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The first decision of 2018 involves a permanent total disability claim heard by Judge Thronson. This is the first decision we have seen from Judge Thronson following a hearing. There were a number of issues presented at hearing and the Department found in Claimant’s favor on all of them.
The first issue was whether the work injury was a major contributing cause of Claimant’s condition. Frankly, this part of the opinion is difficult to understand. The opinion starts by stating the Insurer argued that Claimant could not prove that the accident, and not some other unrelated medical condition, was responsible for her condition. There is then some discussion of cervical stenosis and the Department of Labor states the injury need only be a major contributing cause, not the major contributing cause. Despite that, the Department then states that Dr. Cederberg, the IME doctor, provided the medical opinion that the work injury was a major contributing cause to the disability. If the IME doctor relates the injury to work, it is not at all clear why it would have been an issue at hearing. Regardless, the Department found the injury was a major contributing cause of the condition complained of.
The next question was whether Claimant was permanently and totally disabled. Claimant had a $691.00 per week comp rate. She was 61 years old with a high school diploma, and her vocational expert, Tom Audet, testified she would be unable to work within her restrictions and make at least her workers’ compensation rate. The Employer and Insurer did not have their own expert at the hearing. The Department of Labor accepted Audet’s testimony that Claimant was in the odd-lot category. The most interesting part of this opinion was in the Department’s analysis of whether Claimant conducted a good faith job search. Claimant looked for 26 jobs between December of 2014 and May of 2015. It appears she did not make any other job search and the hearing was in August of 2017. If that is correct, Claimant would have gone more than two (2) years without looking for work. The Department held that “no case law in South Dakota specifies that a job search need be made in any particular timeframe.” What constitutes a reasonable job search depends on the facts, but it’s curious that the Department of Labor found the job search to be reasonable as it focused only on the 26 job contacts over a five-month period and did not make any mention that Claimant failed to look for work for more than two (2) years, or attempt to address why the Department was not concerned with this seemingly relevant fact. The Employer and Insurer’s lack of an expert may have been the determining factor here as there was no evidence that a job search would have made a difference.
The final claim was that Claimant refused medical care, and thus, aggravated her condition. Claimant was prescribed a second round of physical therapy but did not proceed forward with it. The IME doctor indicated the failure to complete the second round of physical therapy aggravated Claimant’s shoulder. The Department of Labor stated the evidence was insufficient to establish that the physical therapy would have helped Claimant’s condition as the first round of physical therapy did not provide much benefit. Moreover, the Department of Labor did not find Claimant at fault for failing to attend physical therapy as Claimant had difficulties in obtaining authorization from the Insurer on getting therapy. The Department stated, “Claimant cannot be penalized for failing to attend physical therapy sessions which are not available to her.”
If you have questions regarding this decision or any other South Dakota questions, please contact the Boyce Law Firm at 605-336-2424 or contact Charles Larson at calarson@boycelaw.com