Grelson v. Olympic Wall Systems, Inc., C3-84-1961
| Decision Date | 10 May 1985 |
| Docket Number | No. C3-84-1961,C3-84-1961 |
| Citation | 367 N.W.2d 505 |
| Court | Minnesota Supreme Court |
| Parties | Michael GRELSON, Respondent, v. OLYMPIC WALL SYSTEMS, INC., and USF&G Insurance Company, Bec Bros., Inc., and Continental Western Insurance Company, Olympic Wall Systems and AID Insurance Company, Relators, and State Treasurer, Custodian of the Special Compensation Fund, Respondent. |
Syllabus by the Court
The compensation judge's finding of only a 14% permanent partial pre-existing disability to the employee's arm is insufficient to support retroactive registration with the special fund despite one doctor's report of a 25% pre-existing disability.
James Waldhaouser, Minneapolis, for Bec Bros., Inc. and Continental Western Ins. Co.
Steve Mattani, Minneapolis, for Olympic Wall and AID Inc.
W.M. Lasley, Minneapolis, for Olympic & USF&G Ins.
Hubert H. Humphrey, III, Atty. Gen., Peter F. Nelson, Asst. Atty. Gen., St. Paul, for State Treasurer.
Dale F. Mossey, St. Cloud, for Grelson.
Considered and decided by the court en banc.
The worker in this case injured his right arm on four separate occasions. After the fourth injury, his employer and his employer's workers' compensation carrier sought to have him retroactively registered with the special fund as a disabled worker. The special fund refused to register the employee retroactively, although he was registered for any future injury. The compensation judge found that the employee had a 20% permanent partial disability and, thus, should have been registered. The Workers' Compensation Court of Appeals remanded for a determination of whether the disability pre-existed the last injury. On remand, the compensation judge apportioned the disability between the four injuries: 4% to the first, 5% to the second, 5% to the third, 6% to the fourth. The employee's disability after the third injury was 14%, not enough to allow registration under the statute then in existence. Nonetheless, the compensation judge allowed registration on the basis of a medical report listing the employee's permanent partial disability as 25%. The Workers' Compensation Court of Appeals reversed. The employer and his insurer appealed by a writ of certiorari. We affirm.
Michael Grelson, now 34 years old, has worked for a number of years as a sheetrock hanger and taper. The job requires a good deal of lifting the heavy and bulky slabs of sheetrock and the use of heavy hand-held tools. Over the last several years, Grelson had injured his arm on four separate occasions. Each time, his pain had increased and his recovery slowed. Although he is back at work, Grelson is restricted as to what he can do. He lives with constant pain and cannot lift anything with his right arm.
After the third injury, Grelson saw a neurosurgeon named Dr. Leonard A. Titrud. Dr. Titrud rated Grelson's permanent partial disability at 25% on January 27, 1981. No testimony or deposition was taken of Dr. Titrud. He did, however, write a letter which, though apparently not relied upon at trial by employer and his insurer, nonetheless, appears in the record and was relied upon by the compensation judge. Another physician, Dr. David R. Johnson, rated the disability at 15% on September 23, 1981. Both reports were attached to the application for retroactive registration.
After the fourth injury, on March 20, 1981, Dr. Gordon M. Aamoth saw Grelson and rated his disability at 20%, though he later revised his rating to between 15% and 20%. On January 18, 1982, Dr. C. Kent Olson performed ulnar nerve surgery which apparently made little change in Grelson's condition. Dr. David W. Boxall examined Grelson on February 26, 1982, and rated the injury at 15% permanent partial disability.
The compensation judge determined that Grelson's disability was 20%, but did not state how much of that 20% disability existed prior to the last injury and how much was the result of the injury. The Workers' Compensation Court of Appeals remanded for a determination of the employee's disability prior to the last accident. Although, on remand, the compensation judge found only a 14% impairment prior to the last injury, he required retroactive registration on the basis of Dr. Titrud's report of a 25% impairment. Noting the inconsistency in the findings, the court of appeals affirmed the specific finding of a 14% prior disability and found that retroactive registration would not obtain since the 14% disability would be equivalent to only 37.8 weeks of compensation, well short of the 50 weeks required for registration.
The issue presented in this case is whether retroactive registration was required on the basis of Dr. Titrud's 25% disability report despite later medical reports indicating a much lower percentage of disability.
The Minnesota Workers' Compensation Special Fund was established to provide employers with an incentive to hire disabled workers. Ehlmann, Minnesota's Special Compensation Fund, 6 Wm. Mitchell L.Rev. 709 (1980). Since workers' compensation benefits are paid regardless of fault, employers were unlikely to hire a worker with a previous injury or a disability since that worker stood a greater risk than other workers of injuring himself. The legislature responded by establishing the special fund which limits the risk to employers hiring disabled workers. Act of May 6, 1965, ch. 327, Sec. 1, 1965 Minn.Laws 463, 463-65. The statute in effect at the time of the present case provided reimbursement for "all compensation paid in excess of 52 weeks of monetary benefits and $2,000 in medical expenses," Minn.Stat. Sec. 176.131, subd. 1 (1980), if statutory requirements are met.
Grelson is registered for any future injuries. The employers and insurers argue that Grelson should be retroactively registered to cover the last injury, which occurred in 1981. The party seeking to establish the prior injury, the employer and his insurer in this case,...
To continue reading
Request your trial