Opinion ID: 1257602
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: the commission properly placed the burden of proof on swanson.

Text: Swanson asserts that the Commission should have placed the burden of proof on Kraft and Ideal Mutual to prove that she was not entitled to medical and income benefits after the automobile accident. To the contrary, we conclude that the Commission properly placed the burden on Swanson to prove that she was entitled to further benefits. The Commission concluded that Swanson had failed to sustain her burden of proving that she was entitled to additional medical or income benefits as a result of the work-related accident. Swanson acknowledges that this Court has usually placed the burden on the claimant to prove that the claimant is still in the recovery period. Paulson v. Idaho Forest Industries, Inc., 99 Idaho 896, 902, 591 P.2d 143, 149 (1979). However, Swanson argues that Malueg v. Pierson Enterprises, 111 Idaho 789, 727 P.2d 1217 (1986) is authority for the proposition that once an employee has been awarded disability benefits the burden rests with the employer to prove a change in the status of the employee. In Malueg, there was no substantial controversy that the claimant was still undergoing the healing process at the time the employer and its surety sought to terminate benefits. The decision of this Court to place the burden of proof on the employer and its surety was premised on the fact that the claimant had established by medical evidence that he was still within the period of recovery from the work-related accident. Here, the Commission found that Swanson was not within the period of recovery at the time Kraft and Ideal Mutual declined to provide further benefits. Therefore, the Commission properly placed the burden on Swanson to prove that she was entitled to further benefits.