Opinion ID: 2070301
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Post-injury Earning Capacity

Text: [¶ 27] UPS next contends that the hearing officer erred in finding a post-injury earning capacity of $240 a week in its first decree, when the employee was earning $437.26 a week as a bus driver prior to beginning vocational rehabilitation. Our review of a hearing officer's findings of fact are deferential. Section 318 provides, in pertinent part: The hearing officer's decision, in the absence of fraud, on all questions of fact is final; but if the hearing officer expressly finds that any party has or has not sustained the party's burden of proof, that finding is considered a conclusion of law and is reviewable in accordance with section 322. 39-A M.R.S.A. § 318 (Pamph.2000). In its subsequent findings, the hearing officer found that even though McAdam had been earning $437.26 prior to beginning school, he could not safely continue in his work as a school bus driver for the City of Portland . Although the Board could have reached a different conclusion, there is evidence in the record to suggest that the school bus driving employment was becoming increasingly difficult, if not impossible for McAdam.