Stepanek v. North Dakota Workers Compensation Bureau

• Decision Date: 07 October 1991
• Docket Number: No. 910089,910089
• Parties: Bonnie M. STEPANEK, Appellant, v. NORTH DAKOTA WORKERS COMPENSATION BUREAU, Appellee. Civ.
• Court: North Dakota Supreme Court

Page 1

476 N.W.2d 1

Bonnie M. STEPANEK, Appellant, v. NORTH DAKOTA WORKERS COMPENSATION BUREAU, Appellee.

Civ. No. 910089.

Supreme Court of North Dakota.

Oct. 7, 1991.

Nilles, Hansen & Davies, Ltd., Fargo, for appellant; argued by Reagan Rich Pufall.

Ken R. Sorenson, Asst. Atty. Gen., Bismarck, for appellee.

ERICKSTAD, Chief Justice.

Bonnie M. Stepanek appealed from the decision of the District Court for Cass County affirming the decision of North Dakota Workers Compensation Bureau which dismissed Stepanek's claim as untimely. We reverse and remand to the Bureau for appropriate disposition.

Stepanek worked at the Town House Motor Inn in Fargo, North Dakota, from approximately July of 1983 until February of 1988. As director of housekeeping, Stepanek spent part of her time supervising and directing the work of the other maids, as well as doing some maid work herself. The maid work consisted mainly of cleaning motel rooms and furniture. In cleaning the motel rooms, Stepanek and the other maids would often be called upon to squat down or kneel upon the floor. Stepanek asserts that these activities resulted in a compensable injury to her knees.

Dr. Mark Askew diagnosed Stepanek as suffering from patellofemoral pain syndrome which is usually associated with excessive stress at the patellofemoral joint. Such excessive stress is usually associated with flexion activities such as stair climbing, squatting, or kneeling. Although the syndrome is most commonly seen after prolonged exposure to such flexion stress, it occasionally occurs through an acute dislocation where the knee is twisted abruptly causing the kneecap to deviate and bang up against the femur or thighbone. Dr. Askew also noted that Stepanek had patella malalignment, which he suspected she had ever since she was a teenager which may have resulted in Stepanek having some tendency towards patellofemoral joint pain.

During a telephonic hearing held on June 4, 1990, Stepanek indicated that she had twisted her knee in 1986 while kneeling and cleaning a bathroom. After this incident, she indicated that her knees hurt more than usual for approximately two weeks. Dr. Askew, in his deposition, stated that the 1986 episode was an inciting event. It was the evidence of this specific episode in 1986 which the Bureau primarily relied upon to deny Stepanek's benefits.

In its final determination of September 4, 1990, the Bureau found as follows:

"I.

"An application for workers' compensation benefits was filed on July 9, 1989, in connection with an alleged work injury on January 1, 1986.

"II.

"On the alleged date of injury the claimant was employed by Townhouse Motor Inn of Fargo, North Dakota.

"III.

"The greater weight of the evidence indicates that the date of injury can be determined with certainty. Claimant recalls a specific incident in the Spring of 1986 when she was kneeling as she was performing work following which claimant experienced knee pain and considerable difficulty in performing her duties for a period of about two weeks. Claimant associated the pain and her symptoms with the work injury and claimant obtained knee pads and wore them at work to alleviate her pain. Therefore, the date of the specific injury that initiated claimant's symptoms and led to subsequent problems can be ascertained with certainty to have occurred in 1986.

"IV.

"The claim was filed more than one year after the date of injury."

In its earlier memorandum opinion of August 15, 1990, the Bureau made the following findings:

"The claimant testified that she recalls a specific incident in the spring of 1986. She testified that she experienced difficulty in performing her duties for about two weeks after incident. She also testified that she obtained knee pads and wore them at work, to help alleviate her knee pain.

"According to the testimony of the claimant, the exact date of her knee injury in 1986 cannot be ascertained. However, she did sustain a work related injury in 1986.

"Dr. Askew testified that the claimant's knee problems in 1989 are related to her injury in 1986.

"The claimant knew she had a work injury to her knee in 1986. She did not file a claim for her knee injury until July 9, 1989.

"The claimant did not file her claim for benefits within the time allowed by N.D.C.C. Sec. 65-05-01.

"The bureau's order of July 26, 1989, is affirmed."

The Bureau thus dismissed Stepanek's claim, concluding that it lacked jurisdiction because the claim was not filed within a year of the injury. Stepanek appealed to the district court which affirmed the Bureau's decision. This appeal followed.

