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

Heading: castro’s lhwca claim

Text: Castro filed a claim with the OWCP in November of 1998, seeking permanent partial disability benefits under the LHWCA’s schedule for a 35% impairment to his right knee and seeking temporary and permanent total disability benefits for the period he was enrolled in the vocational rehabilitation program. In May 2002, following a formal hearing, the ALJ issued a decision finding Castro’s scheduled disability rating to be 17% and awarding Castro permanent partial disability benefits on the basis of his knee injury for a period of 48.96 weeks (17% of the statutory 288 weeks), pursuant to 33 U.S.C. 2406 GENERAL CONSTRUCTION CO. v. CASTRO § 908(c)(2), (19).2 On the issue of Castro’s claim for total disability benefits, the ALJ determined that Castro had met his burden of demonstrating inability to return to his usual work (and thus total disability, permitting compensation additional to that for his scheduled injury) but also that General Construction had established the availability of some suitable alternate employment. Nevertheless, the ALJ found that because Castro was enrolled in a vocational rehabilitation program and had shown that completion of the program both precluded employment and gave him the best long-term earning potential, he was entitled to total disability benefits for the duration of the program, under Louisiana Insurance Guaranty Ass’n v. Abbott, 40 F.3d 122, 127-28 (5th Cir. 1994).3 With respect to the calculation of Castro’s award, the ALJ rejected General Construction’s assertion that § 10(c) of the LHWCA, 33 U.S.C. § 910(c), should govern, applying instead § 10(a), 33 U.S.C. § 910(a), in accordance with our holding in Matulic v. Director, OWCP, 154 F.3d 1052, 1056 (9th Cir. 1998).4 General Construction appealed the ALJ’s decision to the BRB, which affirmed the award. The BRB, like the ALJ, found Abbott to be controlling and noted that since the ALJ had issued the decision in Castro’s case the Fourth Circuit had 2 This 2002 hearing on Castro’s claim for benefits thus followed OWCP’s 1999 approval of Castro’s vocational rehabilitation program by several years. 3 The ALJ acknowledged that Abbott does not establish an unqualified entitlement to benefits during vocational rehabilitation but concluded that Castro’s situation did not differ from that of the claimant in Abbott in any material respects. 4 Section 10(a) of the LHWCA provides the presumptive method for calculating wages. Section 10(c) is used only when § 10(a) cannot be “reasonably and fairly” applied. 33 U.S.C. §§ 910(a)-(c); see also Matulic, 154 F.3d at 1056. Under § 10(a), the ALJ calculated Castro’s total disability benefits as $669.58 per week, based on an average weekly wage of $1004.37. GENERAL CONSTRUCTION CO. v. CASTRO 2407 also followed Abbott. Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co. v. Dir., OWCP, 315 F.3d 286, 295 (4th Cir. 2002). The BRB also upheld the ALJ’s use of § 10(a) to calculate Castro’s average weekly wage, relying, like the ALJ, on Matulic. Finally, the BRB rejected General Construction’s claim that the OWCP had violated its procedural rights by refusing to afford it a hearing before an ALJ on the question of the appropriateness of vocational rehabilitation in Castro’s case. The BRB noted that the Ninth Circuit has held that neither the LHWCA nor any other authority guarantees employers or insurers a hearing before an ALJ on all disputes. Healy Tibbitts Builders, Inc. v. Cabral, 201 F.3d 1090, 1093-95 (9th Cir. 2000). ALJs specifically lack jurisdiction to adjudicate disputes over matters committed to the OWCP Director’s discretion. Id. at 1095. The BRB concluded that the relevant statutory and regulatory provisions committed the design and approval of vocational rehabilitation plans to the discretion of the Director. Since General Construction was not entitled to a hearing before an ALJ on this issue, the OWCP did not violate General Construction’s procedural rights when the OWCP declined to order such a hearing. General Construction timely appealed all three issues: (1) the applicability of Abbott to the present case; (2) the applicability of § 10(c) to the present case; and (3) denial of General Construction’s procedural rights.