t is the first of these appeal modes that requires the circuit judge to determine under Section [9-745(e)]:
1) "whether the Commission has justly considered all of the facts concerning the injury,"
2) "whether it has exceeded the powers granted it by the article," and
3) "whether it has misconstrued the law and the facts applicable in the case decided" and then directs him to affirm "the decision of the Commission" if he determines "that the Commission has acted within its powers and has correctly construed the law and facts." Thus far, there is nothing
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