Court Opinion

ID: 9883193
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-10-06 01:38:20.481491+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:48:21.981898
License: Public Domain

VANDE WALLE, Chief Justice,
dissenting.
[¶ 24] I dissent to part V of the majority opinion.
[¶ 25] Hoffman contends the Bureau erred in determining he did not have good cause to not attend the retraining, and therefore the Bureau improperly suspended his disability and rehabilitation benefits. He contends the Bureau’s failure to provide him with reasonable notice prior to the program’s starting date excuses his nonattendance.
[¶ 26] The vocational rehabilitation statute expressly declares the goal of vocational rehabilitation is to return an injured employee to substantial gainful employment as quickly and with as little retraining as possible. See N.D.C.C. 65-05.1-01(3). The hearing officer agreed with Hoffman there was not much time to prepare to attend the program. Despite this concern, the hearing officer concluded the preponderance of the evidence shows the program was a qualified program at the time the Bureau issued its order and claimant made no attempt to find out if he could start the program late. The record indicates the Bureau has been working with Hoffman since December 1992 to formulate a vocational rehabilitation plan. Furthermore, Hoffman did not contact the Bureau or Meyer VoTech to inquire about possibly starting the program late. Instead, Hoffman waited until he had received notice his benefits were going to be suspended before contacting the Bureau with this alleged concern. I believe the Bureau’s finding Hoffman did not have good cause to not attend training was supported by a preponderance of the evidence.
[¶ 27] Relying on Fuhrman v. North Dakota Workers Compensation Bureau, 1997 ND 191, ¶10, 569 N.W.2d 269, Hoffman also maintains the Bureau erred in concluding his lack of financial resources did not constitute good cause excusing him from attending the retraining program. But this case is distinguishable from Fuhrman, where we concluded economic reasons can amount to good *541cause when an employee fails to comply with a rehabilitation training program.
[¶ 28] In Fuhrman, we emphasized the retraining program selected for the claimant was outside the state. We also recognized the claimant was forced to leave behind his wife and home in Bismarck. The circumstances in the present case are quite different and therefore support a different conclusion. First, unlike Fuhrman, Hoffman was ordered to attend a training program within North Dakota, and also much closer in distance. Second, Hoffman, who lives by himself, was not forced to leave behind an immediate family as did Fuhrman. Although the majority posits otherwise, the present case is also different because Hoffman did not contact the Bureau to inform them of any alleged monetary concerns prior to the starting date of the retraining program, although he did contact the Bureau with a litany of objections prior to the expiration of the 10 day grace period. Hoffman did not contact the Bureau until after his training was scheduled to begin and he had received notice his benefits would be suspended. Fuhrman, in contrast, notified the Bureau with his concerns prior to the suspension of his benefits. There was not a substantial amount of time between the date the Bureau notified Hoffman he was to attend the program and the start of the program. But, North Dakota does not have a large number of programs and this may often be the case for those claimants whose case is determined shortly before a new semester begins.
[¶ 29] It seems to me it would be “reasonably prudent” for persons faced with the loss of benefits for failure to attend the rehabilitation program to carefully examine their position emphasizing the reasons for attending rather than not attending the program.
[¶ 30] After reviewing the record, I conclude a reasoning mind could have reasonably determined, as did the Bureau in this case, that Hoffman failed to prove his financial situation constituted good cause to not attend the retraining program. Contrary to. our standard of review, as described in the majority opinion, I believe the majority has substituted its judgment for that of the Bureau. I would affirm.
[¶ 31] Gerald W. VandeWalle, C.J.