Christie v. Coors Transp. Co.

Decision Date31 March 1997
Docket NumberNo. 96SC66,96SC66
Citation933 P.2d 1330
Parties21 Colorado Journal 441 Richard A. CHRISTIE, Petitioner, v. COORS TRANSPORTATION COMPANY and the Industrial Claim Appeals Office, Respondents, and Subsequent Injury Fund, Intervenor.
CourtColorado Supreme Court

Brauer, Buescher, Valentine, Goldhammer & Kelman, P.C., Joseph M. Goldhammer, Ellen M. Kelman, Denver, for Petitioner.

Glasman, Jaynes, McBride & Musgrave, L.L.P., Thomas O. McBride, Christine A. McBride, Denver, for Respondent Coors Transportation Company.

Gale A. Norton, Attorney General, Martha Phillips Allbright, Chief Deputy Attorney General, Richard A. Westfall, Solicitor General, Paul Farley, Deputy Attorney General, David M. Kaye, First Assistant Attorney General, John D. Baird, Assistant Attorney General, State Services Division, Denver, for Respondent the Industrial Claim Appeals Office.

Gale A. Norton, Attorney General, Martha Phillips Allbright, Chief Deputy Attorney General, Richard A. Westfall, Solicitor General, Garth C. Lucero, Deputy Attorney General, Michael P. Serruto, First Assistant Attorney General, Civil Litigation Section, Roxane D. Baca, Assistant Attorney General, Civil Litigation Section, Denver, for Intervenor Subsequent Injury Fund.

Jean E. Dubofsky, P.C., Jean E. Dubofsky, Boulder, for amicus curiae Workers Compensation Education Association.

Colorado Compensation Insurance Authority, Michael J. Steiner, Denver, for amicus curiae Colorado Compensation Insurance Authority.

Berry & Singer, John Berry, Denver, for amicus curiae Workers' Compensation Coalition.

Chief Justice VOLLACK delivered the Opinion of the Court.

We granted certiorari to determine (a) whether the court of appeals properly refused to interpret section 8-40-201(16.5)(a), 3B C.R.S. (1995 Supp.), in light of section 8-43-303(3), 3B C.R.S. (1995 Supp.); and (b) whether the court of appeals properly refused to interpret section 8-40-201(16.5)(a) in pari materia with section 8-46-101(1)(a), 3B C.R.S. (1995 Supp.). The court of appeals determined that these three statutory provisions are to be read separately. The court of appeals thus held that the three classifications for determining permanent total disability benefits found in these statutory provisions do not violate equal protection guarantees of the United States and Colorado Constitutions. We affirm, although we do so on grounds different from that of the court of appeals.

I.

On August 20, 1991, Richard A. Christie (Christie) injured his lumbar, thoracic, and cervical spine during the course of his employment as an over-the-road truck driver for Coors Transportation Company (Coors). Coors admitted liability for Christie's injury and paid medical benefits, temporary total disability benefits, and temporary partial disability benefits up to the date that Christie reached maximum medical improvement. Thereafter, Coors admitted liability for a permanent partial disability of thirty-one percent.

Following his injury, Christie returned to work at Coors on a physically restricted basis. Christie continued to work for Coors until January 20, 1992, when he was discharged for cause for fighting with a fellow employee. Christie looked for, but was unable to find, suitable employment. Christie subsequently initiated a claim against Coors for permanent total disability (PTD) benefits.

Christie underwent a functional capacity evaluation, which determined that he was capable of working eight hours a day if he worked within certain physical restrictions. Both Christie and Coors then solicited the opinions of vocational experts regarding Christie's ability to work. Although both experts relied upon and interpreted the functional capacity evaluation, they offered conflicting opinions. It was the opinion of Christie's expert that Christie would not be able to earn a wage on a regular and consistent basis and that his estimated vocational impairment was one hundred percent. Conversely, it was the opinion of Coors' expert that Christie could earn wages as an information clerk or office clerk, in the general fields of sales and cashiering, and in the area of telephone operations.

On July 1, 1994, after multiple evidentiary hearings, an administrative law judge (ALJ) determined that Christie did not qualify for PTD benefits. The ALJ found that "although [Christie] may not be efficient in any field of employment, he does retain access to specific, identifiable and available employment opportunities and can earn wages in those fields and accordingly is not permanently and totally disabled." The ALJ also denied Christie's request for medical impairment benefits based on a rating of greater than thirty-one percent.

Christie appealed to the Industrial Claim Appeals Office, which affirmed the ALJ's ruling. Christie then appealed to the court of appeals, which also affirmed the ALJ's order. The court of appeals determined that the ALJ properly denied Christie's claim for PTD benefits because section 8-40-201(16.5)(a) allows PTD benefits only when the claimant is unable to earn any wages. The court of appeals rejected Christie's assertion that PTD benefits should be awarded when a claimant (a) is able to earn less than $4,000 per year, pursuant to section 8-43-303(3); or (b) is permanently and totally incapable of steady gainful employment, pursuant to section 8-46-101(1)(a).

II.

Christie contends that, in light of section 8-43-303(3) and section 8-46-101(1)(a), an interpretation of section 8-40-201(16.5)(a) which limits PTD benefits to claimants who are unable to earn any wages violates equal protection guarantees of the United States and Colorado Constitutions. We disagree.

A court's primary task in construing a statute is to determine and give effect to the intent of the legislature. See State v. Hartsough, 790 P.2d 836, 838 (Colo.1990). To discern legislative intent, a court must look first to the statutory language, giving words and phrases their plain and ordinary meaning. See id. If separate clauses in the same statutory scheme may be harmonized by one construction, but would be antagonistic under a different construction, courts should adopt that construction which results in harmony. See Mountain City Meat Co. v. Oqueda, 919 P.2d 246, 253 (Colo.1996).

