Summary 2013 WY 100

Summary of Decision August 22, 2013

Justice Davis delivered the opinion for the Court. Affirmed.

Case Name: IN THE MATTER OF THE WORKER’S COMPENSATION CLAIM OF: MARSHALL S. LITTLE v. STATE OF WYOMING ex rel. DEPARTMENT OF WORKFORCE SERVICES, WORKERS’ COMPENSATION DIVISION

Docket Number: S-12-0268

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

Appeal from the District Court of Campbell County the Honorable John R. Perry, Judge

Representing Appellant: Donna D. Domonkos, Attorney at Law, Cheyenne, Wyoming

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

Date of Decision: August 22, 2013

Facts: Appellant Marshall S. Little suffered a lower back injury when he was drawn into a mixing chute of a hot mix plant used by the paving company he worked for in 1988. He underwent a lumbar surgery in 1989. His condition improved in the early 1990s, and he did not require treatment for his back injury for several years. In 2007, he began seeing an internist, who diagnosed him with an arthritic hip and recommended a hip replacement. Mr. Little submitted a bill for $87.00 for the office visit to the Wyoming Workers’ Safety and Compensation Division (the Division). The Division declined to pay the bill because it believed the hip condition to be unrelated to the original work injury. Mr. Little objected and requested a contested case hearing before the Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH). The OAH hearing examiner found that Mr. Little was not entitled to benefits for a second compensable injury, relying on an orthopedic surgeon’s evaluation that the arthritic hip was not relatedto the original compensable injury. The district court affirmed.

Issues: Does substantial evidence support the hearing examiner’s decision that Mr. Little was not entitled to benefits for a second compensable hip injury?

Holdings: Mr. Little met his burden of producing competent evidence to demonstrate a causal link between his compensable work injury and the arthritis in his hip nearly twenty years later. However, he failed to carry the burden of persuasion because the hearing examiner chose to believe the report of an orthopedic surgeon, which found no causallink between the original injury and the arthritis in his hip. Substantial evidence supports the hearing examiner’s findings. Affirmed.

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

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