Opinion ID: 883202
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: issues

Text: Did the Workers' Compensation Court err when it concluded that Reeverts is entitled to 500 weeks of permanent partial disability benefits pursuant to § 39-71-703, MCA (1983) for her 1984 injury? Sears contends that the court erred when it concluded that Reeverts was entitled to 500 weeks of permanent partial disability benefits because the injury she suffered in 1984 did not result in an actual diminution of her earning capacity. It is Sears' contention that, under the pertinent statute in effect at the time of Reeverts' first injury, there is no entitlement to benefits unless the claimant can prove that an actual diminution in earning capacity results from a disabling injury. Sears bases its argument solely on the fact that with normal annual salary increases, Reeverts earned more after returning to work for Sears than at the time of her injury. Because there was no actual decrease in Reeverts' actual earnings, Sears contends that she was not entitled to benefits under § 39-71-703, MCA (1983). At the time of Reeverts' injury, § 39-71-703, MCA (1983), read in pertinent part: (1) Weekly compensation benefits for injury producing partial disability shall be 66 2/3% of the actual diminution in the worker's earning capacity measured in dollars, subject to a maximum weekly compensation of one-half the state's average weekly wage. We have considered this provision on several occasions and have made clear that earning capacity, for workers' compensation purposes, is not determined by merely comparing pre-injury wages with post-injury wages. Sedlack v. Bigfork Convalescent Center (1988), 230 Mont. 273, 277, 749 P.2d 1085, 1087. Rather, a determination of an injured worker's earning capacity includes the consideration of such factors of age, occupation, skills and education, previous health, number of productive years remaining, and degree of physical or mental impairment. Sedlack, 749 P.2d at 1087-88; Hurley v. Dupuis (1988), 233 Mont. 242, 246-47, 759 P.2d 996, 999. The correct test for loss of earning capacity, cited time and again by this Court, is whether the industrial accident has caused a loss of ability to earn in the open labor market. Shaffer v. Midland Empire Packing Co. (1953), 127 Mont. 211, 213-14, 259 P.2d 340, 342; Fermo v. Superline Products (1978), 175 Mont. 345, 348, 574 P.2d 251, 253; Hafer v. Anaconda Aluminum Co. (1982), 198 Mont. 105, 109-10, 643 P.2d 1192, 1195, aff'd on remand (1984), 211 Mont. 345, 684 P.2d 1114. For Sears to argue that a claimant must demonstrate an actual wage loss to be entitled to partial disability benefits pursuant to § -703 is a notion that has been soundly and repeatedly rejected by this Court. We find Sears' attempt to argue otherwise without merit. In this instance, the record demonstrates that the hearing examiner and the Workers' Compensation Court considered the appropriate factors for a determination of whether Reeverts suffered a permanent loss of earning capacity due to her 1984 injury. Although there was conflicting vocational evidence regarding Reeverts' ability to be competitive in an open labor market, it is clear that Reeverts' vocational expert's testimony demonstrating her loss of earning capacity was more persuasive to the trier of fact and its conclusion is clearly supported in the record. Furthermore, Reeverts' situation speaks for itself. At the time that her healing period ended in 1985, she was a 55-year-old woman with a high school education but no specialized training. Her only job experience was her history of employment at Sears where her duties consisted of handling freight weighing up to 75 pounds, and other strenuous activities which she could no longer perform. It does not take a vocational consultant to realize that in her condition at her age, her opportunities for employment in the open labor market were substantially reduced, if not totally eliminated. We conclude that there is neither a basis to alter the court's findings regarding Reeverts' earning capacity, nor its conclusion that she is entitled to 500 weeks of permanent partial disability benefits pursuant to § 39-71-703, MCA (1983), for the injury sustained in 1984. We affirm the judgment of the Workers' Compensation Court in this respect.