Plante v. North Dakota Workers Compensation Bureau

• Decision Date: 25 April 1990
• Docket Number: No. 890303,890303
• Citation: 455 N.W.2d 195
• Parties: Curtis A. PLANTE, Appellant, v. NORTH DAKOTA WORKERS COMPENSATION BUREAU, Appellee, and Vigen Construction Company, Respondent. Civ.
• Court: North Dakota Supreme Court

Page 195

455 N.W.2d 195

Curtis A. PLANTE, Appellant, v. NORTH DAKOTA WORKERS COMPENSATION BUREAU, Appellee and Vigen Construction Company, Respondent.

Civ. No. 890303.

Supreme Court of North Dakota.

April 25, 1990.

Hannig Law Office, P.A., Moorhead, Minn., for appellant; argued by Jeffrey R. Hannig.

Hugh Patrick Seaworth, Asst. Atty. Gen., North Dakota Workers Compensation Bureau, Bismarck, for appellee.

GIERKE, Justice.

Curtis A. Plante (Plante) appeals from a district court judgment which affirmed an order awarding benefits issued by the North Dakota Workers Compensation Bureau (Bureau). We affirm.

During 1986, Plante was employed by the Vigen Construction Company, a Minnesota corporation headquartered in East Grand Forks, Minnesota. On June 25, 1986, Plante was constructing grain bins for Vigen Construction near Manville, North Dakota. On that date, Plante fell from a scaffold and injured his back.

On July 3, 1986, Plante filed a claim with the Bureau to collect temporary total disability benefits. The Bureau paid Plante temporary total disability benefits from June 26, 1986, until October 29, 1986, the date when Plante returned to work at Vigen Construction. However, Plante could not tolerate the work requirement of his former job and consequently, he was considered temporarily and totally disabled as of October 29, 1986. On June 25, 1987, Plante commenced a Minnesota worker compensation claim arguing for temporary total disability benefits from October 29, 1986, permanent partial disability benefits for a 14% disability of his whole body, and medical expenses resulting from his injury.

Before the Minnesota workers compensation case was scheduled for trial, Plante settled his case with Minnesota for $20,000, of which $16,689.51 was deemed to represent benefits for a 10.5% permanent partial impairment with the remaining amount, $3,130.49, representing twelve weeks of temporary total disability benefits. In exchange for the $20,000, Plante agreed to a full, final and complete settlement of any and all past or future claims under the Minnesota Workers Compensation Act arising out of his June 25, 1986, work injury.

After his settlement with Minnesota, Plante filed with the Bureau an application to reopen his North Dakota claim and to request a formal hearing. Plante desired to reopen his North Dakota claim because Minnesota law limited temporary total disability payments to 90 days whereas North Dakota law contained no such limitation. The Bureau issued an order denying further benefits on June 9, 1988. The Bureau recognized that Section 65-05-05, N.D.C.C., provided in part that, "Where compensation is received through some other state act no compensation shall be allowed under this title [workers compensation] unless such benefits are awarded by another state as a supplement to this state's benefits." Finding that the Minnesota award was not a supplement to any of the benefits that Plante had received through North Dakota Workers Compensation, the Bureau held that Plante was not entitled to further benefits beyond those previously paid by the North Dakota and Minnesota Workers Compensation Bureaus.

Plante filed a timely request for rehearing and on October 25, 1988, the Bureau issued an order awarding benefits thereby revoking their previous order which denied benefits. The Bureau found that in light of Section 65-05-05, N.D.C.C., all benefits awarded to Plante by Minnesota were not, except with respect to medical benefits, awarded as a supplement to benefits paid to Plante through North Dakota's Workers Compensation Act. The Bureau found that Plante had waived his entitlement to further North Dakota benefits, with the exception of medical benefits, by accepting the Minnesota award. Thus, the Bureau awarded Plante reasonable medical expenses for treatment of his back injury. On appeal, the district court affirmed the Bureau's October 25, 1988, decision. This appeal followed.

When we consider an appeal from a judgment of the district court reviewing the decision of an administrative agency, we review the decision of the agency, not the decision of the district court. Levey v. North Dakota Worker's Compensation Bureau, 425 N.W.2d 376, 377 (N.D.1988).

Our review of this appeal is governed by Section 28-32-19(1) of the North Dakota Century Code, which requires us to affirm the Bureau's decision unless the Bureau's decision or determination is not in accordance with the law. In order to determine whether the agency decision is in accordance with the law, we look to the law and its application to the facts. Bickler v. North Dakota State Highway Com'r, 423 N.W.2d 146, 147 (N.D.1988).

Plante argues on appeal that the Bureau and the district court misconstrued the meaning of the word "supplement" in Section 65-05-05, N.D.C.C. Plante contends that the benefits awarded to him under the Minnesota Workers Compensation Act were supplemental to the North Dakota benefits that he had received. Plante maintains that the word "supplement", as understood in its ordinary sense in this context, should be defined as benefits which are given in addition to benefits already received.

Plante believes that the $16,869.51 permanent partial disability award in Minnesota was in addition to North Dakota's benefits because North Dakota had awarded nothing to Plante for permanent partial disability due to the fact that Plante had not filed a claim for such benefits. Likewise, Plante argues that the $3,130.49 award that he received in Minnesota for temporary total disability was in addition to North Dakota's award for temporary total disability. Because North Dakota's temporary total disability benefits ceased on October 29, 1986, Plante contends that his October 29, 1986, claim in Minnesota for prospective temporary total disability benefits was clearly in addition to North Dakota's temporary total disability award because his Minnesota claim was for a period of time not covered by the North Dakota award.

Thus, Plante maintains that he should not be barred from collecting North Dakota workers compensation benefits as long as the appropriate credit is applied to the North Dakota award so as to insure that he does not receive a double recovery from two states for the same injury. He argues that there is nothing wrong in trying to obtain the highest available amount of compensation, regardless of the source, as long as there is no double recovery.

The Bureau argues that the Minnesota settlement which Plante entered into was a full and final settlement of his injury claim. Furthermore, the Bureau maintains that the settlement agreement does not indicate that the Minnesota award is to be considered a supplement to any North Dakota benefits. Finally, the Bureau contends that if the Bureau is required to award Plante additional benefits, Plante would receive a double recovery for his injury.

We find that the Bureau properly interpreted the meaning of the word "supplement" for purposes of Section 65-05-05, N.D.C.C., analysis. While Plante's argument is innovative, it does not withstand close scrutiny. In interpreting a statute, this Court has held that words must be given their plain, ordinary and commonly understood meaning and consideration should be given to the ordinary sense of statutory words, the context in which they are used, and the purpose which prompted their enactment. Coldwell Banker v. Meide & Son, Inc., 422 N.W.2d 375, 379 (N.D.1988) (citation omitted); Section 1-02-02, N.D.C.C. Supplement has been defined as "something added ... to...