IBP, Inc. v. Al-Gharib

• Citation: 604 N.W.2d 621
• Decision Date: 20 January 2000
• Docket Number: No. 98-1623.,98-1623.
• Parties: IBP, INC., Appellant, v. Raad AL-GHARIB, Appellee.
• Court: United States State Supreme Court of Iowa

604 N.W.2d 621

IBP, INC., Appellant, v. Raad AL-GHARIB, Appellee.

No. 98-1623.

Supreme Court of Iowa.

January 20, 2000.

Christopher J. Godfrey, Dakota City, Nebraska, for appellant.

Mark W. Fransdal of Redfern, Mason, Dieter, Larsen & Moore, P.L.C., Cedar Falls, for appellee.

Considered by LARSON, P.J., and LAVORATO, SNELL, TERNUS, and CADY, JJ.

LAVORATO, Justice.

In this workers' compensation case, which we transferred to the court of appeals, we must decide three issues: (1) whether the court of appeals erred in dismissing the claimant's cross-appeal challenging the commissioner's refusal to admit a psychologist's testimony; (2) whether the district court was correct in concluding that the commissioner abused her discretion in refusing to consider the psychologist's testimony; and (3) whether the district court was correct in upholding the commissioner's decision that the claimant was permanently and totally disabled. We conclude (1) the court of appeals erred in dismissing the claimant's cross-appeal, and (2) the district court was correct on the evidentiary and the disability rulings. We therefore vacate the court of appeals decision, affirm the district court decision, and remand.

I. Background Facts and Proceedings.

Raad Al-Gharib is forty-three years old and was born and educated in Iraq. He went through middle and technical school. He worked as a welder for six to seven years making windows and fences from iron.

Political conditions in Iraq forced Raad to leave, and eventually he arrived in this country as a political refugee. He settled in Iowa and was hired by IBP, Inc. in March 1993.

At IBP, Raad pulled casings. To do so, he used a vibrating knife in his right hand and separated intestines from fat with his other hand. He did this eight hours a day, with a fifteen-minute break in the morning and a thirty-minute break for lunch.

Raad started having pain in his upper right side in October or November 1993. He reported the pain to his supervisor, who sent him to the company's dispensary, where he was given lotion and tablets to resolve muscle tension. A few weeks later, Raad again visited the dispensary with similar complaints and received the same medical treatment.

Raad's pain became worse and eventually he was referred to Allen Memorial Hospital for an occupational health analysis. Dr. James H. Jeffries prescribed medication and treatment and placed a temporary restriction on Raad, directing him not to use his right arm. IBP placed him on light duty. Raad's pain persisted, and the doctors at Allen Memorial Hospital recommended he limit use of his right arm and work in a warm environment.

During early 1994, Raad's pain persisted. Despite his pain, complaints, and previous work restrictions, IBP continued to assign Raad to various jobs that required him to use both arms and to work in cold environments. Raad quit his employment in April 1994. Job Services of Iowa concluded that Raad had quit his job with good cause attributable to the employer and was therefore entitled to unemployment compensation benefits. The agency found that IBP knew Raad's medical restrictions but refused to abide by them.

Because he was unable to work, Raad had to sell his house and go on welfare and rental assistance. Raad testified that his inability to work and his dependance on welfare assistance and supplemental social security benefits were very demeaning to him.

Raad also sought medical assistance at the Peoples Clinic, which referred him to the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. The doctors who have treated Raad agree he has a right-side impairment and chronic myofascial pain. Several of these doctors also agree that Raad is limited in terms of lifting, overhead work, and any repetitive motion with his right upper extremity.

One doctor opined that until Raad heals or starts using his right arm, Raad is virtually unemployable and that Raad's condition may progress to a disuse syndrome. A disuse syndrome is a reflex sympathetic dystrophy. The same doctor, however, gave Raad a functional impairment of only six percent of his right upper extremity. Another doctor gave Raad a functional impairment of four percent of his right upper extremity.

In June 1995 Raad sought help for depression and adjustment disorder from a psychologist, Dr. James H. Harding, at the Black Hawk Grundy Mental Health Center. The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics made the referral. Harding testified that Raad's work injury was a major contributing factor in causing Raad's psychological problems.

