Source: https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F2/542/602/24996/
Timestamp: 2019-11-20 19:43:11
Document Index: 348452686

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 8', '§ 44', '§ 944', '§ 8', '§ 921', '§ 802', '§ 921', '§ 706', '§ 921', '§ 922', '§ 921', '§ 8', '§ 8', '§ 2', '§ 902', '§ 8', '§ 908', '§ 921', '§ 921', '§ 15', '§ 921']

Atlantic & Gulf Stevedores, Inc., Petitioner, v. Director, Office of Workers' Compensation Programs, Unitedstates Department of Labor, et al., Respondents, 542 F.2d 602 (3d Cir. 1976) :: Justia
Justia › US Law › Case Law › Federal Courts › Courts of Appeals › Third Circuit › 1976 › Atlantic & Gulf Stevedores, Inc., Petitioner, v. Director, Office of Workers' Compensation Programs,...
Atlantic & Gulf Stevedores, Inc., Petitioner, v. Director, Office of Workers' Compensation Programs, Unitedstates Department of Labor, et al., Respondents, 542 F.2d 602 (3d Cir. 1976)
US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit - 542 F.2d 602 (3d Cir. 1976) Argued April 6, 1976. Decided June 23, 1976
On December 16, 1972 Stanley Aleksiejczyk, a longshoreman hatch boss, collapsed and died of heart failure aboard the SS Export Adventurer. Shortly after his death his widow, Mary Aleksiejczyk, filed a claim for death benefits under the LHWCA. Atlantic & Gulf opposed the claim, contending that the fatal heart attack was not work-related. The employer also maintained that if it was liable for death benefits, that liability was, by virtue of § 8(f), limited to 104 weeks' compensation. Any benefits in excess of 104 weeks were said to be chargeable to the Special Fund maintained in the Treasury of the United States pursuant to § 44 of the LHWCA, 33 U.S.C. § 944, because at the time of his death Aleksiejczyk was suffering from a previous disability. Both issues were litigated before an Administrative Law Judge, who concluded that the fatal heart attack was work-related and that the decedent was suffering from a previous disability within the meaning of § 8(f). The Director, Office of Workers' Compensation Programs, filed a timely notice of appeal and petition for review, as a party in interest adversely affected or aggrieved, to the Benefits Review Board. See 33 U.S.C. § 921(b) (3); 20 C.F.R. § 802.201(a) (1975). That petition for review did not put in issue the finding of the Administrative Law Judge that Aleksiejczyk's fatal heart attack was work-related, but only the finding that the Special Fund was liable for payments of death benefits extending beyond the 104th week. Atlantic & Gulf did not appeal to the Benefits Review Board. The Board, without considering whether the employee's death was work-related, held that the employer was liable for the entire amount of compensation due Mrs. Aleksiejczyk.
The employer points out that under the statute the record on which the Board acts is that made before an Administrative Law Judge, and that its review is by the same "substantial evidence in the record considered as a whole" standard of review which we would employ. 33 U.S.C. §§ 921(b) (3), (c); 5 U.S.C. § 706(2) (E). See H.R.Rep. No. 92-1441, 92d Cong., 2d Sess., 1972 U.S.Code Cong. & Admin.News, p. 4709 (suggesting that judicial review is by the substantial evidence standard). But while permitting a bypass of the Board would not interfere with the administrative development of a factual record, and while our interpretation of the law must ultimately guide the Board, we think that it is nevertheless proper to insist upon exhaustion of the administrative remedy of appeal to the Board. It may be anticipated that a party aggrieved by an action of an Administrative Law Judge will in many instances find corrective action at the Board level, thus obviating the need for judicial review. See, e. g., Christian v. New York Department of Labor, 414 U.S. 614, 622, 94 S. Ct. 747, 39 L. Ed. 2d 38 (1974). Moreover, 33 U.S.C. § 921(a) evinces a strong interest in prompt finality of compensation claims. Unlike many other instances in which failure to exhaust remedies results in the total and permanent loss of rights, the LHWCA contains a provision for the modification of awards in certain cases. See 33 U.S.C. § 922; O'Keefe v. Aerojet-General Shipyards, Inc., 404 U.S. 254, 92 S. Ct. 405, 30 L. Ed. 2d 424 (1971). This mitigates whatever hardship may attach to the requirement that the exhaustion doctrine must be observed in longshoremen's cases. We thus hold that a party in interest affected or aggrieved by a decision or order of an Administrative Law Judge in a compensation proceeding under the Act, who fails to appeal the order complained of to the Benefits Review Board within the time permitted by 33 U.S.C. § 921(a) and who thereby deprives the Board of the opportunity to pass upon an issue, may not raise that issue on a petition for review in this court. We proceed on the same assumption as did the Benefits Review Board: that the order directing payment of death benefits became final thirty days after it was filed.
