Court Opinion

ID: 9507004
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-06 21:16:47.086397+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:07:12.889002
License: Public Domain

MR. JUSTICE DALY
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent. This claimant was performing part-time employment before her injury i. e., there was only three or four days a week available to her. Since her operation she is only able to work three or four days a week even though there is more work now available to her. There is no doubt claimant may be earning the same number of dollars or even more but this is not my understanding of the standard to be applied when determing her *132right to be paid under section 92-703.1 for diminished earning capacity.
The number of dollars earned and hours spent performing her employment create a presumption of earning capacity compatible with her stated disability. This presumption may be rebutted by evidence that shows her post-injury dollars earned and time spent to be an unreliable basis for the determination of earning capacity. Shaffer v. Midland Empire Packing Co., 127 Mont. 211, 213, 259 P.2d 340, 342 (1953).
Here, there seems to be a loss of capacity to perform as well as before the injury and a loss of ability to compete and earn in the open labor market. This would bring claimant within section 92-703.l, R.C.M.1947.