Opinion ID: 563212
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: mr. gross' wage-earning capacity

Text: 18 The relevant statute in this case requires the ALJ to calculate compensation as 66 2/3 per centum of the difference between the average weekly wages of the employee and the employee's wage-earning capacity thereafter in the same employment or otherwise.... 33 U.S.C. Sec. 908(c)(21). In the event that the claimant's post-injury actual earnings do not fairly and reasonably represent his wage-earning capacity, Sec. 908(h) of the statute authorizes the decisionmaker to, 19 in the interest of justice, fix such wage-earning capacity as shall be reasonable, having due regard to the nature of his injury, the degree of physical impairment, his usual employment, and any other factors or circumstances in the case which may affect his capacity to earn wages in his disabled condition, including the effect of disability as it may naturally extend into the future. 20 Id. This court has interpreted Sec. 908(h) to mean that even higher post-injury earnings do not preclude compensation for the claimant if the claimant has, nevertheless, suffered a loss of wage-earning capacity. Long v. Director, OWCP, 767 F.2d 1578, 1582 (9th Cir.1985) (holding that higher wages did represent wage-earning capacity in this case); Todd Shipyards Corp. v. Allan, 666 F.2d 399, 402 (9th Cir.) (holding that higher wages did not represent wage-earning capacity), cert. denied, 459 U.S. 1034, 103 S.Ct. 444, 74 L.Ed.2d 600 (1982); Portland Stevedoring Co. v. Johnson, 442 F.2d 411, 411-12 (9th Cir.1971) (same). 21 The ALJ's determination that Mr. Gross' equivalent or higher post-injury wages do not represent his wage-earning capacity must be upheld if it is supported by substantial evidence. Long, 767 F.2d at 1582. The ALJ relied on three conditions to support his holding that Mr. Gross' post-injury wages do not accurately reflect his loss in wage-earning capacity: (1) A marked decrease in hours worked from the year before injury (2,239.75 hrs.) to the two years following maximum medical improvement after the injury (1986: 1587.5 hrs., 1987 (50 weeks): 1795.5 hrs.); (2) Mr. Gross often works a hoot owl shift for only five hours which pays more than an eight-hour day shift, explaining his equivalent or higher post-injury earnings despite reduced hours; and (3) Mr. Gross' testimony that he often works with pain and limitations because of the financial obligations he has to his wife and three children. 22 The second of these three circumstances is not supported by substantial evidence. One doctor, Dr. Williamson-Kirkland, did report in February, 1986 that Mr. Gross told him he worked the hoot owl shift because the eight-hour shift left him too stiff and sore. However, Mr. Gross testified at the formal hearing in January, 1988 that he did not prefer the hoot owl shift and did not work that shift significantly more than he had before the injury. His testimony at a formal hearing on the subject should be given more weight than a comment in medical notes taken two years earlier. 6 23 The decrease in Mr. Gross' post-injury hours is uncontested and can be calculated from the employer's records which are before the court. Mr. Gross testified that he had lost hours because of pain and suffering, but that he had not kept track of how many hours. The ALJ inferred that all of the reduction in hours could be attributed to his disability. Given Mr. Gross' testimony that he had the same amount of work available to him as before the injury and that he worked those hours [e]xcept for times that I've had to take off, Albert Gross v. Container Stevedoring Co., No. 14-77939, Hearing Transcript at 38 (OWCP Jan. 13, 1988), the inference is reasonable. 24 Mr. Gross' testimony that he continues to work with pain and limitations is not contradicted by anything in the record and is supported by the reports of several doctors. Further, the two most recent treating physicians, Dr. Linder and Dr. Wilder, stated in September, 1986 and December, 1987, respectively, that Mr. Gross suffers a significant permanent partial disability. Dr. Linder put the disability at 22% and Dr. Wilder at 20%. 7 Therefore, Mr. Gross' physical condition supports an inference that his wage-earning capacity is reduced. Further, speaking of Mr. Gross' truck-driving responsibilities at work, Dr. Linder stated in his September 16, 1986 letter to claimant's attorney, I do not feel that it is reasonable for him to continue to do this type of activity and it can be anticipated that it will lead to worsening symptoms and worsening disability. 