Opinion ID: 4557520
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: facts

Text: Picard has been employed by P & C Group 1 as a produc- tion worker since 1989. In April 2012, Dr. Jeffrey Tiedeman diagnosed Picard with bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome after Picard was injured at work. Dr. Tiedeman performed bilateral carpal tunnel release surgery on Picard’s wrists. After concluding Picard had reached maximum medical improvement with a 10-percent permanent partial impairment of each hand, Dr. Tiedeman released Picard back to work with a permanent restriction of lifting no more than 5 pounds. Dr. Tiedeman also suggested Picard should only occasionally do work above shoulder level. P & C paid temporary total disability benefits, permanent partial disability benefits, and Picard’s medical expenses for the 2012 accident. In 2015, Picard was working in a different position at P & C Group 1 that accommodated her restrictions. While bending over to pick up production parts, Picard experienced severe back pain and was later diagnosed by Dr. Geoffrey McCullen to have a herniated disk. Dr. McCullen performed a discectomy operation on Picard’s spine and eventually determined that Picard could return to her position at P & C Group 1 with - 296 - Nebraska Supreme Court Advance Sheets 306 Nebraska Reports PICARD v. P & C GROUP 1 Cite as 306 Neb. 292 the following permanent restrictions: no bending to the floor; only occasional bending, squatting, or twisting; and no lifting greater than 10 pounds. In doing so, Dr. McCullen articulated: “The restrictions above are for the spine,” not the hands. Dr. McCullen concluded that Picard had suffered a 13-percent impairment of the whole body. After the 2015 surgery, Picard returned to work at P & C Group 1 in the same position she held prior to her back injury, and she was able to perform her assigned job without additional accommodations. At the time of trial, Picard remained employed by P & C Group 1 in the same position, and her hourly rate of pay was greater than it had been prior to the 2015 injury. In January 2016, Picard filed claims against P & C relating to her 2012 and 2015 injuries. The cases were consolidated by the Nebraska Workers’ Compensation Court. A stipulated trial was held to determine whether (1) Picard suffered any loss of earning power as a result of the 2015 injury; (2) P & C was entitled to apportion any loss of earning power benefits attributable to Picard’s 2012 injury toward any benefits that may be due and owing for loss of earning power for the 2015 injury; and (3) Picard was entitled to penalties, attorney fees, and interest for P & C’s failure to pay any permanent disability benefits. Based on Picard’s permanent restrictions given by Dr. Tiedeman, court-appointed vocational counselor Kim Rhen opined that Picard had sustained a 60-percent loss of earning capacity as a result of the 2012 injury. Rhen determined that the 2012 restrictions would have resulted in a 100-percent loss of access to available jobs for Picard. However, recognizing the fact that Picard remains competitively employed by P & C in a full-time position that accommodates her disability and the fact that P & C would likely continue to employ her, Rhen estimated the loss of earning capacity from the injury to Picard’s hands to be 60 percent. As to the 2015 injury, Rhen determined that Picard was employable after the - 297 - Nebraska Supreme Court Advance Sheets 306 Nebraska Reports PICARD v. P & C GROUP 1 Cite as 306 Neb. 292 low-back injury, but opined that Picard had sustained a 50- to 55-percent loss of earnings as a result. Following trial, the compensation court determined Picard had not been adequately compensated for the 2012 injury under Neb. Rev. Stat. § 48-121(3) (Reissue 2010), which provides, in relevant part: If, in the compensation court’s discretion, compensation benefits payable for a loss or loss of use of more than one member or parts of more than one member set forth in this subdivision, resulting from the same accident or illness, do not adequately compensate the employee for such loss or loss of use and such loss or loss of use results in at least a thirty percent loss of earning capacity, the compensation court shall, upon request of the employee, determine the employee’s loss of earning capacity consistent with the process for such determination under subdivision (1) or (2) of this section, and in such a case the employee shall not be entitled to compensation under this subdivision. Contrary to the opinion offered by Rhen, the court made its own factual finding that Picard suffered a 75-percent loss of earning power as a result of the 2012 injury to her hands. The compensation court further found that (1) Picard was entitled to an award for a whole body injury based on the 2012 carpal tunnel syndrome, (2) Picard was entitled to a separate whole body injury award for a 55-percent loss of earning capacity based on the 2015 back injury, (3) apportionment was not appropriate because Picard’s injuries were to different parts of her body and she still would have sustained loss of earnings for the 2015 back injury even if she had not sustained