When Congress enacted the LHWCA in 1927, it included provisions, copied from the workmen's compensation law of New York, see H.R.Rep. No. 1190, 69th Cong., 1st Sess. 2 (1926), dealing with what is commonly called the second-injury problem. The problem is that a person with a given partial disability might, when injured, become totally disabled as a result of the combined disabling effects of the two injuries. The classic example is the one-eyed man who in a work-related incident loses a second eye. See, e. g., Hearings on S. 3170 Before the House Comm. on the Judiciary, 69th Cong., 1st Sess. 208 (1926). Because the second injury produces a condition of total disability, the employer at that time would ordinarily be liable for full compensation. This result was thought to be unfair, both to handicapped workers who would be subjected to employment discrimination out of fear of excessive potential liability, and to employers who did hire handicapped workers. The result was special statutory treatment for second-injury disabilities, in which the employer's liability was limited, but full compensation would be paid out of a special fund to which all employers made some contribution. The origin and purpose of the second-injury special fund provisions are explained in the leading case of Lawson v. Suwannee Fruit & Steamship Co., 336 U.S. 198, 69 S. Ct. 503, 93 L. Ed. 611 (1947). The argument was made in Lawson that the second-injury provision in § 8(f) of the Act as originally drafted was limited in application to instances where the first disability was the result of an occupational injury. The theory advanced was that the words "previous disability" in § 8(f) cross-referenced to the definition of "disability" for purposes of compensation appearing in § 2(10) of the Act, 33 U.S.C. § 902(10). The Supreme Court, looking to the obvious purpose of § 8(f) to encourage the hiring of handicapped workmen and protect employers who did so held that "previous disability" meant disability in fact, not disability as defined for purposes of compensation.
(f) Injury increasing disability: (1) In any case in which an employee having an existing permanent partial disability suffers injury, the employer shall provide compensation for such disability as is found to be attributable to that injury based upon the average weekly wages of the employee at the time of the injury. If following an injury falling within the provisions of subdivision (c) (1)-(20) of this section, the employee is totally and permanently disabled, and the disability is found to be due solely to that injury, the employer shall provide compensation for the applicable prescribed period of weeks provided for in that section for the subsequent injury, or for one hundred and four weeks, whichever is the greater. In all other cases of total permanent disability or of death, found not to be due solely to that injury, of an employee having an existing permanent partial disability, the employer shall provide in addition to compensation under paragraphs (b) and (e) of this section, compensation payments or death benefits for one hundred and four weeks only. If following an injury falling within the provisions of subdivision (c) (1)-(20) of this section, the employee has a permanent partial disability and the disability is found not to be due solely to that injury, and such disability is materially and substantially greater than that which would have resulted from the subsequent injury alone, the employer shall provide compensation for the applicable period of weeks provided for in that section for the subsequent injury, or for one hundred and four weeks, whichever is the greater.
33 U.S.C. § 908(f) (1) (emphasis supplied).
First, the Board acknowledged that implicit in the Administrative Law Judge's opinion was a finding that the previous disability contributed to the fatal heart attack, but held that there was no evidence in the record to support a conclusion that death was not due solely to acute myocardial infarction suffered by the decedent. That holding places in focus the difference in functions between the Benefits Review Board and other administrative agencies. Unlike boards which can, on the record developed before an Administrative Law Judge, make independent factual determinations,3 the Benefits Review Board is restricted to substantial evidence review. 33 U.S.C. § 921(b) (3). If in reviewing the Administrative Law Judge's decision it departs from that legal standard, we must reverse. Presley v. Tinsley Maintenance Service, 529 F.2d 433, 436 (5th Cir. 1976).
In this case the Board did depart from the substantial evidence scope of review when it ignored the opinion of Dr. Edward Viner that Aleksiejczyk's condition, coupled with some degree of arteriosclerotic heart disease, caused death sooner than would otherwise occur. The Board also ignored the testimony of Dr. Bernard Segal that diabetes magnified the risk of coronary heart disease by as much as a factor of 4; that Aleksiejczyk had diabetes, that it contributed to coronary arteriosclerosis, and that coronary arteriosclerosis caused the fatal heart attack. There is substantial evidence in the record as a whole supporting the Administrative Law Judge's finding of fact that the previous disability contributed to the fatal heart attack.4 Cf. Richardson v. Perales, 402 U.S. 389, 91 S. Ct. 1420, 28 L. Ed. 2d 842 (1971). Under the statute that finding of fact is conclusive on the Benefits Review Board. 33 U.S.C. § 921(b) (3).
The Benefits Review Board was created pursuant to the Longshoremen's and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act Amendments of 1972, Pub. L. No. 92-576, § 15(a), 86 Stat. 1261-62, 33 U.S.C. § 921(b). The Board is authorized to hear and determine appeals by parties in interest from decisions of Administrative Law Judges respecting claims for compensation
The Director concedes in his brief that the acceleration or aggravation of a preexisting heart condition by an employment-related event that produces disability is a compensable injury under the LHWCA. See, e. g., Canadian Gulf Line, Ltd. v. Shea, 404 F.2d 24 (5th Cir. 1968) (per curiam); J. V. Vozzolo, Inc. v. Britton, 126 U.S.App.D.C. 259, 377 F.2d 144 (1967); Hancock v. Einbinder, 114 U.S.App.D.C. 67, 310 F.2d 872 (1962); Vinson v. Einbinder, 113 U.S.App.D.C. 246, 307 F.2d 387 (1962), cert. denied, 372 U.S. 934, 83 S. Ct. 880, 9 L. Ed. 2d 765 (1963); Mississippi Shipping Co. v. Henderson, 231 F.2d 457 (5th Cir. 1956); Crescent Wharf & Warehouse Co. v. Cyr, 200 F.2d 633 (9th Cir. 1952); Hampton Roads Stevedoring Corp. v. O'Hearne, 184 F.2d 76 (4th Cir. 1950). Thus there is no question that some source, either the Special Fund or the employer, is liable for death benefits after the 104th week
See, e. g., Dillingham Corp. v. Massey, 505 F.2d 1126 (5th Cir. 1974) (per curiam); American Mutual Insurance Co. v. Jones, 138 U.S.App.D.C. 269, 426 F.2d 1263 (1970); Boyd-Campbell Co. v. Shea, 254 F. Supp. 483 (S.D. Tex. 1966); United States Fidelity & Guaranty Co. v. O'Keefe, 240 F. Supp. 813 (S.D. Fla. 1962)