25 The only evidence in the record that counters the suggestion that Mr. Gross' post-injury earnings do not reflect his wage-earning capacity, other than the fact that he has been working essentially full-time and is earning as much or more than he did before he was injured, is Container Stevedoring's suggestion that the availability of Stevedoring work has dropped off significantly since Mr. Gross was injured and that this reduction, not his injury, explains his reduced hours. The argument is based on a comparison of annual figures from 1983 to 1986 showing that the number of workers in Mr. Gross' category has dropped from 506 to 479 during that time, and the average hours worked per worker per year has dropped from 1,658.5 to 1,576.33. The significance of this degree of change is dubious. Even if accepted as significant, it is not clear that the reduction translates into fewer hours available for work. Mr. Gross testified that he perceived that the same number of hours were available to him to work, if he was able, after the injury as before. 26 We have reviewed an ALJ's consideration of the question whether post-injury wages accurately represent wage-earning capacity in three prior cases. In Todd Shipyards, we noted that although a claimant's post-injury wages were higher than his pre-injury wages because of a promotion, his 25% disability made him unfit for his previous jobs in the shipbuilding industry and for many jobs in the open market should he someday lose his position for whatever reason. 666 F.2d at 402. Therefore, we sustained the ALJ's holding as supported by substantial evidence that the claimant's wages did not fairly represent his wage-earning capacity. Id. 27 In Portland Stevedoring, we reversed the district court and reinstated compensation for loss of wage-earning capacity for a worker whose increased post-injury wages were due to a promotion, a raise, and an extra shift. 442 F.2d at 412. We said, In light of the limited scope of judicial review in cases such as this, we think that the findings of the Deputy Commissioner should have been allowed to stand. Those findings were not without substantial evidentiary support. Id. 28 In Long, we again affirmed the holding of an ALJ regarding wage-earning capacity. However, in that case, the ALJ had found that a man with a 10% disability, who had been promoted twice since the injury and had held his then-current position for almost ten years, was in no danger of losing his job. 767 F.2d at 1582-83. Although he could not work at his previous job or at certain other jobs on the open market, the ALJ held that his wages fairly represented his wage-earning capacity, and we affirmed that holding. 29 The reasoning in Todd Shipyards, Portland Stevedoring, and Long supports our decision to affirm the Board and the ALJ in granting Mr. Gross compensation for lost wage-earning capacity. Mr. Gross' 20-22% disability, combined with his reduced hours and the fact that he continues to work at his present job in pain because of family obligations, is substantial evidence that his present wages do not fairly represent his wage-earning capacity. 8 Container Stevedoring's evidence of a reduction in available work is not compelling and is contradicted by Mr. Gross' testimony from his own experience. Therefore, we affirm the Board's and the ALJ's holding that Mr. Gross' wages do not fairly represent his wage-earning capacity. 30 Container Stevedoring also argues that the ALJ chose inappropriate figures from which to calculate the loss in wage-earning capacity and the weekly compensation due Mr. Gross. The ALJ simply compared the average hours-per-week worked by Mr. Gross in 1986-87 with the average hours per week worked in 1983, the year before the accident. The post-injury average was 23% lower than the pre-injury average. The ALJ said that Mr. Gross had sustained a 23% loss in wage-earning capacity and, therefore, awarded him two-thirds of the dollar amount of that loss calculated from his weekly wage on the date of injury. Container Stevedoring was ordered to pay Mr. Gross $163.28 per week. 31 Container Stevedoring suggests that the ALJ should have compared only 1987 with 1983 hours, yielding a 16.6% loss in wage-earning capacity and a compensation rate of $118.00 per week. Container Stevedoring points out that Mr. Gross worked seventy hours less in each of the first three quarters of 1986 than in any quarter thereafter. It argues that this represents a significant and sustained improvement in the hours Mr. Gross is able to work. 32 The ALJ could have chosen to compare only 1987 with 1983 hours. However, comparing 1986 and 1987 with 1983 hours makes sense in context. The ALJ determined from medical evidence that January 16, 1986 was the point of maximum medical improvement from Mr. Gross. That date was important as the last day for which Container Stevedoring owed Mr. Gross temporary partial disability payments. Container Stevedoring did not appeal the choice of that date to the Board or to this court. It makes sense to compare the average weekly hours from all the time Mr. Gross has worked since the date of maximum medical improvement with the hours worked in the year before injury. We hold that the ALJ's method of calculating the rate of compensation is supported by substantial evidence.