Opinion ID: 2027645
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Commissioner's Determination of Anticipated Loss of Earning Capacity.

Text: Petitioner argues that the finding by the commissioner of a twenty percent permanent partial disability is in error because, in considering her anticipated loss of future earning capacity, the commissioner refused to consider lost earning capacity beyond the time proximate to when the hearing was held. She contends that loss of earning capacity should be established with reference to loss of earnings that the injured employee will experience over that person's lifetime. In her view, the percentage of permanent partial disability should be expressed by a fraction in which anticipated lifetime earnings with the injury is the numerator and anticipated lifetime earnings without the injury is the denominator. The commissioner, she argues, did not use that approach and viewed loss of earning capacity in terms of the loss of immediate periodic earning potential if the petitioner were forced to seek work in the competitive job market at the time of the hearing without regard to the accommodations provided by her existing employer. We have recognized that, in determining the extent of a claimant's body-as-a-whole industrial disability, the question is the extent to which the injury reduced [the claimant's] earning capacity. Guyton v. Irving Jensen Co., 373 N.W.2d 101, 104 (Iowa 1985). In considering the matter in Guyton, we stated: The question is the extent to which the injury reduced Guyton's earning capacity. This inquiry cannot be answered merely by exploring the limitations on his ability to perform physical activity associated with employment. It requires consideration of all the factors that bear on his actual employability. Id. In our earlier decision of Doerfer Division of CCA v. Nicol, 359 N.W.2d 428 (Iowa 1984), we observed that the matters to be considered in this regard include age, education, qualification, experience, and inability due to injury, to engage in the employment for which the claimant is fitted. Id. at 438. The arbitration decision of the deputy commissioner, which was adopted as the final agency determination of the issue stated: In the competitive employment market a person in their mid-40s who has had a de Quervain release of the left thumb, bilateral carpal tunnel surgery on each hand and wrist, and a shoulder decompression of the right shoulder, who is restricted from no repetitive work above the chest level, will find it difficult to find employment when these factors are considered in conjunction with claimant's education, past employments and lack of transferrable skills. Employer's accommodation for claimant's permanent impairments and permanent restrictions and other bodily complaints will not necessarily transfer, however, to the competitive labor market as a whole.... Claimant is not likely to find other employers in the competitive employment market as understanding, cooperative and helpful as this employer has been.... For these reasons claimant is entitled to an industrial disability allowance in excess of her permanent impairment rating. We are satisfied that the appropriate factors relating to petitioner's loss of earning capacity were considered by the commissioner. In considering petitioner's argument, we are satisfied that the commissioner was correct in viewing loss of earning capacity in terms of the injured worker's present ability to earn in the competitive job market without regard to the accommodation furnished by one's present employer. That characterization of loss of earning capacity is consistent with our recognition in ENT Associates v. Collentine, 525 N.W.2d 827 (Iowa 1994), that a change in earning capacity may be made the subject of a review reopening proceeding in which permanent partial disability benefits may be increased without any showing in a change of physical condition. Id. at 829. The result approved in Collentine strongly suggests that an injured employee's earning capacity for purposes of fixing the percentage of permanent partial disability is based on present conditions and does not focus on the employee's remaining working future in its entirety. We find no basis for disturbing the commissioner's award of permanent partial disability benefits.