Opinion ID: 3030609
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Matulic Applies to the Present Case

Text: General Construction argues that even if we do not overrule Matulic, we should not apply it to the present case because the decision of the ALJ and BRB that § 10(a) could “reasonably and fairly” be applied was not supported by substantial evidence. 33 U.S.C. § 910(c). General Construction maintains that use of § 10(a) to compute Castro’s award amounts to an unfair and unreasonable windfall. This approach has been foreclosed by Matulic itself, which established as a matter of law that application of § 10(a) to a claimant who had worked 75% or more of the statutory 260 days is not unfair or unreasonable. 154 F.3d at 1058-59. During the year preceding his injury, Castro worked 201.35 days out of 260, approximately 77.4% of the year. His case fits precisely within the rule established in Matulic. The fact that he worked fewer days than did the claimant in Matulic is not, 14 In Greenwich Collieries, the Supreme Court rejected an evidentiary rule devised by the Department of Labor for use in benefits claims cases where an ALJ found the evidence on a disputed question to be in equipoise. 512 U.S. at 269. Under this “true doubt” rule, the ALJ was to resolve such questions in the claimant’s favor. Id. The Supreme Court rejected this rule as contrary to the language of the governing statutes. Id. at 280-81. But the Court also implicitly distinguished the true doubt rule from other procedural and interpretive techniques favoring claimants under remedial statutes such as the LHWCA. See id. at 280 (“In part due to Congress’ recognition that claims such as those involved here would be difficult to prove, claimants . . . benefit from certain statutory presumptions easing their burden. Similarly, the Department’s solicitude for benefits claimants is reflected in the regulations adopting additional presumptions. But with the true doubt rule the Department attempts to go one step further.”) (internal quotation marks and citations omitted). GENERAL CONSTRUCTION CO. v. CASTRO 2423 under the reasoning in that decision, a basis for distinguishing the case or refusing to apply its rule.15 Id. [10] General Construction also argues that, unlike the claimant in Matulic, Castro never earned a weekly wage comparable to the result of the § 10(a) calculation in his case. It notes that the difference between the annual wage resulting from a § 10(a) calculation and Castro’s actual earnings in the previous year is approximately $12,000. This is not significantly different from the situation in Matulic itself, in which under § 10(a) the claimant received a wage increase of approximately $10,000. 154 F.3d at 1056. It is true that we found the previous year’s earnings of the claimant in Matulic to have been anomalously low. Id. at 1058. However, that finding was not the basis for our articulation of the bright-line 75% rule. Id. at 1058-59. We based our holding in Matulic on an examination of the purposes of the LHWCA, not the fairness of the result in the particular case. See id. at 1057-59. The factual distinction noted by General Construction is therefore irrelevant to whether or not Matulic applies to the present case. The ALJ and BRB accordingly did not err in applying Matulic and approving calculation of Castro’s average weekly wage under § 10(a).