Vigos v. Mountainland Builders, Inc.

• Decision Date: 07 January 2000
• Docket Number: No. 970175.,970175.
• Citation: 993 P.2d 207
• Parties: J. David VIGOS, Petitioner, v. MOUNTAINLAND BUILDERS, INC., and Workers' Compensation Fund of Utah, Respondents.
• Court: Utah Supreme Court

993 P.2d 207

J. David VIGOS, Petitioner, v. MOUNTAINLAND BUILDERS, INC., and Workers' Compensation Fund of Utah, Respondents.

No. 970175.

Supreme Court of Utah.

January 7, 2000.

Eugene C. Miller, Jr., Salt Lake City, for Vigos.

Alan Hennebold, Salt Lake City, for Ind. Comm'n.

James R. Black, Salt Lake City, for Mountainland Builders and Workers' Compensation Fund.

David W. Parker, Salt Lake City, for amicus Utah Citizens' Alliance.

On Certiorari to the Utah Court of Appeals

STEWART, Justice:

¶ 1 This case is here on a writ of certiorari to the Utah Court of Appeals. At issue is the effect of the six-year limitations period in Utah Code Ann. § 35-1-99(3) (1988)¹ of the Workers' Compensation Act ("Act") that governs claims for permanent total disability, and Utah Code Ann. § 35-1-78 that provides for continuing jurisdiction of the Industrial Commission. An administrative law judge dismissed petitioner J. David Vigos' request for permanent total disability benefits because the request was filed more than six years after the industrial accident that initially gave rise to Vigos' workers' compensation claim. The Industrial Commission denied Vigos' motion for review, and the Court of Appeals affirmed. We reverse and remand.

I.

¶ 2 On October 13, 1988, Vigos fell and injured his head and back while working for Mountainland Builders, Inc., a construction company. Mountainland filed a timely report of injury with the Workers' Compensation Fund of Utah (the "Fund") and the Commission. Vigos' physician also filed a timely physician's initial report of work injury with the Fund and the Commission. Vigos did not, however, file an application for hearing with the Commission in 1988.

¶ 3 The Fund voluntarily paid Vigos temporary total disability benefits from October 14, 1988, to May 8, 1989, as well as medical expenses through July 1989. A clinical psychologist, David G. Ericksen, Ph.D., evaluated Vigos in early 1989 and reported that in light of his injuries he should pursue a slow-paced, structured line of work and increase his responsibility and workload as appropriate. He implied that Vigos could eventually return to "his full level of previous functioning." Vigos was told he could return to work without restrictions on May 8, 1989. He was not told he could receive, and he did not receive, an impairment rating, and he had no indication from physicians of permanent disability.

¶ 4 Eventually, Vigos attempted to rehabilitate himself by continuing to work. From 1989 to 1994, he worked at various jobs but was unable to hold any of them. In 1994, he realized that his 1988 accident had caused him a permanent disability. On January 25, 1994, Vigos applied to the Social Security Administration for disability benefits. His request was denied twice but was finally granted on June 23, 1995. On October 25, 1994 (during Vigos' request for reconsideration before the Social Security Administration), he sought payment for additional medical treatment from the Fund. It denied his request November 3, 1994, under Utah Code Ann. § 35-1-98(1) (1994),² because more than three years had passed after his last medical treatment.

¶ 5 On July 11, 1995, almost six years and nine months after his accident, Vigos filed an "Application for Hearing — Form 001" with the Commission requesting medical expenses, temporary and permanent total disability benefits, and travel expenses. The Fund answered that Vigos' claim was filed more than six years after his accident and was barred by section 35-1-99(3), the Act's statute of limitations. The administrative law judge dismissed Vigos' claim under section 35-1-99(3). The Commission affirmed the ALJ's dismissal, and the Court of Appeals affirmed the Commission's order. The Court of Appeals held that under Avis v. Industrial Commission, 837 P.2d 584 (Utah Ct.App.1992), section 35-1-99(3) was a statute of limitations, not an unconstitutional statute of repose, which barred Vigos' claim. See id. at 587-88. This Court granted a writ of certiorari.

II.

