Summary 2012 WY 134

Summary of Decision October 18, 2012

Justice Voigt delivered the opinion for the Court. Affirmed.

Case Name: IN THE MATTER OF THE WORKER’S COMPENSATION CLAIM OF: LANCE TALBOT v. STATE OF WYOMING, ex rel., WYOMING WORKER’S SAFETY AND COMPENSATION DIVISION.

Docket Number: S-12-0016

URL: http://www.courts.state.wy.us/Opinions.aspx

Appeal from the District Court of Albany County, Honorable Jeffrey A. Donnell, Judge.

Representing Appellant: Bernard Q. Phelan, Phelan Law Offices, Cheyenne, Wyoming.

Representing Appellee: Gregory A. Phillips, Wyoming Attorney General; John D. Rossetti, Deputy Attorney General; Michael J. Finn, Senior Assistant Attorney General; Brenda S. Yamaji, Assistant Attorney General.

Date of Decision: October 18, 2012

Facts: The appellant received disability benefits due to a work-related injury. Those benefits were terminated as a result of the appellant’s incarceration. Following his release, the appellant applied for reinstatement of the benefits. Although that application was initially denied, benefits were awarded following a contested case hearing. At that time, the appellant filed one application for retroactive benefits for the period during which his prior claim was contested and two additional applications for separate periods of prospective benefits. The Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH) denied all three claims for failure to comply with the Wyoming Worker’s Compensation Act. The district court affirmed the denial of two of those applications and the appellant appealed those denials.

Issues: Did the hearing examiner err as a matter of law in determining that the Wyoming Worker’s Compensation Act requires a separate examination for each period of certification of Temporary Total Disability benefits?

Holdings: The Wyoming Worker’s Compensation Act requires a separate physical examination prior to each certified period of disability. Because a health care provider did not perform a separate examination for each of the appellant’s applications for TTD benefits, the Court affirmed the district court’s decision to deny benefits to the appellant.

Summaries are prepared by Law Librarians and are not official statements of the Wyoming Supreme Court

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