Case Title: Gile v. Associated Co.

Citation: 223 Kan. 739, 576 P.2d 663

Docket Number: 49,075

State: kansas

Court: Kansas Supreme Court

Date: 1978-04-01T00:00:00Z

Document:
223 Kan. 739 (1978)
576 P.2d 663
BILLY H. GILE, Appellee,
v.
ASSOCIATED COMPANY, INC., Appellant, and TRUCK INSURANCE EXCHANGE, Appellant.
No. 49,075

Supreme Court of Kansas.
Opinion filed April 1, 1978.
Otto J. Koerner, of Koerner & Elam, of Wichita, argued the cause and was on the brief for the appellant.
Russell E. Grant, of Mulvane, was on the brief for the appellee.
Per Curiam:
This is a review and modification proceeding of a workers' compensation award under K.S.A. 1977 Supp. 44-528. The appellants (employer and carrier) appeal from the judgment of the district court wherein their application for modification and reduction in payment of total disability compensation was denied.
The pertinent part of K.S.A. 1977 Supp. 44-528 provides:
The trial court made the following findings of fact and conclusions of law:
The appellants claim the trial court erred, as a matter of law, in considering or giving any weight to the disability determined on the then existing facts upon which claimant's original award was based, or upon the fact that Dr. Anderson had not examined the claimant prior to July 30, 1974.
The purpose of the review and modification statute is set forth in Ratzlaff v. Friedeman Service Store, 200 Kan. 430, 436 P.2d 389 (overruled on other grounds, Ferrell v. Day & Zimmerman, Inc., 223 Kan. 421, 573 P.2d 1065), quoting Hayes v. Garvey Drilling Co., 188 Kan. 179, 181, 360 P.2d 889, as follows:
The subsequent amendment to the statute has no effect on the above stated purpose. Any modification is based on the existence of new facts, a changed condition of the workman's capacity, which renders the former award either excessive or inadequate (Ratzlaff, supra). The burden of proving the changed condition of *741 the claimant is upon the party asserting it (Davis v. Haren & Laughlin Construction Co., 184 Kan. 820, 339 P.2d 41). The only evidence of the claimed changed condition was the deposition of Dr. Anderson, who, except for finding no muscle spasms, found essentially the same physical condition that was the basis of the original award. Dr. Anderson assessed the claimant as being 15-20 percent disabled and being capable of light work. The assessment was not evidence of diminished disability, but rather a different evaluation of the original disability, as the trial court found. Dr. Anderson further stated the claimant was incapable of performing the same work he had been performing prior to his injury.
The appellants' claim of error on the part of the trial court in considering the disability found in the award on which modification was sought is without merit. The purpose of the proceeding was to determine if the claimant's disability had changed. No such determination can be made without comparing claimant's condition at the time of the award with his condition at the time modification was sought.
Some clarification is necessary in the following findings:
If the trial court is concluding that Dr. Anderson was precluded, as a matter of law, from comparing claimant's original condition with what he found on July 30, 1974, then this is an erroneous conclusion. Dr. Anderson viewed the earlier records including X-rays and compared the same to what he personally found upon his examination including the new X-rays he ordered taken. He had the right to compare and did, in fact, do so. He basically found no change. The language in this one portion of the findings and conclusions is subject to an improper interpretation which we do not believe the trial court intended, taken in the light of all the findings and conclusions and the evidence before the court.
With this clarification we hold the appellants' claim of error on the part of the trial court in considering the disability found in the award on which modification was sought is without merit. The purpose of the proceeding was to determine if the claimant's disability had changed. No such determination can be made without comparing claimant's condition at the time of the award with his condition at the time modification was sought.
*742 The findings and conclusions of the trial court as clarified are supported by substantial competent evidence and the trial court properly applied the law to the facts so found.
The judgment is affirmed.