Case Title: Pleinis v. ND WKRS. COMP. BUREAU

Citation: 472 N.W.2d 459

Docket Number: 910041

State: north-dakota

Court: North Dakota Supreme Court

Date: 1991-06-25T00:00:00Z

Document:
472 N.W.2d 459 (1991) Harlan PLEINIS, Appellee, v. NORTH DAKOTA WORKERS COMPENSATION BUREAU, Appellant. Civ. No. 910041. Supreme Court of North Dakota. June 25, 1991. *460 Kenneth S. Rau, of Moench Law Firm, Bismarck, for appellee. Dean J. Haas, Asst. Atty. Gen., N.D. Workers Compensation Bureau, Bismarck, for appellant. VANDE WALLE, Justice. The Workers Compensation Bureau appealed from a district court judgment reversing its order denying a claim by Harlan J. Pleinis for further benefits. We reverse the judgment and reinstate the Bureau's order. Pleinis initially received medical benefits from the Bureau for a "[l]ocalized contusion and strain of the medial aspect of the right knee" which occurred on September 25, 1984, when he slipped and fell while getting into a pickup truck while at work. X-rays of Pleinis's knee taken at that time indicated that he had osteoarthritis. Pleinis returned to work and received no further medical treatment for his knee until he consulted Dr. Raymond S. Gruby on March 8, 1989. According to Pleinis, he had problems with his knee after the 1984 injury and those problems progressively worsened until he quit his job in 1989. On August 7, 1989, Pleinis filed a claim for further benefits. The Bureau denied his claim, and he requested a rehearing. At the rehearing Dr. Gruby testified by deposition that the 1984 injury may have aggravated the osteoarthritis in Pleinis's knee; however, Gruby further explained that the x-rays in 1984 indicated that Pleinis had arthritis in his knee before the injury and that it did not cause the osteoarthritic changes. Dr. Gruby opined that Pleinis's arthritic changes were a natural progression of the osteoarthritic condition. Dr. Gruby testified: Pleinis testified that he did not have any problems with his right knee before the 1984 injury. He also testified that when he returned to work after the injury, he had to wrap his knee to alleviate the pain and that he quit his job in 1989 because of his knee problems. The Bureau denied Pleinis's claim for further benefits, finding that: Pleinis appealed to the district court which initially concluded that it was The court remanded to the Bureau for additional findings of fact and conclusions. The Bureau made additional findings that Pleinis "failed to prove a cause and effect relationship between his current condition and his work injury"; that his "current condition [was] due to a pre-existing osteoarthritic condition which would have progressed similarly in the absence of his work injury"; and that his current condition was "due to a natural progression of his osteoarthritic condition." The district court reversed the Bureau's decision, concluding that its findings of fact were not supported by a preponderance of the evidence and its decision was not in accordance with the law. The court reasoned: In an appeal to this court from a district court judgment reviewing a decision of an administrative agency, we review the record before the administrative agency and its decision rather than the decision of the district court. Plante v. North Dakota Workers Compensation Bureau, 455 N.W.2d 195 (N.D.1990). Our review of administrative agency decisions is governed by Section 28-32-19, N.D.C.C., which requires a three-step process to determine (1) if the findings of fact are supported by a preponderance of the evidence; (2) if the conclusions of law are supported by the findings of fact; and (3) if the agency decision is supported by the conclusions of law. Schmalz v. North Dakota Workers Compensation Bureau, 449 N.W.2d 817 (N.D.1989). In determining whether an administrative 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; rather, we determine only whether a reasoning mind could have reasonably determined that its factual conclusions were supported by the evidence. Power Fuels, Inc. v. Elkin, 283 N.W.2d 214 (N.D.1979). An administrative agency's findings of fact must be adequate so that the reviewing court can understand the basis of the agency's decision. Walter v. North Dakota State Highway Commissioner, 391 N.W.2d 155 (N.D.1986); Matter of Boschee, 347 N.W.2d 331 (N.D.1984). The Bureau asserts that its findings adequately explain its determination that the work-related injury suffered by Pleinis in 1984 did not substantially aggravate or accelerate his osteoarthritis under Section 65-01-02(8)(b)(6), N.D.C.C. The Bureau argues that a reasoning mind could have reasonably made that factual determination and therefore its findings of fact are supported by a preponderance of the evidence. Pleinis responds that his osteoarthritis had not "clearly manifested itself prior" to the injury in 1984 and therefore the predicate determination for a finding of noncompensability under Section 65-01-02(8)(b)(6), N.D.C.C., was not met. Pleinis also argues that his 1984 injury substantially aggravated or accelerated his osteoarthritis. The primary issue is