United Parcel Serv. v. Strothers
| Decision Date | 01 December 2022 |
| Docket Number | 9-2022 |
| Parties | UNITED PARCEL SERVICE, ET AL. v. DAVID STROTHERS |
| Court | Maryland Court of Appeals |
Watts, Hotten, Booth, Biran, Gould, Eaves, Raker, Irma S. (Senior Judge, Specially Assigned) JJ.
In a case of first impression, we are tasked with determining the proper application of the phrase "definite proof" in § 9-504(a) of the Workers' Compensation Act (the "Act"), Md. Code Ann. (1991, 2016 Repl. Vol., 2021 Supp.),[1] in the Labor and Employment ("L&E") Article. Specifically, does that phrase reference the quality of evidence a workers' compensation claimant is required to submit, or does it signify the claimant's burden of proof and elevate that burden from a preponderance of the evidence to clear and convincing evidence?
Respondent, David Strothers, an employee of United Parcel Service ("UPS"), developed in September 2019 and in the course of his employment a hernia. He filed a claim with the Maryland Workers' Compensation Commission (the "Commission"), seeking compensation for that injury. The Commission granted his request, finding that (1) Respondent sustained an accidental injury during employment; (2) Respondent's current hernia was the result of the aforementioned accidental injury; and (3) Respondent, as a result of the hernia, was totally disabled from September 20, 2019, to January 21, 2020, inclusive. Petitioners (UPS and its insurer, Liberty Mutual Insurance) sought judicial review in the Circuit Court for Howard County, which affirmed the Commission. Petitioners appealed to the Court of Special Appeals, which affirmed in a reported opinion. United Parcel Serv. v. Strothers, 253 Md.App. 708 (2022).
We granted certiorari, 478 Md. 511 (2022), for the following three questions, which we slightly have rephrased[2]:
Because we answer the first two questions in the negative, we decline to address the third.[3]See Bryant v. State, 374 Md. 585, 600 (2003) (). Our reasons follow.
Respondent's history of work-related hernias begins in May 2016 when, as an employee of UPS, he injured himself during employment while attempting to dislodge a jam on a sorter chute.[4] In his September 2016 report, Dr. Joshua B. Macht noted that Respondent suffered a left inguinal hernia and umbilical hernia. According to the report, there were "anatomical changes with scarring and insertion of foreign material to complete the repair[,]" which resulted in pain with loss of function and endurance. Dr. Macht believed that Respondent's hernia causally was related to the May 2016 work injury. Respondent subsequently filed a claim for workers' compensation, and the Commission granted the claim, finding that his hernia qualified as a permanent partial disability.
On September 17, 2019, Respondent sustained another work-related injury while manually relocating a load of pallets from one trailer to another,[5] and he advised his supervisor of the injury. He then presented to Howard County General Hospital ("HCGH") with right-side abdominal pain and nausea. Respondent underwent a computerized tomography ("CT") scan of his abdomen, which revealed a 3.3-centimeter paraumbilical hernia seen containing fat that appeared slightly increased in size when compared to imaging of the May 2016 hernia. It was recommended that Respondent follow up with his primary care physician or a general surgeon within one week. The following day, Respondent filed with the Commission a First Report of Injury or Illness, describing his injury.
HCGH originally scheduled Respondent to undergo surgical repair on September 30 with Dr. James Harris, the surgeon who repaired Respondent's May 2016 hernia. Dr. Alan B. Kravitz eventually performed surgery, however, on November 14, 2019.[6] On January 15, 2020, Dr. Robert W. Macht evaluated Respondent and prepared a written report. He noted that Respondent "had no recurrence of [the May 2016] umbilical hernia at the time of his evaluation in this office, in September of 2016." Dr. Macht opined, to a reasonable degree of medical certainty, that Respondent "developed a new onset of an umbilical hernia at the time of [Respondent's] accident, on September 17, 2019."
The Commission held a hearing on February 12, 2020. The parties' agreement began and ended with the fact that Respondent's September 2019 hernia is unrelated to his May 2016 hernia. Respondent argued that his September 2019 hernia was an entirely new hernia. Petitioners, on the other hand, asserted that there was "absolutely no causal relationship from any medical provider" showing that this hernia was related to Respondent's September 2019 work injury and that the current hernia was aggravated by a preexisting lateral hernia Respondent sustained "some 20 years prior." Their argument went something like this: Because (1) the 20-year-old hernia was indicated as lateral, (2) the May 2016 hernia was a left inguinal and umbilical hernia, and (3) the September 2019 hernia was on the right side but ultimately was labeled just as an umbilical hernia (with no side indicated), then (4) it was more likely that the most recent hernia was an aggravation of the 20-year-old hernia. [7] Respondent testified at the hearing, however, that the 20-year- old hernia was in his right-groin area. When asked on what medical evidence Petitioners planned to rely, they confirmed that they had none and were relying on the fact that Respondent had not met his burden to show by definite proof that his (1) September 2019 hernia was new and (2) surgery was "immediate," as contemplated by L&E § 9-504(a)(1)(ii).
In its March 9, 2020, Award of Compensation, the Commission found that (1) Respondent sustained an accidental injury during employment; (2) Respondent's current hernia was the result of the aforementioned accidental injury; and (3) Respondent, as a result of the hernia, was totally disabled from September 20, 2019, to January 21, 2020, inclusive. Petitioners filed a request for rehearing. In response, Respondent submitted to the Commission a letter with an attached medical opinion from Dr. Kravitz, which stated that Respondent's hernia was "more likely than not caused by September 2019 injury." The Commission denied the request for rehearing.
Petitioners sought judicial review[8] in the Circuit Court for Howard County, which held a hearing on August 27, 2020. The circuit court squarely framed the issue: "[W]hether or not the Commission was correct in its assessment of the hernia as a new hernia"; Petitioners argued that Respondent did not meet his burden under L&E § 9-504(a)(1) to prove his claim by definite proof, alleging that the phrase indicates evidence free of all ambiguity, uncertainty, or obscurity. The circuit court sustained the Commission's ruling, finding that the phrase "definite proof" did not create a higher burden of proof for hernia claims and that the Commission's determination that Respondent suffered a new hernia was not error.
In a reported opinion, the Court of Special Appeals affirmed the circuit court, holding that definite proof refers to the quality of evidence needed to succeed in a hernia claim, Respondent's expert medical opinion qualified as definite proof under the statute, Respondent satisfied the Commission by a preponderance of the evidence that his September 2019 hernia was new, and that his hernia surgery was "immediate." Strothers, 253 Md.App. at 722-25.
The Commission's decision is presumed to be prima facie correct, and Petitioners bear the burden of proving otherwise. See L&E § 9-745(b). Maryland courts may review a decision of the Commission for only three types of error: whether the Commission (1) justly considered all of the facts about the accidental personal injury, occupational disease, or compensable hernia; (2) exceeded the powers granted to it under [the Act]; or (3) misconstrued the law and facts applicable. Id. § 9-745(c). Petitioners' appeal concerns only the third ground. In conducting our review, we analyze the Commission's decision and look through the decisions of both the circuit court and Court of Special Appeals. See Montgomery Cty. v. Cochran, 471 Md. 186, 208 (2020).
If we review an agency's decision for an alleged error of law, such as here where Petitioners allege an incorrect interpretation of a statute, then we do so under the de novo standard. See id. ().
Petitioners' challenge is twofold. They first...
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