Johnson v. McDonald, 83CA1319
| Decision Date | 21 February 1985 |
| Docket Number | No. 83CA1319,83CA1319 |
| Citation | 697 P.2d 810 |
| Parties | William JOHNSON, Petitioner, v. John J. McDONALD, Gary B. Rose, Individually and as members of the Industrial Commission of the State of Colorado, the Industrial Commission of the State of Colorado, Charles McGrath, The Director of the Division of Labor of the State of Colorado and Beatrice Foods, Inc., Respondents. . I |
| Court | Colorado Court of Appeals |
Sawaya, Rose & Roads, P.C., Richard B. Rose, Michael A. Roads, Denver, for petitioner.
Duane Woodard, Atty. Gen., Charles B. Howe, Chief Deputy Atty. Gen., Richard H. Forman, Sol. Gen., Mary Ann Whiteside, Asst. Atty. Gen., Denver, for respondents Industrial Commission and Director of the Division of Labor.
DeMoulin, Anderson, Campbell & Laugesen, P.C., Kathleen M. Janski, Denver, for respondent Beatrice Food Company.
The claimant, William Johnson, seeks review of a final order of the Industrial Commission dismissing his claim for permanent partial disability. We set aside the order.
The claimant sustained an admittedly compensable accident on June 18, 1981. On July 2, 1981, claimant's employer, Beatrice Foods Company, filed a general admission of liability for temporary disability and "for such permanent disability as may hereafter be determined to exist." On October 21, 1982, the employer filed a special admission of liability for temporary disability for the period from June 19, 1981, to August 2, 1981. The employer also "admitted" liability for temporary partial disability and permanent partial disability of "zero dollars and zero percent." The admissions of liability filed by the employer on July 2, 1981, and October 21, 1982, both contained the following "Notice to Claimant" in bold-faced type:
"This admission will be approved by the director unless you notify the division of labor ... in writing within 30 days of the above date that you contest said admission."
The claimant did not respond to either admission of liability within the prescribed 30 days.
In January 1983, claimant requested a hearing on the issue of permanent disability; however, the hearing officer dismissed the matter on the basis that the employer's special admission of liability filed on October 21, 1982, had become a final award when the claimant failed to contest it within the prescribed 30 days, and therefore, the claimant was entitled to "zero percent" for temporary partial disability and for permanent partial disability. On review, the Commission adopted and affirmed the order of the hearing officer.
The claimant contends here that his failure to respond to the employer's special admission of liability did not constitute a final adjudication of his claim, and therefore, the Commission erred in dismissing his claim for permanent disability benefits. We agree.
An admission of liability, which on its face becomes approved after thirty days, if uncontested, has been construed as a final award within the provisions of the workmen's compensation act. See Harlan v. Industrial Commission, 167 Colo. 413, 447 P.2d 1009 (1968); In re Claim of Brunetti v. Industrial Commission, 670 P.2d 1246 (Colo.App.1983); cf. Vargo v. Industrial Commission, 626 P.2d 1164 (Colo.App.1981). However, in those cases, the claimant, by his conduct, tacitly agreed to accept the payments made under an admission of liability in settlement of his claim. In contrast, here, the only payments made by the employer were for temporary total disability, and these payments were made prior to the special admission of liability filed on October 21, 1982. Further, the employer's "special admission of liability" constituted in substance, a denial rather than an admission of liability for permanent partial disability. And claimant's...
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Leprino Foods v. Ind. Claim Appeals Office, No. 04CA1379.
...declined to challenge the admission and tacitly accepted a lump sum payment as a "settlement" of her claim. See Johnson v. McDonald, 697 P.2d 810, 811 (Colo.App.1985)(failure to contest an admission of liability containing notice of thirty-day contest period did not bar claimant from subseq......
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Robbolino v. Fischer-White Contractors
...from the Director of the Division of Labor requiring any response from claimant to that initial admission. See Johnson v. McDonald, 697 P.2d 810 (Colo.App.1985). In October 1983, some months after the employer filed its general admission in this case, the Commission adopted a specific regul......
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Hanna v. Print Expediters Inc.
...considerations may militate against applying the doctrine of waiver to claims for workers' compensation benefits, see Johnson v. McDonald, 697 P.2d 810 (Colo.App.1985), those considerations do not preclude waiver in all cases. Indeed, the doctrine has been used, albeit sparingly, in appropr......
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Winters v. Industrial Com'n of State of Colo., 86CA0392
...to be trained in an entirely new field, we see no reason why a waiver of this particular option cannot be found. See Johnson v. McDonald, 697 P.2d 810 (Colo.App.1985). While we hold that claimant has waived his right to formal retraining in a new field of endeavor, we nonetheless agree with......
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