the 2012 carpal tunnel injuries, and (4) Picard was entitled to attorney fees and penalties under Neb. Rev. Stat. § 48-125 (Cum. Supp. 2016). P & C appealed and assigned as error that the compensation court erred in (1) finding that apportionment did not apply, (2) assessing loss of earning power to the 2015 injury, - 298 - Nebraska Supreme Court Advance Sheets 306 Nebraska Reports PICARD v. P & C GROUP 1 Cite as 306 Neb. 292 and (3) awarding attorney fees and penalties. P & C argued that apportionment should have been applied because Picard continued to suffer the effects of her 2012 injuries at the time she suffered her 2015 back injury. P & C further asserted that Picard’s subsequent back injury should not have been assessed for a loss of earning power because there was no additional loss in Picard’s ability to earn wages. Finally, P & C argued that penalties and attorney fees should not have been awarded because there was a sufficient basis in law and fact for P & C to dispute payment of benefits to Picard. Noting that a lack of clarity existed in the Court of Appeals’ prior decisions regarding apportionment and/or successive whole body injury awards, the court reversed and vacated the compensation court’s award of attorney fees, penalties, and interest provisions. Affirming the awards for Picard’s 2012 and 2015 injuries, the Court of Appeals held that Picard’s award for the second injury should not have been apportioned with the award for her earlier injury and that the limitations from the 2012 injury should not be considered when assessing the impact of the 2015 injury. In regard to P & C’s argument that the doctrine of apportionment should apply, the Court of Appeals held that because Nebraska does not have an apportionment statute, apportionment was not applicable. In doing so, the Court of Appeals noted that because Picard’s injuries were to different parts of her body, the second injury and resulting disability would have existed regardless of whether the prior injury had occurred. Addressing P & C’s second assignment of error, the Court of Appeals rejected the argument that Picard suffered no additional lost earning power from the second injury because Picard’s lifting restriction from the 2012 injuries to her wrists was greater than the lifting restrictions from the 2015 injury to her back. The Court of Appeals interpreted § 48-121(2) as requiring the compensation court to review a claimant’s lost earning power from a current injury independent of any limitations from a prior dissimilar compensable injury. It held that - 299 - Nebraska Supreme Court Advance Sheets 306 Nebraska Reports PICARD v. P & C GROUP 1 Cite as 306 Neb. 292 Picard was entitled to compensation for lost earning power resulting from each of the two successive injuries. The court reasoned that a contrary holding would deny Picard compensation for her current injury and, therefore, offend “‘[t]he principal purpose of the [Nebraska Workers’ Compensation] Act [which] is to provide an injured worker with prompt relief from the adverse economic effects caused by a work-related injury or occupational disease.’” 1 Both Picard and P & C filed petitions for further review with this court. P & C sought further review of the Court of Appeals’ affirmance of the two compensation awards. Picard sought further review of the Court of Appeals’ holding that reversed and vacated the compensation court’s finding that Picard was entitled to penalties, attorney fees, and interest. We granted P & C’s petition and denied Picard’s. Picard subsequently filed a cross-appeal, in which her sole assignment of error is that the Court of Appeals erred in reversing the compensation court’s finding that Picard was entitled to penalties, attorney fees, and interest under § 48-125. The Nebraska Association of Trial Attorneys and Nebraskans for Workers’ Compensation Equity and Fairness, along with Crete Carrier Corporation; the Nebraska Intergovernmental Risk Management Association II; SFM Companies; Lockton Companies, LLC; Dakota Truck Underwriters; and Risk Administration Services, Inc. (collectively NWCEF), have filed briefs as amici curiae. ASSIGNMENTS OF ERROR In its petition for further review, P & C’s assignments of error, restated, are that the Court of Appeals erred (1) in holding that the disability benefits awarded for Picard’s 2015 accident should not be apportioned with the benefits awarded for the 2012 accident; (2) by failing to analyze 1 Picard v. P & C Group 1, 27 Neb. App. 646, 668, 934 N.W.2d 394, 409 (2019) (quoting Risor v. Nebraska Boiler, 274 Neb. 906, 744 N.W.2d 693 (2008)). - 300 - Nebraska Supreme Court Advance Sheets 306 Nebraska Reports PICARD v. P & C GROUP 1 Cite as 306 Neb. 292 Picard’s loss of earning power under the whole body injury framework as required by § 48-121(2); and (3) by reasoning that “‘Picard would be denied compensation for her current injury’” if apportionment applied and, thus, permitting double recovery. On cross-appeal, Picard’s sole assignment of error is that the Court of Appeals erred in reversing the compensation court’s finding that Picard was entitled to penalties, attorney fees, and interest under § 48-125.