In addition to construing the statutory provisions before us, we must also determine whether they violate equal protection guarantees. The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides that "[n]o state ... shall deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." The right to equal protection also finds support in the Due Process Clause of the Colorado Constitution. Colo. Const. art. II, § 25. When a statute is subject to an equal protection challenge, the level of judicial scrutiny varies with the type of classification utilized and the nature of the right affected. See Industrial Claim Appeals Office v. Romero, 912 P.2d 62, 66 (Colo.1996). Where a legislative classification does not involve a suspect class or an abridgement of a fundamental right triggering strict scrutiny, or where the classification is not a special one triggering an intermediate standard of review, an equal protection challenge must be analyzed under the rational basis standard of review. See id. The parties before us agree that the rational basis standard should be applied in this case.

Under the rational basis standard, a statutory classification is presumed constitutional and does not violate equal protection unless it is proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the classification does not bear a rational relationship to a legitimate legislative purpose. See Duran v. Industrial Claim Appeals Office, 883 P.2d 477, 482 (Colo.1994). In order to establish that a classification violates the equal protection provisions of the federal and state constitutions, the classification must arbitrarily single out a group of persons for disparate treatment and not single out for such treatment other persons who are similarly situated. See Romero, 912 P.2d at 66. If any conceivable set of facts would lead to the conclusion that a classification serves a legitimate purpose, a court must assume those facts exist. See id. at 67.

A.

Christie contends that the court of appeals erroneously refused to interpret section 8-40-201(16.5)(a), 3B C.R.S. (1995 Supp.), in light of section 8-43-303(3), 3B C.R.S. (1995 Supp.).

Section 8-40-201(16.5)(a) of the Workers' Compensation Act provides that an employee has a permanent total disability when "the employee is unable to earn any wages in the same or other employment." In contrast, section 8-43-303(3) (reopening provision) provides for the reopening of PTD cases as follows:

In cases where a claimant is determined to be permanently totally disabled, any such case may be reopened at any time to determine if the claimant has returned to employment. If the claimant has returned to employment and is earning in excess of four thousand dollars per year or has participated in activities which indicate that the claimant has the ability to return to employment, such claimant's permanent total disability award shall cease and the claimant shall not be entitled to further permanent total disability benefits as a result of the injury or occupational disease which led to the original permanent total disability award.

(Emphasis added.) This provision permits employers to reopen a case in which PTD benefits have already been awarded if the claimant has returned to employment and is earning more than $4,000 per year. Pursuant to this provision, employees may continue receiving PTD benefits as long as they are earning less than $4,000 per year.

In McKinney v. Industrial Claim Appeals Office, 894 P.2d 42, 45 (Colo.App.1995), a division of the Colorado Court of Appeals addressed the precise issue before us here: whether, in light of the reopening provision, section 8-40-201(16.5)(a) should be read to mean that PTD benefits...

To continue reading

Request your trial
41 cases
  • Whiteside v. Smith, 01SA399.
    • United States
    • Supreme Court of Colorado
    • April 7, 2003
    ...Communications Comm'n v. Beach Communications, Inc., 508 U.S. 307, 313, 113 S.Ct. 2096, 124 L.Ed.2d 211 (1993); Christie v. Coors Transp. Co., 933 P.2d 1330, 1333 (Colo.1997) ("If any conceivable set of facts would lead to the conclusion that a classification serves a legitimate purpose, a ......
  • People v. Baer, 97SA426
    • United States
    • Supreme Court of Colorado
    • January 25, 1999
    ...P.2d 550, 554 (Colo.1998). To this end, we afford the language of a statute its plain and ordinary meaning. See Christie v. Coors Transp. Co., 933 P.2d 1330, 1332 (Colo.1997). Where the statutory language leaves doubt as to its meaning, we may examine other sources of legislative intent, in......
  • People v. Wentling, Court of Appeals No. 12CA1423
    • United States
    • Court of Appeals of Colorado
    • December 3, 2015
    ...lead to the conclusion that a classification serves a legitimate purpose, a court must assume those facts exist." Christie v. Coors Transp. Co., 933 P.2d 1330, 1333 (Colo.1997).B. Applicable Law ¶ 36 The United States and Colorado Constitutions guarantee equal protection of the laws. U.S. C......
  • HealthONE v. Rodriguez ex rel. Rodriguez, 00SC772.
    • United States
    • Supreme Court of Colorado
    • June 24, 2002
    ...lead to the conclusion that a classification serves a legitimate purpose, a court must assume those facts exist." Christie v. Coors Transp. Co., 933 P.2d 1330, 1333 (Colo.1997). 3. Rational Basis of the Incapacitated Person Rodriguez contends that the incapacitated person provision is an un......
  • Request a trial to view additional results
1 books & journal articles
  • Recent Appellate Decisions in Workers' Compensation Law
    • United States
    • Colorado Bar Association Colorado Lawyer No. 26-11, November 1997
    • Invalid date
    ...P.2d 504 (Colo. 1997). 17. Id. at 508. 18. Id. at 509. 19. Id. 20. 894 P.2d 42 (Colo.App. 1995). 21. 919 P.2d 85 (Colo.App. 1995). 22. 933 P.2d 1330 (Colo. 1997). 23. Id. at 1334. 24. Id. at 1335. 25. 26 Colo.Law.. 174 (Nov. 1997) (App.No. 96CA1759, annc'd 9/18/97). 26. Stolworthy v.Clark, ......

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT