In a long opinion, the Iowa Supreme Court reaffirmed their previous rulings on figuring injury dates and on calculating the time a claimant has to file a Petition with the Iowa workers’ compensation claim. This case involved a woman who had worked for Larson Manufacturing for many years, and alleged that she had a slowly-developing cumulative injury. See Larson Manufacturing Company, Inc. v. Thorson, 2009 Iowa Sup. LEXIS 14.

The Iowa Supreme Court reaffirmed that the injury does not occur until the injured worker “can no longer work.” See McKeever Custom Cabinets v. Smith, 379 N.W.2d 368 ( Iowa 1985). They also cited the “manifestation” rule, that the statute runs from the date that the claimant could reasonably know that the injury was serious and was work-related, citing 1B Arthur Larson, Workers’ Compensation Law § 39.50 (1991) [see now Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law § 50.05].

As to the statute of limitations, the Court relies on the discovery rule, citing prior decisions that the statute does not begin to run until the claimant recognized or should have recognized the “nature, seriousness and probable compensable character” of the disability. The Court found that the injured worker, Thorson, knew how serious her condition was and that it was work-related, by April 26, 1996. However, they allowed the Petition as timely, even though it was filed over three years later, on July 28, 1999. Citing Herrera v. IBP, 633 N.W.2d 284, 287 (Iowa 2001) they noted that the date that the injury is “manifested” is not the same as the date that the statute period starts running.  The statute does not begin to run until the injured worker knows that the condition is serious and will have a “permanent adverse impact on …employment or employability.” (citing Herrera). The Commissioner found that Thorson should have become aware of the permanent nature of the condition on the day that she filed her Petition in July of 1999, even though the condition “manifested” itself in 1996.

In this case, the Commissioner found an injury date that had not been raised in the Petition, and Larson Manufacturing objected, saying that they had no way to prepare for an injury date that had never even been raised. The Court deferred to the agency on that, as a judgment call, noting that the Petition in an administrative proceeding does not have to be precise, but is a chance for the employer to “prepare and defend.” The Iowa Supreme Court noted that the employer had plenty of notice of this long-developing condition, going back to 1993.

Finally, the employer challenged an award of 25% permanent industrial disability, where Thorson is working overtime, has a second job, and is making more income than ever before.  The agency and the Courts have never simply made a comparison of pre-injury income and post-injury income to determine loss of earning capacity.

In a curious interpretation, the Commissioner awarded Temporary Partial Disability benefits for time lost before April of 1996, and ordered the employer to pay for medical care, before April of 1996, which was the date that the Commissioner found that the injury was “manifested.” The employer reasonably argued that they should not be liable for income lost due to an injury, before the injury is held to have occurred. The Court again upheld the Commissioner, noting that Thorson was missing work even before the injury became “manifested.”