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Igawa v. Koa House Restaurant8/30/2001
s position statement.
The Board filed its decision and order on March 30, 1999. The Board found that Claimant suffered only a "minor head trauma" due to the work accident and that, based on the opinion of Juris Bergmanis, M.D., a neurosurgeon, Claimant's cyst "was more probably related to his major head injury in 1975." The Board also found, based on the report of George Bussey, M.D., a psychiatrist, that Claimant did not have any permanent psychological impairment as a result of his work injury. The Board ultimately concluded that "Claimant did not sustain any permanent disability attributable to his October 3, 1991 work injury, because Claimant's work injury was a minor head trauma which would not have resulted in any permanent impairment either on a physical or psychiatric basis." The Board also reduced Claimant's disfigurement benefit to $850.00. Claimant timely appealed.
On appeal, Claimant argued that: 1) the Board erred in concluding that he had not sustained any permanent disability as a result of his work injury; 2) the Board's finding that he had only suffered a minor head trauma was clearly erroneous; 3) the Board erred by refusing to consider the expert medical opinions he had adduced concerning the degree of impairment he suffered; and 4) the Board erred in reducing the disfigurement benefit. In a memorandum opinion dated February 2, 2001, the ICA affirmed the Board's decision and order in part and reversed it in part.
The ICA noted that, under HRS § 386-85(1), Employer had the burden of rebutting the presumption that Claimant had suffered PPD as a result of the work injury. ICA's opinion at 23. Further, the ICA noted that there was conflicting medical testimony regarding whether Claimant's condition was caused by the work injury or was solely the result of the 1975 injury, and that, " n instances where the testimony of two doctors directly conflict on the issue of an injury's causal connection to the claimant's employment activity, . . . the conflict should be resolved in the claimant's favor." Id. at 30 (citing Chung v. Animal Clinic, Inc., 63 Haw. 642, 652, 636 P.2d 721, 727 (1981)). Therefore, the ICA held that the Board erred in reversing Claimant's PPD award. Id. at 31. The ICA also noted that Claimant's symptoms and complications related to his 1975 injury had "for all intents and purposes remitted entirely for about a decade before a similar syndrome arose shortly after his 1991 head injury" and stated that, " nder such circumstances, the suggestion that the 1991 industrial accident aggravated the preexisting condition naturally and ineluctably arises." Id. Employer filed a timely application for a writ of certiorari.
II. DISCUSSION
A. Standard of Review
1. Applications For Certiorari
Appeals from the ICA are governed by HRS § 602-59(b) (1993), which states that an application for writ of certiorari shall tersely state its grounds which must include (1) grave errors of law or of fact, or (2) obvious inconsistencies in the decision of the intermediate appellate court with that of the supreme court, federal decisions, or its own decision, and the magnitude of such errors or inconsistencies dictating the need for further appeal.
2. Agency Appeals
Appellate review of a LIRAB decision is governed by HRS § 91-14(g) (1993), which states that:
Upon review of the record the court may affirm the decision of the agency or remand the case with instructions for further proceedings; or it may reverse or modify the decision and order if the substantial rights of the petitioners may have been prejudiced because the administrative findings, conclusions, decisions, or orders are:
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