Source: https://www.iowaworkerscompensationlawyerblog.com/
Timestamp: 2019-04-19 21:14:32+00:00

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Iowa Workers' Compensation Lawyer Blog — Published by Dubuque Workers' Comp Attorney — Tri-State Work Injury Lawyer — Gilloon, Wright & Hamel, P.C.
The Iowa Workers Compensation Commissioner entered a recent Appeal Decision on March 19, 2019 in the case of Tammy Roberson v. Sears Holdings Corporation and Indemnity Insurance Company of North America which highlights the importance of expert opinions in Iowa work comp cases. In some situations it is very clear that an injury was caused by work. This would be where a worker is struck by a forklift, cut by a knife, etc. However, in many other situations, it is not always clear whether an injury was caused by cumulative trauma at work or whether an injury was unrelated to work and just caused by natural degenerative changes.
Under Iowa law, the cause of an injury is essentially within the domain of expert testimony. The Work Comp Commissioner considers the expert medical evidence along with all of the other evidence in the case. Testimony from non-medical witnesses may be used to support or attack expert opinions. The amount of weight to be given to an expert opinion is determined initially by the Deputy Work Comp Commissioners at trial, and then by the Commissioner if the case is appealed. The Deputy Commissioners and the Commission have the power to accept or reject expert opinion either in whole or in part.
In the Roberson case, the Claimant was 53 years old at the time of trial. She had a high school education. The Claimant also had an extensive and varied work history. She had worked as a flagger on a construction crew. She had worked as a supervisor of tar pickers, power washers and ropers. The Claimant had also worked as a bartender, waitress and a cook. She had worked as a shipping and receiving clerk. She had worked as a CNA. She had worked as a planter in a greenhouse. She had worked in a grocery store as a cash register operator and stocking shelves and working at the customer service desk. She had worked for a railroad support company and drove railroad crews around the country. Her job with Sears Holdings Corporation included customer service, stocking, inventory, assembly, shipping, and operating a forklift.
In some cases the issue is whether an injured worker is an employee or an independent contractor.
In other circumstances it is clear the injured worker is an employee, but it can be difficult to figure out who is the employer. The Iowa Workers’ Compensation Commissioner filed an Appeal Decision on March 4, 2019 in the case of Cerda v. The R & A Construction LLC and Rafael Alvarez and Riverport Insurance Co., involving a construction injury in which there were five possible employers.
The recent February 14, 2019 Iowa Workers’ Compensation Appeal Decision in the case of Bonde v. Pro Cooperative and Nationwide Agribusiness dealt with a situation in which there were no witnesses to the injury.
The Claimant reported that he fell while at work and injured his low back. The Claimant explained he had slipped and fell on some loose soybeans on the icy parking lot. There were no witnesses to the fall. The fall itself happened on Thursday, February 19, 2015. The Claimant was able to continue working throughout the day. The Claimant came to work on the next day, on Friday, and was also able to work the entire day although he was in pain. The Claimant was off work on Saturday and Sunday. By Monday the Claimant’s back pain was worse and he reported the injury.
The employer and insurance carrier did not give the Claimant any instructions on going to a physician. They did not provide any workers’ compensation benefits, and they did not give the Claimant any guidance on whether or not he should come into work.
The Iowa workers’ compensation law on apportionment has gone through many changes based on statutory amendments by the legislature and judicial interpretations by the Courts.
In my last blog entry I talk about the January 17, 2019 workers’ compensation appeal decision of Byers v. Guardsmark, LLC and New Hampshire Insurance Company and concentrated on the parts of the case relating to injuries to older workers.
The Byers case also analyzed the issue of apportionment. The Claimant in Byers had suffered severe back injuries in the late 1990s while working as a truck driver that had left him unable to work between the late 1990s and his employment as a security guard that began in 2014. The Claimant suffered another severe back injury in 2014 while working.
If an injured worker is found to be an employee, then they are entitled to receive workers’ compensation benefits. However, if an injured worker is found to be an independent contractor, then they are not entitled to receive workers’ compensation benefits. Iowa Code Section 85.61(11) defines an employee as someone who has entered into the employment of or is working under a contract of service, express or implied, for an employer.
Where the employer-employee relationship is in dispute, the worker has the initial duty to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that they were an employee within the meaning of the law. If the worker can establish a prima facie case that they were an employee, then the burden shifts to the Defendant to rebut the presumption that the worker was an employee.
Under Iowa workers’ compensation law the insurance company and employer cannot interfere with the medical judgment of their own treating physician. Schwers v. Nordstrom Distribution Center is a December 17, 2018 Alternate Medical Care Decision from the Workers’ Compensation Commissioner that deals with this rule.
The Claimant injured her back on August 10, 2017. Nordstrom Distribution Center is self-insured for work comp injuries. Nordstrom accepted the injury and provided medical care. Dr. Michael Chapman performed a low back fusion surgery on the Claimant.
Unfortunately, the Claimant continued to have low back pain. Dr. Chapman referred the Claimant to pain doctor #1 who performed a number of tests and a diagnostic medial branch block, and gave the opinion that a medial branch problem and facet disease could be ruled out as a cause of the Claimant’s back pain.
Under Iowa Workers’ Compensation law if an employee suffers a compensable injury, and then develops a second injury as a result of the original injury, then the second injury is also compensable as a workers’ compensation claim. This sequence of the original work injury causing a second work injury is called a sequela of injuries.
The recent December 17, 2018 appeal decision of the Commissioner in the case of Kirkendall v. Cargill Meat Solutions Corp. and The Insurance Company of the State of Pennsylvania is a good example of a sequela injury case.
The Claimant injured her right shoulder when she fell on ice on December 10, 2009. After a period of conservative treatment the Claimant began a series of right shoulder surgeries. The first right shoulder surgery was on April 7, 2010. The second right shoulder surgery was on December 17, 2010.
WHAT CAN YOU DO IF YOUR WORK INJURY IS REJECTED OR UNDERPAID?
Iowa workers’ compensation is an adversary system of justice. The insurance companies will sometimes reject legitimate work injuries, and will frequently pay less than the full value of a work injury. If your claim is rejected or underpaid you have the right to hire your own lawyer to contest the dispute.
Our lawyers have reviewed the cases of many injured workers that have been rejected or denied by work comp insurance companies. In many of these rejected and denied cases we have been able to obtain our clients money and medical care.
Similarly, many people have come to us after being offered or paid small amounts of money. In many of those cases we have been able to obtain additional compensation benefits for the clients.

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