Lee Ann Russo, a counselor with the State of Iowa Vocational Rehabilitation Department, began working with Raad in March 1995. Russo, who has a Master's Degree in counseling, determines whether an individual has a disability and is therefore eligible for rehabilitative services. To be eligible for such services (1) an individual must have a medical diagnosis indicating the individual has a substantial handicap or barrier to employment and (2) there must be services available that can help the individual. According to Russo, Raad's medical condition made him eligible for services from the department. Russo considers Raad to be severely disabled and believes he could not compete in the competitive job market. In May 1995 a Goodwill Industries Vocational Evaluation concluded that Raad was not employable at that time.

Raad filed a workers' compensation claim against IBP, seeking disability benefits for injuries to his neck, upper back, right shoulder, and right upper extremity, which he claimed he suffered as the result of a work-related repetitive trauma in November 1993. Later, Raad also alleged that he suffered a mental injury (depression), which he claimed was causally connected to his physical injury. The deputy commissioner found that Raad suffered a physical and mental injury as a result of the work Raad did for IBP. The deputy concluded Raad was permanently and totally disabled as a result of these injuries.

IBP appealed this decision to the commissioner. The commissioner concluded that a psychologist is not a physician under Iowa law and therefore not qualified to express an opinion causally connecting a mental condition to a work injury. For this reason, the commissioner ignored Harding's testimony causally connecting Raad's mental condition to his work injury. Without Harding's testimony, there was no expert evidence to make the connection. The commissioner therefore found the evidence was insufficient to support a finding that Raad's mental condition was work-related. Nevertheless, the commissioner concluded that Raad was permanently and totally disabled.

IBP filed a petition for judicial review in the district court, contending there was insufficient evidence to sustain a finding of permanent and total disability. In his answer to the petition, Raad alleged that the commissioner erred in excluding medical testimony of a psychologist regarding Raad's alleged mental injury and in finding that such injury was not work-related.

The district court interpreted the commissioner's ruling as a finding that Raad's physical injury had caused permanent and total disability and upheld the ruling. The court concluded that in light of its ruling there was no need for the court to consider Raad's mental injury claims.

Raad filed an Iowa Rule of Civil Procedure 179(b) motion asking the district court to address the mental-injury issue because (1) IBP had not paid substantial medical bills for psychological counseling and treatment and (2) there would be ongoing medical care that IBP would be required to pay. The district court informed the parties that it would issue a ruling on the motion when the court returned from vacation. Before the court could rule, IBP appealed. Raad cross-appealed.

After the appeal and cross-appeal, the district court issued its ruling on Raad's rule 179(b) motion. The court ruled that the commissioner had erred in concluding that a psychologist is not qualified under Iowa law to give a medical opinion on causation. The court therefore concluded that the commissioner had abused her discretion in not considering Harding's testimony. The court remanded the case to the commissioner for reconsideration of Harding's testimony and what effect, if any, that testimony would have on the commissioner's ruling regarding Raad's mental condition.

Meanwhile, we transferred the case to the court of appeals. The court of appeals concluded that, by cross-appealing before the district court had ruled, Raad waived the issues in his rule 179(b) motion and in his cross-appeal from the district court ruling. The court also concluded that, although IBP's appeal was premature, Raad's waiver cured the interlocutory nature of IBP's appeal.

In its appeal, IBP argued that, in determining whether Raad suffered permanent and total disability, the commissioner had relied on factors (headaches and depression) not supported by the evidence. The court of appeals concluded it was not clear whether the commissioner had in fact relied on these factors. Accordingly, the court reversed and remanded the matter to the commissioner "for clear application of the appropriate factors as outlined in" prior cases.

We granted Raad's application for further review. He contends the court of appeals erred in concluding he waived the issues in his rule 179(b) motion and in his cross-appeal from the district court ruling. He also contends the commissioner abused its discretion in excluding Harding's testimony on the question whether his mental condition was causally connected to his work injury. Finally, Raad contends there was sufficient evidence to support the commissioner's finding that, because of his work-related physical injury, he was permanently and totally disabled, and for that reason, the court of appeals erred in reversing and remanding on this issue.

II. Scope of Review.

Iowa Code chapter 17A governs review of this workers'...