Initially we note that when an administrative agency decision is appealed to this Court from a district court, we review the decision of the agency and not that of the district court. White v. North Dakota Workers Compensation Bureau, 441 N.W.2d 908, 909 (N.D.1989); Skjefte v. Job Service North Dakota, 392 N.W.2d 815, 817 (N.D.1986). We limit our review to the record before the agency and do not consider the findings of the district court. Asbridge v. North Dakota State Highway Commissioner, 291 N.W.2d 739, 743 (N.D.1980).

Pursuant to sections 28-32-19 and 28-32-21, N.D.C.C., we are required to affirm an administrative decision, unless one of the six numerated reasons listed in section 28-32-19, N.D.C.C., is found. ¹ In re Annexation of Part of Donnybrook Public School District No. 24, 365 N.W.2d 514, 519 (N.D.1985).

Our process of review under section 28-32-19, N.D.C.C., essentially involves a three-step process: (1) Are the findings of fact supported by a preponderance of the evidence? (2) Are the conclusions of law sustained by the findings of fact? (3) Is the agency decision supported by the conclusions of law? Tobias v. North Dakota Department of Human Services, 448 N.W.2d 175, 178 (N.D.1989); Falcon v. Williams County Social Service Board, 430 N.W.2d 569, 571 (N.D.1988).

In determining whether or not an agency's findings of fact are supported by a preponderance of the evidence, "we do not make independent findings of fact or substitute our judgment for that of the agency, but determine only whether a reasoning mind could reasonably have determined that the factual conclusions were supported by the weight of the evidence." Tobias, 448 N.W.2d at 178-179.

Section 65-05-01, N.D.C.C., sets forth the procedures for filing workers compensation claims. ² It, at the time of Stepanek's application, provided in relevant part "Claims for compensation--When and where filed. All original claims for compensation shall be filed within one year after the injury or within two years after the death. The date of injury for purposes of this section shall be the actual date of injury when such can be determined with certainty by the claimant and bureau. When the actual date of injury cannot be determined with certainty the date of injury shall be the first date that a reasonable person knew or should have known that the injury was related to employment."

The Bureau contends that Stepanek's injury could be determined with certainty and that Stepanek reasonably knew that her injury was reasonably related to employment back in 1986. Thus, the Bureau determined that Stepanek's claim was untimely filed.

Even if we were to accept the Bureau's factual determination that Stepanek's injury was caused by the 1986 incident, ³ we cannot accept the Bureau's narrow construction of section 65-05-01, N.D.C.C. Justice Levine, writing for the Court in Evjen v. North Dakota Workers Compensation Bureau, 429 N.W.2d 418, 421 (N.D.1988), first noted the absurdity that a narrow interpretation of section 65-05-01 would have. Subsequently, this Court in White v. North Dakota Workers Compensation Bureau, 441 N.W.2d 908, speaking through Justice Meschke, held that section 65-05-01 implemented a reasonable person's standard for determining when a claimant knew or should have known that he had a compensable injury. White, 441 N.W.2d at 911.

What the Bureau's determination fails to take into account in this case, is that it is not enough to support a denial of a claim to show that a claimant knew or should have known that she had a work-related injury, or that a work-related injury occurred more than one year before the claim was filed. The inquiry is whether or not the claimant knew or should have known that she had a compensable work-related injury. In other words, the term "injury" as used in our statute must be read with reference to a "compensable" injury. ⁴ In White, we said:

"The Bureau's argument would be more persuasive if the statute provided that the period for filing a claim began on the date of an accident. See 3 Larson, Workmen's Compensation Law, Sec. 78.41(b) (1989). Instead, NDCC 65-05-01 requires knowledge of a compensable injury to begin the period for filing a claim. Teegarden v. North Dakota Workmen's Compensation Bureau, 313 N.W.2d 716 (N.D.1981). The Bureau has ignored that an apparently minor injury may develop into a compensable injury and that a doctor may not immediately diagnose an injury as work-related or compensable. 3 Larson, Workmen's Compensation Law, Sec. 78 (1989). In those instances, the Bureau's interpretation would impel employees to ' "rush in with claims for every minor ache, pain, or symptom" in order to make sure that any future claim for compensation will not be deemed untimely.' Evjen, supra, 429 N.W.2d at 421."

White, 441 N.W.2d at 910.

In this case, there is no evidence which indicates that Stepanek knew in 1986 that she had a compensable work-related injury. In fact, there is no evidence that indicates that her knee injury was compensable in 1986. The greater weight of the evidence indicates that, in fact, the knee injury was not compensable in 1986. Stepanek testified, during the telephonic hearing, that subsequent to the 1986 episode she continued to work. ⁵ It was not until the fall of 1988 following back surgery that Stepanek asserts that the pain in her...