Pederson v. State ex rel. Wyoming Workers' Compensation Div.

• Decision Date: 26 June 1997
• Docket Number: No. 96-111,No. 2,2,96-111
• Citation: 939 P.2d 740
• Parties: In The Matter of The Worker's Compensation Claim of Della M. Pederson, an Employee of Sheridan County School District: Della M. PEDERSON, Appellant (Employee-Claimant, Petitioner), v. The STATE of Wyoming, ex rel., WYOMING WORKERS' COMPENSATION DIVISION, Appellee (Objector-Defendant, Respondent).
• Court: Wyoming Supreme Court

Page 740

939 P.2d 740

In The Matter of The Worker's Compensation Claim of Della M. Pederson, an Employee of Sheridan County School District No. 2 Della M. PEDERSON, Appellant (Employee-Claimant, Petitioner), v. The STATE of Wyoming, ex rel., WYOMING WORKERS' COMPENSATION DIVISION, Appellee (Objector-Defendant, Respondent).

No. 96-111.

Supreme Court of Wyoming.

June 26, 1997

Rene Botten, of Northern Wyoming Law Associates, Sheridan, for Appellant.

Robert R. Rogers and Anthony T. Wendtland, of Davis & Cannon, Sheridan, for Appellee.

Before TAYLOR, C.J., and THOMAS, MACY, GOLDEN and LEHMAN JJ.

THOMAS, Justice.

The primary challenge by Della M. Pederson (Pederson) to the denial of worker's compensation benefits by the hearing examiner is that the decision did not comport with the evidence. The hearing examiner found that the evidence did not demonstrate a job-related injury resulting from an accident at the job site and the "injury" for which Pederson sought benefits was not caused by her employment. Instead, the hearing examiner ruled that "the difficulties she encountered before and after September 15, 1994 [the date of the claimed injury] were the result of a pre-existing condition." The pre-existing condition found by the hearing examiner was diabetes with associated physical deterioration. As collateral issues, Pederson asserts procedural improprieties leading to a decision that was arbitrary, capricious, and an abuse of discretion or otherwise not in accordance with law. The record includes substantial evidence, although controverted in part, to support the findings of fact by the hearing examiner. We are satisfied that the decision is not arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not supported by law. We hold that the hearing examiner correctly applied the law to the facts that properly were found, and the decision of the hearing examiner is affirmed.

In the Brief of Appellant, Della M. Pederson, the issues are stated as:

I. Is the Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law and Order denying the award of benefits arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion or otherwise not in accordance with law?

II. Is the Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law and Order denying the award of benefits arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion or otherwise not in accordance with the law because it intentionally mischaracterizes the doctor's testimony, is unsupported by substantial evidence and is contrary to the weight of the evidence?

In the Brief of Appellee, State of Wyoming, the Worker's Compensation Division (Division) offers this counter-statement of the issues:

I. Whether the Hearing Officer's Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law, and Order Denying Benefits contains prejudicial error.

II. Whether the Hearing Officer's Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law, and Order Denying Benefits is supported by substantial evidence.

The Reply Brief for Appellant states no additional issues, but incorporates subtitles for Pederson's arguments as follows:

The Hearing Officer abused his discretion in not informing Della of what matters he took official notice of and not affording her of an opportunity to contest the facts noticed.

The Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law and Order, dated February 20, 1996 intentionally mischaracterizes the doctor's testimony, is unsupported by substantial evidence and is contrary to the weight of the evidence.

Prior to September 15, 1994, Pederson had been employed by the Sheridan County School District as a cook for approximately seventeen years. In claiming worker's compensation benefits, Pederson asserts she injured her foot at work on that day. She testified her ankle "snapped" while she was attempting to move a loaded mixing bowl. She went to see her podiatrist the next day, and he diagnosed Charcot's foot, a deterioration of the bony structure of the foot, related to diabetes, which can lead to multiple fractures in bony regions. Charcot's foot generally is a progressive condition that develops over a period of time. The podiatrist testified that diabetics often suffer from this condition, along with neuropathy, a condition indicated by a loss of nerve sensation in the foot because of chemical and circulatory changes occurring in the small blood vessels. Pederson did not tell her podiatrist that her foot had "snapped" at work.

On September 21, 1994, Pederson executed a Report of Occupational Injury or Disease (Report of Injury) in which she described the situation in this way: "I went to work. My foot hurt some. As morning progressed, my foot got extremely bad. I could not handle pain and I had to go home." On the Report of Injury, Pederson noted that her foot had been treated two years earlier in Billings, and that she had suffered a fall on the same foot the spring before. Pederson's medical records demonstrate that she visited an orthopaedic surgeon in Sheridan in February of 1993, and that physician said she suffered from a complete collapse of the medial arch. The medical records also show that Pederson saw the podiatrist for symptoms in the same foot on September 12, 1994, three days before she says she heard her foot "snap."

Pederson sought worker's compensation benefits, and the Division denied the claim. After she filed an objection, a contested case hearing was held on November 7, 1995. The hearing examiner decided that Pederson did not suffer an injury which was causally linked to her employment or that arose out of the course and scope of her employment. The hearing officer denied Pederson's claim for benefits, and she appealed that decision to the district court. The Division filed a motion to certify the question to this court, which was opposed by Pederson. The district judge then entered an order certifying the case to this Court.

A claimant for worker's compensation benefits has the burden of proving all the essential elements of the claim by a preponderance of the evidence in the contested case hearing. Martinez v. State ex rel. Wyoming Workers' Compensation Div., 917 P.2d 619, 621 (Wyo.1996). When an agency decides that the party charged with the burden of proof has failed to meet that burden, the case is reviewed under the "[a]rbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion or otherwise not in accordance with law" language of WYO. STAT. § 16-3-114(c)(ii) (1990). City of Casper v. Utech, 895 P.2d 449, 452 (Wyo.1995). On appeal the complainant, Pederson in this instance, has the burden of proving arbitrary administrative action. Knight v. Environmental Quality Council of State of Wyo., 805 P.2d 268 (Wyo.1991); Wyoming Bancorporation v. Bonham, 527 P.2d 432, 439 (Wyo.1974); Marathon Oil Co. v. Welch, 379 P.2d 832, 836 (Wyo.1963); Whitesides v. Council of City of Cheyenne, 78 Wyo. 80, 319 P.2d 520, 526 (1957). The agency, as the trier of fact, is charged with weighing the evidence and determining the credibility of witnesses. Utech, 895 P.2d at 451, and cases there cited. The deference normally accorded to the findings of fact by a trial court is extended to the administrative agency, and the agency's decision as to the facts will not be overturned unless it is clearly contrary to the overwhelming weight of the evidence. Wyoming Steel & Fab, Inc. v. Robles, 882 P.2d 873, 875 (Wyo.1994). Demonstrating evidentiary contradictions in the record does not establish the irrationality of the ruling, but we do examine conflicting evidence to determine if the agency reasonably could have made its finding and order based upon all of the evidence before it. Matter of Corman, 909 P.2d 966, 971 (Wyo.1996); Knight, 805 P.2d at 274; Ward v. Board of Trustees of Goshen County School Dist. No. 1, 865 P.2d 618, 623 (Wyo.1993); State ex rel. Wyoming Workers' Compensation Div. v. Ramsey, 839 P.2d 936, 941 (Wyo.1992).

The primary contention by Pederson is that the decision of the hearing officer should be set aside because it is arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not in accordance...