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Wilkinson v. State ex rel. Wyoming Workers' Safety and Compensation Division12/7/1999
MACY, J., delivered the opinion of the Court; LEHMAN, C.J., filed a Dissenting opinion in which GOLDEN, J., joined
Appellant David Wilkinson appeals from the Natrona County district court=s order affirming the hearing examiner=s dismissal with prejudice of his application for extended permanent total disability benefits and from the Laramie County district court=s order dismissing his petition for review.
We affirm the district courts= decisions.
ISSUES
Wilkinson presents two issues for our review:
1. Is the Worker=s Compensation Division required to comply with a final order of the Medical Commission awarding extended benefits to the Claimant?
2. Was the hearing examiner=s dismissal of Wilkinson=s alternate application with prejudice an abuse of discretion or otherwise not in accordance with law?
FACTS
It is necessary for us to recite, in some detail, the unusual and complicated procedural history of the cases before us in order to explain our decision. On December 30, 1983, Wilkinson was severely injured in a work-related accident. In 1988, the Wyoming Workers= Compensation Division (the division) determined that Wilkinson was permanently totally disabled. Wilkinson was awarded permanent total disability benefits, and the division finished paying those benefits in April 1992. Wilkinson subsequently applied for and was granted extended permanent total disability benefits through August 1993.
In 1996, Wilkinson again applied for extended permanent total disability benefits. The division denied his application, and Wilkinson objected. The matter was referred to the Medical Commission for a contested case hearing. The commission determined that the law which was in effect when Wilkinson suffered his initial injury in 1983 applied to his application. It ruled that Wilkinson remained permanently totally disabled and that he was entitled to extended benefits. The division paid one year=s worth of extended benefits to Wilkinson.
On July 15, 1997, Wilkinson applied for additional extended permanent total disability benefits. The division denied his application, and the matter was referred to the Office of Administrative Hearings for a contested case hearing. The division sought a ruling on what law applied to Wilkinson=s application. Wilkinson moved for a summary judgment, maintaining that the Medical Commission=s order, which relied upon Wyo. Stat. Ann. ' 27-12- 405(d) (Michie 1983) (repealed 1986), required the division to continue to pay him extended permanent total disability benefits. He claimed, therefore, that the hearing examiner should not reconsider issues which had been decided by the Medical Commission and that she should apply the Medical Commission=s decision to his July 15, 1997, application.
The hearing examiner held a hearing on November 3, 1997, to consider the parties= motions. She denied Wilkinson=s motion for a summary judgment and ruled that the law in effect in 1988, when it was determined that Wilkinson was permanently totally disabled, was the law that should be applied to his application for extended benefits. Wilkinson moved for a continuance of the contested case hearing which was scheduled for November 6, 1997. The hearing examiner denied Wilkinson=s motion.
On November 5, 1997, Wilkinson withdrew his application for benefits and moved for a dismissal of the pending action without prejudice. The division filed a traverse to Wilkinson=s motion for a dismissal without prejudice. The hearing examiner heard the parties= arguments on Wilkinson=s motion on November 6, 1997. She denied his motion to dismiss without prejudice and gave
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