Articles Posted in Workers’ Compensation Injuries

The recent February 14, 2019 Iowa Workers’ Compensation Appeal Decision in the case of Bonde v. Pro Cooperative and Nationwide Agribusiness dealt with a situation in which there were no witnesses to the injury.

The Claimant reported that he fell while at work and injured his low back.  The Claimant explained he had slipped and fell on some loose soybeans on the icy parking lot.  There were no witnesses to the fall.  The fall itself happened on Thursday, February 19, 2015.  The Claimant was able to continue working throughout the day.  The Claimant came to work on the next day, on Friday, and was also able to work the entire day although he was in pain.  The Claimant was off work on Saturday and Sunday.  By Monday the Claimant’s back pain was worse and he reported the injury.

The employer and insurance carrier did not give the Claimant any instructions on going to a physician.  They did not provide any workers’ compensation benefits, and they did not give the Claimant any guidance on whether or not he should come into work.

The Iowa workers’ compensation law on apportionment has gone through many changes based on statutory amendments by the legislature and judicial interpretations by the Courts.

In my last blog entry I talk about the January 17, 2019 workers’ compensation appeal decision of Byers v. Guardsmark, LLC and New Hampshire Insurance Company and concentrated on the parts of the case relating to injuries to older workers.

The Byers case also analyzed the issue of apportionment.  The Claimant in Byers had suffered severe back injuries in the late 1990s while working as a truck driver that had left him unable to work between the late 1990s and his employment as a security guard that began in 2014.  The Claimant suffered another severe back injury in 2014 while working.

An injured worker does not have to be absolutely helpless in order to be awarded permanent total disability benefits under Iowa work comp law.  A worker is considered to be permanently and totally disabled when an injury prevents the worker from performing the type of jobs his experience, training, education, intelligence and physical capacities would otherwise permit him to perform.  Additionally, a finding that a worker could theoretically perform some small amount of work does not necessarily rule out an award of permanent total disability benefits.

Older workers with preexisting problems can suffer a moderate injury that knocks them out of the workforce and entitles them to an award of permanent total disability.

Byers v. Guardsmark, LLC and New Hampshire Insurance Company is a January 17, 2019 Appeal Decision from the Iowa Workers’ Compensation Commissioner that provides a good example of an older worker who ends up being awarded permanent total disability.

Under Iowa Workers’ Compensation law if an employee suffers a compensable injury, and then develops a second injury as a result of the original injury, then the second injury is also compensable as a workers’ compensation claim.  This sequence of the original work injury causing a second work injury is called a sequela of injuries.

The recent December 17, 2018 appeal decision of the Commissioner in the case of Kirkendall v. Cargill Meat Solutions Corp. and The Insurance Company of the State of Pennsylvania is a good example of a sequela injury case.

The Claimant injured her right shoulder when she fell on ice on December 10, 2009.  After a period of conservative treatment the Claimant began a series of right shoulder surgeries.  The first right shoulder surgery was on April 7, 2010.  The second right shoulder surgery was on December 17, 2010.

Iowa workers’ compensation is an adversary system of justice.  The insurance companies will sometimes reject legitimate work injuries, and will frequently pay less than the full value of a work injury.  If your claim is rejected or underpaid you have the right to hire your own lawyer to contest the dispute.

Our lawyers have reviewed the cases of many injured workers that have been rejected or denied by work comp insurance companies.  In many of these rejected and denied cases we have been able to obtain our clients money and medical care.

Similarly, many people have come to us after being offered or paid small amounts of money.  In many of those cases we have been able to obtain additional compensation benefits for the clients.

The Iowa Workers’ Compensation law on when an employee is entitled to work comp benefits from a fall on the job has been very uncertain for a number of years.  On November 16, 2018 the Iowa Supreme Court issued a decision that helps clarify the Iowa law.  The Supreme Court case was Bluml v. Dee Jay’s, Inc. d/b/a Long John Silvers and Commerce & Industry Insurance Company.  In the Bluml case the Iowa Supreme Court set out different rules for different types of fall situations:

1. Where an employee falls from an elevated position such as a ladder or scaffolding the injury will generally be compensable under Iowa Workers’ Compensation law.

2. Where an employee falls while on stairs the injury will also generally be compensable under Iowa Workers’ Compensation law.

Under Iowa law the amount of compensation an injured worker is entitled to receive is determined by one of two methods.  If the injury is to a body part listed in the schedule of Iowa Code Section 85.34, the disability is measured functionally.  The most persuasive functional measurements are pursuant to the AMA Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment.  The scheduled injuries and the maximum permanent compensation for each body part are as follows:

Shoulder. . . 400 weeks of permanent partial disability benefits;

Leg . . . 220 weeks of permanent partial disability benefits;