Krumm v. RA Nadeau Co., 48561.
| Decision Date | 23 February 1979 |
| Docket Number | No. 48561.,48561. |
| Citation | 276 NW 2d 641 |
| Parties | Leslie W. KRUMM, Respondent, v. R. A. NADEAU COMPANY et al., Relators. |
| Court | Minnesota Supreme Court |
Van Eps & Gilmore and Donald W. Anderson, Minneapolis, for relators.
John C. Wallraff, Compensation Atty., Minneapolis, for respondent.
Heard before ROGOSHESKE, KELLY, and SCOTT, JJ., and considered and decided by the court en banc.
The issues raised by employer-insurer upon this writ of certiorari to review an award of workers' compensation benefits to an employee are (1) whether Minn.St.1975, § 176.645, and Minn.St.1977, § 176.645, which provide for a yearly cost-of-living adjustment in disability benefits commencing October 1, 1976, and every October 1 thereafter, apply to all employees who become entitled to disability benefits in the year following each adjustment; and (2) whether the express provision of L.1977, c. 342, § 29, which makes Minn.St.1977, § 176.645, retroactive to October 1, 1975, is unconstitutional as a retroactive impairment of vested contractual rights or a denial of due process. The Workers' Compensation Court of Appeals answered the first question in the affirmative and declined to answer the second as beyond its jurisdiction. We affirm the court of appeals as to the first question and further hold the retroactive application of Minn.St.1977, § 176.645, constitutional.
The facts are stipulated. On June 30, 1977, Leslie W. Krumm was in the employ of R. A. Nadeau Company under a Minnesota contract of hire at a weekly wage of $400. On that date, he sustained injuries to his right leg and back which arose out of and in the course of his employment. As a result of those injuries, he has been temporarily totally disabled since June 30, 1977, and continues to be so disabled.
Both the compensation judge and the court of appeals, in interpreting and applying only the 1977 version of § 176.645, determined that Krumm was entitled to benefits computed at the rate of $145.33 per week from June 30, 1977, the date of injury, to September 30, 1977, subject to further adjustment effective October 1, 1977.
Employer-insurer argues that Minn.St. 1975, § 176.645, and Minn.St.1977, § 176.645, provide for an annual adjustment in a worker's disability benefits, beginning on October 1, 1976, and on every October 1 thereafter, but that a worker who is disabled after October 1 in any year is not entitled to any adjustment until the October 1 following the work-related disability. Krumm counters that both versions of § 176.645 require that all prior October 1 adjustments apply to any employee becoming disabled in the year following the last adjustment.
Minn.St.1975, § 176.645, provided:
"For injuries occurring after October 1, 1975 for which benefits are payable under section 176.101, subdivisions 1, 2 and 4, and section 176.111, subdivision 5, the amount being paid to the employee by the employer shall on October 1, 1976, and each October 1 thereafter be adjusted by multiplying the benefit payable prior to each adjustment by a fraction, the denominator of which is the statewide average weekly wage for December 31, 21 months prior to the adjustment and the numerator of which is the statewide average weekly wage for December 31, nine months prior to the adjustment."
Employer-insurer thus argues that since Krumm was injured June 30, 1977, he was not "being paid" any amount on October 1, 1976. Therefore, employer-insurer argues that Krumm is not entitled to an adjustment until October 1, 1977. Krumm argues that "amount being paid" refers in this case to the maximum statutory figure of $135 contained in Minn.St.1976, § 176.101, subd. 1. Under this reading, the $135 base figure increases October 1, 1976, and each October 1 thereafter, and the newly adjusted figure applies to all employees entitled to the maximum benefit level who are injured in the year following each adjustment.
Employer-insurer's interpretation, perhaps seemingly more in keeping with the literal wording of the 1975 version of § 176.645, works a capricious result. The fortuity of the time of one's injury could leave an injured party at a disability level significantly lower than a fellow worker who was injured only one day earlier.1
The 1975 version is certainly no model of clarity. However, we read "amount being paid the employee" to mean that the level paid to employees under Minn.St.1976, § 176.101, subd. 1, is to be increased yearly on each October 1 and applies to any employee disabled in the year following each adjustment. In construing a statute, this court must abide by the presumption of § 645.17 that the legislature does not intend an unreasonable result. This court must also be guided by the "fundamental principle" that in interpreting a statute, form should not be exalted over substance and literal constructions should not override the general policy and objectives of the law. See, National Family Ins. Co. v. Muellerleile, 308 Minn. 340, 345, 242 N.W.2d 598, 600 (1976). In the interest of treating equally all similarly situated disabled workers, we hold Minn.St.1975, § 176.645, to provide that each adjustment applies to all employees injured in the year following the adjustment. Thus, employee Krumm, injured on June 30, 1977, is entitled to $145.33 per week from that date until October 1, 1977, with further adjustment on that date.2
Minn.St.1977, § 176.645, provides:
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