Opinion ID: 1598483
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Second Injury Fund Liability.

Text: The Fund argues there is not substantial evidence to support the commissioner's findings either that Bergeson suffered a loss of use of his right leg or that the two injuries combined to create an industrial disability. The Fund argues that the only disability Bergeson currently suffers stems solely from the 1984 injury to his left leg, which is a scheduled injury. The Fund asserts that Bergeson is attempting to turn a scheduled injury to his left leg into an unscheduled injury by claiming benefits from the Fund and thus averting what some perceive as an unfair distinction between scheduled and unscheduled injuries. See Gilleland, 524 N.W.2d 404, 408 (Iowa 1994) (Lavorato, J., concurring specially). The Second Injury Compensation Act is codified at Iowa Code sections 85.63 through 85.69. The Fund's purpose is to encourage the employment of disabled individuals. Aluminum Co. of Am. v. Quinones, 522 N.W.2d 63, 65 (Iowa 1994). Section 84.64 limits the liability of the employer in the event an employee suffers a specified second injury. The statute provides in part: If an employee who has previously lost, or lost the use of, one hand, one arm, one foot, one leg, or one eye, becomes permanently disabled by a compensable injury which has resulted in the loss of or loss of use of another such member or organ, the employer shall be liable only for the degree of disability which would have resulted from the latter injury if there had been no pre-existing disability. In addition to such compensation, and after the expiration of the full period provided by law for payments thereof by the employer, the employee shall be paid out of the  Second Injury Fund  created by this division the remainder of such compensation as would be payable for the degree of permanent disability involved after first deducting from such remainder the compensable value of the previously lost member or organ. Iowa Code § 85.64. The employee must prove three things to trigger the liability of the Fund. First, that he or she has either lost, or lost the use of a hand, arm, foot, leg, or eye. Second, the employee sustained the loss, or loss of use of another such member or organ through a work-related, compensable injury. Third, there must be some permanent injury from the injuries. Shank, 516 N.W.2d at 812. The prior loss does not have to be total. Id. at 813; Braden, 459 N.W.2d at 469.
The Fund asserts that because the injury to Bergeson's right knee did not affect his ability to work or to do the things he did before the injury, he suffered no loss of use of his right leg. Bergeson's treating physician found a partial permanent physical impairment of the right knee of ten percent based primarily upon the surgical removal of a meniscus. This ten percent rating was supported by the guides to the evaluations of permanent impairment published by the American Medical Association. Iowa has adopted the guides for the determination of permanent partial disability. 343 Iowa Admin.Code 2.4(85) (1993). No medical evidence or testimony rebutted the physician's estimate. To invoke Fund liability, the first injury need only be a scheduled injury. See Braden, 459 N.W.2d at 470. Because a scheduled injury is evaluated by determining the loss of physiological capacity of the body part, not by evaluating the impairment of earning capacity, the first injury does not have to result in an industrial disability to constitute a loss of use under section 85.64. The injury to Bergeson's right knee resulted in a scheduled injury to his right leg. There is substantial evidence to support the commissioner's finding that Bergeson suffered a ten percent loss of use of his right leg from the first injury.
The Fund argues its liability can only be invoked when the first and second injuries somehow combine, making the impairment from the second injury greater than it would have been if there had not been a first injury. There are two ways a claimant can suffer an industrial disability. One way is to sustain an unscheduled injury that affects the body as a whole; the second way to sustain an industrial injury is from the cumulative effects of two scheduled injuries. See Braden, 459 N.W.2d at 470. We have held that it is the cumulative effect of scheduled injuries resulting in industrial disability to the body as a wholerather than the injuries considered in isolationthat triggers the Fund's proportional liability. Shank, 516 N.W.2d at 813 (quoting Braden, 459 N.W.2d at 470). Here, Bergeson suffered two scheduled injuries, a ten percent permanent partial impairment to the right leg and a twenty-six percent permanent partial impairment to the left leg. Had he only suffered the second injury, he would have been entitled only to compensation for the scheduled injury. In our review of the commissioner's award, we must construe section 84.64. When construing workers' compensation statutes, our policy is to liberally construe the statutes in favor of the worker. Beier Glass Co. v. Brundige, 329 N.W.2d 280, 283 (Iowa 1983). Under the statute, a second scheduled injury to a hand, arm, foot, leg or eye, invokes the Fund's liability. The Fund is, however, only liable if the injuries result in an industrial disability to the body as a whole. See Shank, 516 N.W.2d at 814; Braden, 459 N.W.2d at 470. Here, Bergeson suffered two scheduled injuries to his legs that resulted in an industrial disability. After the second injury he was no longer able to work as a plumber, the occupation he had held for practically all of his adult life. Although he was able to obtain employment in a related field, his earning capacity was impaired. There is substantial evidence to support the deputy's finding that he suffered a forty percent industrial disability. Because Bergeson had an industrial disability after suffering a second scheduled injury, the Fund is liable for the additional benefit amount.