 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Employee Leasing Services in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Pannell-Pringle v. District of Columbia Department of Employment Services9/5/2002
Argued January 24, 2002
Petitioner, Peggy Pannell-Pringle, seeks review of a final order of the District of Columbia Department of Employment Services ("DOES") which denied her application for workers' compensation benefits for injuries resulting from an automobile accident that occurred in the course of her employment. DOES ruled that petitioner's unauthorized settlement with the driver of the other car barred her claim for compensation under D.C. Code § 32-1535 (g) (2001). Petitioner argues that DOES erred in determining that this statute operates as a complete bar to a claim for compensation when no compensation order existed at the time of the settlement. We hold that DOES's interpretation of the statute is reasonable and therefore affirm the order under review.
I.
Petitioner was involved in an automobile accident arising in the course of her employment on August 4, 1997. She notified her employer, Nursing Enterprises, Inc., of the accident promptly after it occurred and then went to the hospital. She was diagnosed with a sprained neck and returned to work later that day. Within a week after the accident, and before filing a workers' compensation claim, she entered into an agreement with the driver of the other car in which she settled her claim against him for $1,000. She did not notify either her employer or her employer's insurance carrier, Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, of the settlement.
Over the next nine months, petitioner's neck continued to bother her, but her doctors maintained the original diagnosis of a sprained neck. In March of 1998, however, doctors at Bayview Hospital diagnosed petitioner as having a "Jefferson fracture" in her neck. She underwent several surgeries and was absent from work from April 4, 1999, through August of 1999. She later filed a claim for workers' compensation alleging that her disability was due to the August 1997 accident.
After a hearing on petitioner's claim, a hearing examiner found that the accident happened during the course of petitioner's employment and that it was the cause of her injuries. The examiner also ruled, however, that petitioner was barred from receiving total disability benefits because her settlement with the third party was not authorized under D.C. Code § 32-1535 (g). Although the actual language of section 32-1535 (g) did not mandate this result, the examiner held that he was bound by Travelers Insurance Co. v. Haden, 418 A.2d 1078 (D.C. 1980), which interpreted a nearly identical provision in the Longshoremen's and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act as conclusively presuming prejudice when an employee enters into an unauthorized settlement. In a lengthy footnote, the examiner stated that his preference would be to inquire into whether the employer was actually prejudiced by an unauthorized settlement because such an inquiry would further the "humanitarian" purpose of the statute. He concluded, however, that "this is a significant policy determination which, under the Act, must be left to the Director by interpretation, or the City Council by statutory revision."
Petitioner appealed from the examiner's decision to the Director of DOES, who affirmed the decision of the hearing examiner because he found that Haden was persuasive. Although the Director acknowledged that an inquiry into prejudice was "attractive," he concluded that there was "simply . . . no language in D.C. Code § [32-1535] (g) providing for an inquiry into `prejudice' in these cases." The Director reasoned that the drafters of the act had "used such qualifying `prejudice' language when it was intended and deemed appropriate," but noted that they did not use that language here. Petitioner now maintains
Page 1 2 3 4 5 District of Columbia Employee Leasing Services
Employee Leasing Services
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Employee Leasing Services in your area.
|
|