Opinion ID: 1906254
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: should pearly have been given the opportunity to introduce additional evidence concerning loss of wage earning capacity?

Text: Pearly alleges that the administrative judge erred in overruling his Motion to Offer Additional Evidence. Through this motion Pearly sought to submit additional testimony to show loss of wage earning capacity. He asserts that the administrative judge overruled this motion because he had already decided to rule adversely to Pearly and that any additional testimony concerning loss of wage capacity would, therefore, be fruitless. Container argues that there was no abuse of discretion in refusing to reopen the case for consideration of the additional evidence. It is their position that because Pearly did not establish any loss of wage earning capacity, he failed to present an essential component for a compensable claim and, as such, his claim for benefits was properly denied. They point out that the decision of whether to reopen a case or not is one which is purely discretionary with the Commission and that the Commission's Order will not be reversed absent a clear abuse of discretion. West's Estate v. Southern Bell Telephone and Telegraph Company, 228 Miss. 890, 90 So.2d 1, 2 (1956); Ainsworth v. Long-Bell Lumber Company, 233 Miss. 38, 101 So.2d 100 (1958); Druey v. Ingalls Shipbuilding Corporation, 237 Miss. 277, 114 So.2d 772, 774 (1959). A review of the record reveals that the hearing on this matter was held on August 7, 1984. Pearly's attorney, by letter to the Commission on November 16, 1984, requested that a stipulation be added to the record and informed them that he had rested their case and [would] now await Judge Thornton's decision. On February 1, 1985, Pearly's counsel made a motion to offer additional evidence regarding loss of wage earning capacity. On March 4, 1985, both this motion and Pearly's claim for benefits in connection with his idiopathic fall were rejected. While Mississippi jurisprudence has not produced a case precisely on point on this issue, in Wells-Lamont Corporation v. Watkins, 247 Miss. 379, 388, 151 So.2d 600, 604 (1963) this Court recognized, The right to reopen proceedings for the purpose of introducing testimony inadvertently omitted has been liberally allowed, even in criminal trials on formal hearing. (Citations omitted). In Wells-Lamont the claimant announced that she rested her case, expecting the testimony of the doctor who performed her surgery to be presented to the attorney-referee through her employer, who had given notice that it would call the doctor to testify. However, the doctor was not called and her claim was dismissed. The Commission affirmed the attorney-referee's decision and the circuit court reversed stating that the Commission has a duty to fully develop the issues involved between the parties and to admit additional testimony. In affirming the circuit court and remanding the case for further proceedings, this Court observed: It may be said as a general rule that the right to reopen proceedings to take further evidence in workmen's proceedings is within the sound discretion of the hearing officer. In the instant case, we are of the opinion that the attorney-referee should not have dismissed the claim until it had been fully developed, and we are of the further opinion that the Workers' Compensation Commission should have admitted the introduction of the testimony. (Citations omitted). 151 So.2d at 604. Karr v. Armstrong Tire & Rubber Co., 216 Miss. 132, 61 So.2d 789 (1953), was a workers' compensation proceeding in which the attorney-referee denied the worker's claim. In holding that the claimant had higher weekly earnings after the injury than he had prior to the injury, the attorney-referee refused to hear other evidence relating to an increase in general wage levels since the claimant's accident. This Court reversed and remanded for further consideration, instructing, There was no proof on a number of these elements. Everything considered we believe that justice requires that this matter be reconsidered. 61 So.2d at 792. The current record indicates that Pearly's attorney simply failed to put on the necessary evidence to substantiate a claim for lost wages. However, given the critical nature of this testimony, this Court's traditional approach in allowing cases to be reopened for the purpose of introducing critical testimony, and the duty imposed upon the commission to fully develop the issues between the parties in a workers' compensation dispute, justice requires that this matter be reconsidered. As such, this cause is reversed and remanded with an order directing the lower court (and ultimately the Commission) to allow the submission of additional proof as to loss of wage earning capacity so that this claim may be fully and finally adjudicated. For the foregoing reasons, this case is reversed and remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. REVERSED AND REMANDED. ROY NOBLE LEE, C.J., HAWKINS, P.J. and DAN M. LEE, P.JJ., and PRATHER, ROBERTSON, ANDERSON, PITTMAN and BLASS, JJ., concur.