whether Pleinis's condition is a compensable injury under Section 65-01-02(8)(b)(6), N.D.C.C. Although the Workers Compensation Act must be liberally construed in favor of workers so that its benefit provisions can be extended to all who can fairly be brought within them, e.g., Syverson v. N.D. Workmen's Compensation Bureau, 406 N.W.2d 688 (N.D.1987), we are not free to ignore the plain and ordinary language of the statute. Souris River Telephone Mutual Aid Cooperative v. North Dakota Workers Compensation Bureau, 471 N.W.2d 465 (N.D.1991); Schaefer v. North Dakota Workers Compensation Bureau, 462 N.W.2d 179 (N.D.1990). Section 65-01-02(8), N.D.C.C., defines "compensable injury" and provides: Section 65-01-02(8)(b)(6), N.D.C.C., defines a "compensable injury" within the context of "[i]njuries attributable to a *463 preexisting injury, disease, or condition." The first sentence of that subsection unambiguously says that "[i]njuries attributable to a preexisting injury, disease, or condition which clearly manifested itself prior to the compensable injury" are not compensable. The second sentence explains that the situation described in the first sentence does not prevent compensation where employment substantially aggravates and acts upon an underlying preexisting condition, substantially worsening its severity, or where employment substantially accelerates the progression of the preexisting underlying condition. The third sentence describes the consequences when employment acts as a trigger to produce symptoms in a "latent and underlying condition."[1] In that situation compensation is not allowed if the underlying condition would likely have progressed similarly in the absence of an employment trigger, unless the employment trigger is a substantial aggravating or accelerating factor. The statutory language unambiguously describes when compensation is allowed for injuries attributable to both a latent underlying condition and an underlying condition which clearly manifested itself prior to the compensable injury. In both situations injuries attributable to the preexisting condition are compensable if employment substantially aggravates or accelerates the condition. We therefore disagree with Pleinis's contention that a predicate determination for a finding of noncompensability under Section 65-01-02(8)(b)(6), N.D.C.C., is that a preexisting underlying condition must clearly manifest itself prior to a compensable injury. Rather, the statute focuses on whether the underlying condition would likely have progressed similarly in the absence of employment, or whether the employment substantially aggravated or accelerated the condition. In this case the Bureau's findings recite Dr. Gruby's opinion that Pleinis's "osteoarthritic process was independent" of the 1984 injury; that the 1984 injury had not "substantially contributed to the acceleration or the progression of the arthritic condition"; and that Pleinis's condition was the "natural progression of osteoarthritic changes" which was "consistent with the history provided by" Pleinis. Dr. Gruby's opinion follows the third sentence of Section 65-01-02(8)(b)(6), N.D.C.C. In concluding that Pleinis had failed to prove a cause and effect relationship between the 1984 injury and his current osteoarthritic condition, the Bureau essentially adopted Dr. Gruby's opinion. Although the Bureau did not make a specific finding that Pleinis's underlying condition was latent, its findings are adequate to enable us to understand the basis for its decision that Pleinis's employment was not a substantial or accelerating factor of his underlying condition and that his underlying condition would likely have progressed similarly in the absence of his employment.[2] We conclude that a reasoning mind could have reasonably reached that factual conclusion. The Bureau's decision is therefore supported by a preponderance of the evidence, and under Section 65-01-02(8)(b)(6), N.D.C.C., its denial of further benefits is supported by its findings of fact. Accordingly, the district court judgment is reversed and the Bureau's order is reinstated. ERICKSTAD, C.J., and LEVINE, MESCHKE and GIERKE, JJ., concur. [1] Webster's New World Dictionary, Second College Edition (1980), defines "latent" as "present but invisible or inactive; lying hidden and undeveloped within a person or thing, as a quality or power." In contrast, the same source defines "manifest" as "apparent to the senses, esp. that of sight, or to the mind; evident; obvious; clear; plain." Words used in statutes are to be understood in their ordinary sense unless a contrary intention plainly appears and absent a statutory definition. Section 1-02-02, N.D.C.C. [2] The findings of the Bureau should have been specific particularly in view of the district court's remand to the Bureau for the purpose of preparing findings more responsive to the provisions of Section 65-01-02(8)(b)(6), N.D.C.C. At that point the Bureau knew or should have known that the district court considered the findings inadequate to meet the statutory criteria for a finding of noncompensability.