Source: http://openjurist.org/154/f3d/1052/matulic-v-director-office-of-workers-compensation-programs
Timestamp: 2015-07-31 03:07:37
Document Index: 303948040

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 901', '§ 921', '§ 910', '§ 910', '§ 910', '§ 910', '§ 910', '§ 910', '§ 910', '§ 910', '§ 910', '§ 910', '§ 910', '§ 910', '§ 910', '§ 910']

154 F3d 1052 Matulic v. Director Office of Workers Compensation Programs | OpenJurist
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154 F3d 1052 Matulic v. Director Office of Workers Compensation Programs 154 F.3d 1052
1999 A.M.C. 907, 98 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 7004,98 Daily Journal D.A.R. 9693
Sam D. MATULIC, Petitioner,v.DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF WORKERS COMPENSATION PROGRAMS; JonesStevedoring Co., Respondent.
Ninth Circuit.Argued and Submitted April 6, 1998.Decided Sept. 8, 1998.
Sam D. Matulic injured his left arm while employed by Jones Stevedoring Company in Seattle, Washington. Objecting to the method used to calculate the amount of his permanent partial disability benefits under the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act ("LHWCA"), 33 U.S.C. § 901-50, he petitions for review of a decision of the Administrative Law Judge ("ALJ"). He also seeks review of the ALJ's denial of a penalty award, interest, and attorney's fees. We have jurisdiction under 33 U.S.C. § 921(c).
Matulic challenges the ALJ's method of calculating his "average weekly wage" at the time of the injury. Under the LHWCA, that average weekly wage is the key component used to determine Matulic's earning capacity, and therefore the amount of his benefits award. 33 U.S.C. § 910.1 Section 910 of the Act sets forth three formulas for determining "average annual earnings," all using the 365 days preceding the injury as the measuring year. 33 U.S.C. § 910(a)-(c).2 That figure is then divided by fifty-two to arrive at the average weekly wage. 33 U.S.C. § 910(d). At issue is whether Matulic's average annual earnings, and thus his average weekly wage, should have been calculated under § 910(a) or § 910(c). Matulic contends that the ALJ erred by employing the latter statutory provision rather than the former. He points out that § 910(a) is the presumptively proper method for calculating average weekly wage and must be employed unless it would be unfair or unreasonable to do so. Matulic asserts that in his case it would be neither unfair nor unreasonable to use the presumptively proper method. Jones Stevedoring disagrees, arguing that the ALJ was correct to employ § 910(c) because, in its view, Matulic would receive an unfairly high rate of compensation were § 910(a) deemed applicable.
The ALJ's decision to apply § 910(c) was based on his conclusion that Matulic would be overcompensated if his average weekly wage were calculated under § 910(a). The ALJ found that Matulic earned a total of $43,370.81 in the fifty-two weeks preceding his injury and that, during that year, he worked only 213 of the 260 possible working days. Noting that Matulic's annual earnings would be calculated at $52,941.20 if § 910(a) were applied, the ALJ found that § 910(a) would overestimate his annual earnings by treating him as if he had worked throughout the entire year when he had actually worked only 82% of the total possible working days in the measuring year. Citing our decision in Duncanson-Harrelson Co. v. Director, OWCP, 686 F.2d 1336 (9th Cir.1982), vacated on other grounds, 462 U.S. 1101, 103 S.Ct. 2446, 77 L.Ed.2d 1329 (1983), the ALJ concluded that the prospect of excessive compensation was a sufficient basis for finding that § 910(a) could not reasonably or fairly be applied.
When Congress amended section 910 of the Act in 1948 to reflect the five-day work week, it undoubtedly was aware that virtually no one in the country works every working day of every work week; there are many reasons including illness, vacations, strikes, unemployment, family emergencies, etc. We can infer that Congress knew that both subsections (a) and (b) would result in some overcompensation, but retained the 260-day factor for administrative convenience.
Duncanson-Harrelson, 686 F.2d at 1342. Due to the fixed formula Congress adopted under § 910(a), in most benefits cases there will be a degree of inaccuracy in the estimation of the worker's earning capacity-ordinarily the error will favor the worker and ordinarily there will be some overcompensation, at least in theory, although in other respects the statutory formula may benefit the employer.3 Flexibility and the resolution of do