Sysco Food Service v. Cunningham, 103,844. Released for Publication by Order of the Court of Civil Appeals of Oklahoma, Division No. 4.
| Citation | 162 P.3d 973,2007 OK CIV APP 52 |
| Decision Date | 13 April 2007 |
| Docket Number | No. 103,844. Released for Publication by Order of the Court of Civil Appeals of Oklahoma, Division No. 4.,103,844. Released for Publication by Order of the Court of Civil Appeals of Oklahoma, Division No. 4. |
| Parties | SYSCO FOOD SERVICES OF OKLAHOMA LLC and New Hampshire Insurance Company, Petitioners, v. Charles J. CUNNINGHAM and The Workers' Compensation Court, Respondents. |
| Court | United States State Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma. Court of Civil Appeals of Oklahoma |
v.
Charles J. CUNNINGHAM and The Workers' Compensation Court, Respondents.
Original Proceeding from an Order of a Workers' Compensation Court, Three-judge Panel; Honorable H. Thomas Leonard, Trial Judge.
SUSTAINED.
M. Thad Groom, The Groom Law Firm, P.C., Oklahoma City, OK, for Petitioners.
Jeffrey M. Cooper, Homsey, Cooper, Hill & Associates, Oklahoma City, OK, for Respondent.
DOUG GABBARD II, Presiding Judge:
¶ 1 Petitioners, Sysco Food Services of Oklahoma LLC and New Hampshire Insurance Company (collectively, Employer), seek review of the workers' compensation court's panel's order affirming the trial court's award of temporary total disability (TTD) benefits to Respondent, Charles J. Cunningham (Claimant). We sustain the panel's order.
¶ 2 On October 3, 2005, Claimant accidentally injured his left shoulder while employed by Employer. Employer began paying TTD benefits on October 5. Claimant underwent surgery on November 14, 2005. Employer paid TTD benefits until March 17, 2006, a total of 24 weeks.
¶ 3 On March 30, 2006, Claimant filed his Form 3, seeking further TTD benefits. Employer asserted that Oklahoma's workers' compensation statutes limited benefits to the 24-week period.
¶ 4 The workers' compensation trial court found Claimant was and remained TTD. It awarded TTD benefits beginning the previous March 17 (the date Employer discontinued benefits) and continuing for up to 156 weeks in the aggregate, "pursuant to Title 85, Section 22(2)(C), Oklahoma statutes."
¶ 5 Employer appealed to a three-judge panel, which affirmed. Employer now seeks our review.
¶ 6 The issue presented is one of statutory construction, which is a question of law. Therefore, we review the court's decision de novo, or without deference. Arrow Tool & Gauge v. Mead, 2000 OK 86, ¶ 6, 16 P.3d 1120, 1122-23.
¶ 7 The parties agree that the issue is governed by the 2005 amendments to 85 O.S. § 22, which were in effect at the time of the accident. For TTD, the basic rule is found in both the amendments and in earlier versions of § 22(2)(c), the statute applied by the workers' compensation court. As currently written, § 22(2)(c) states:
With respect to injuries occurring on or after November 1, 1997, total payments of compensation for temporary total disability may not exceed a maximum of one-hundred-fifty-six (156) weeks in the aggregate except for good cause shown, as determined by the Court. Total payments of compensation for temporary total disability, inclusive of consequential injuries, may not exceed a maximum of three hundred (300) weeks in the aggregate.
¶ 8 Employer contends the court should have followed a different part of the statute, § 22(3)(d), addressing permanent partial disability injuries occurring on or after January 1, 2003, as it relates to soft tissue injuries. Indisputably, Claimant's injury occurred during this period and is a soft tissue injury. Section 22(3)(d) provides, in relevant part:
Soft Tissue Injury: In case of a nonsurgical soft tissue injury, temporary total compensation shall not exceed eight (8) weeks. A claimant who has been recommended by a treating physician for surgery for a soft tissue injury may petition the Court for one extension of temporary total compensation and the court may order such an extension, not to exceed sixteen (16) additional weeks, if the...
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