¶ 6 Vigos asserts several arguments in support of his position. First, he claims section 35-1-99(3) violates the Due Process and Open Courts provisions of the Utah Constitution, Article I, sections 7 and 11, and cases following our decision in Berry v. Beech Aircraft Corp., 717 P.2d 670 (Utah 1985). The statute is unconstitutional, Vigos argues, because it cuts off his right to assert a claim before the claim arises. Second, Vigos argues that he met the six-year limitations requirements of section 35-1-99(3) because his initial claim for benefits was deemed filed within the six-year limitations period. Third, Vigos argues that the Commission acquired jurisdiction over his basic claim entitling him to benefits and that the Commission had continuing jurisdiction to adjudicate his claim for permanent total disability benefits even though it was made after the six-year limitations period. Fourth, Vigos contends that because the Commission had jurisdiction over his claim and because the Fund paid him benefits during 1988 and 1989, the Commission had continuing jurisdiction to award him permanent total disability benefits pursuant to section 35-1-78.³

¶ 7 We review a Court of Appeals decision on certiorari for correctness, giving its interpretation of law no deference. See Bear River Mut. Ins. Co. v. Wall, 978 P.2d 460, 461 (Utah 1999)

.

¶ 8 It is fundamental that constitutional issues should be avoided if the case can be properly decided on non-constitutional grounds. See World Peace Movement v. Newspaper Agency Corp., 879 P.2d 253, 257 (Utah 1994)

; State v. Anderson, 701 P.2d 1099, 1103 (Utah 1985); State v. Wood, 648 P.2d 71, 82 (Utah 1982); Hoyle v. Monson, 606 P.2d 240, 242 (Utah 1980). For that reason, we first address whether Vigos satisfied the statute of limitations and whether the Commission had continuing jurisdiction to enter an award for permanent total disability benefits.

¶ 9 Because Vigos was injured in October 1988, the applicable workers' compensation statutory scheme for his claims is Utah Code Ann. title 35, chapter 1, as amended in 1988. Section 35-1-99 confers jurisdiction on the Commission over particular workers' claims. See Mannes-Vale, Inc. v. Vale, 717 P.2d 709, 712 (Utah 1986)

. Section 35-1-99 requires an injured worker to (1) give notice of an industrial accident to the employer, and (2) make a claim for compensation by filing an "application for hearing" with the Commission. See Utah Code Ann. § 35-1-99(1) to (3). See generally 7 Arthur Larson & Lex K. Larson, Larson's Workers' Compensation Law § 78.10 (1998). Under the first requirement, a worker must notify his employer of an industrial accident within 180 calendar days of the accident or the claim is barred. Notice to the employer is presumed if the employer files an accident report or if the employer or its insurance company pays disability or medical benefits. See Utah Code Ann. § 35-1-99(1).

¶ 10 Under the second requirement, an injured worker must make a claim for compensation within six years from an industrial accident.

A claim for compensation for temporary total disability benefits, temporary partial disability benefits, permanent partial disability benefits, or permanent total disability benefits is wholly barred, unless an application for hearing is filed with the industrial commission within six years after the date of the accident.

Id. § 35-1-99(3). If a worker satisfies this limitations period, the Commission acquires jurisdiction, and the Commission will have continuing jurisdiction over the worker's case under section 35-1-78, which states:

The powers and jurisdiction of the commission over each case shall be continuing. The commission, after notice and hearing, may from time to time modify or change its former findings and orders. Records pertaining to cases that have been closed and inactive for ten years, other than cases of total permanent disability or cases in which a claim has been filed as in Section 35-1-99, may be destroyed at the discretion of the commission.

Utah Code Ann. § 35-1-78; see also infra ¶¶ 27-32.

¶ 11 Mountainland and the Fund argue that Vigos did not satisfy the statute of limitations because he failed to file an "Application for Hearing — Form 001," see Utah Admin. Code R490-1-2(F) (1988),⁴ with respect to his initial 1988 claims before the six-year period ran. The filing of this form, they contend, is essential to satisfying the statute of limitations. The Commission contends that "any application for hearing [not just Form 001] is sufficient," but that the worker must actually file some application.

¶ 12 Vigos argues that the Commission acquired initial jurisdiction under section 35-1-99(3) because Mountainland filed a timely "Employer's Report of Injury" with both the Fund and the Commission. Vigos' physician filed a timely "Physician's Initial Report of Work Injury or Occupational Disease" with the Fund and the Commission; and the Fund accepted liability for the accident and actually paid Vigos disability benefits and medical expenses. This was all done well within the six-year limitations period stated in section 35-1-99(3) and in compliance with other time requirements. Vigos argues that filing an "Application for Hearing" is appropriate and necessary only when a dispute arises over entitlement to benefits. Because there was no dispute concerning Vigos' initial entitlement to benefits and benefits were paid, the filing of an "Application for Hearing" was inappropriate and unnecessary. Therefore, Vigos contends the Commission acquired jurisdiction over his initial claim and had continuing jurisdiction of his claim for additional benefits.

¶ 13 The plain language controls the interpretation of a statute, and only if there is ambiguity do we look beyond the plain language to legislative history or policy considerations. See Olsen v. Samuel McIntyre Inv. Co., 956 P.2d 257, 259 (Utah 1998)

(citing Stephens v....