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Wilkinson v. State ex rel. Wyoming Workers' Safety and Compensation Division12/7/1999
ermine the applicable statute, and . . . the claimant's injury is deemed to have occurred when the treating physician determined that the claimant was totally disabled.@ This is a determination particularly suited to the Medical Commission, and the determination that the 1983 law applied to Wilkinson=s 1996 claim for extended benefits necessarily includes the finding that he was permanently totally disable before the 1987 amendments. The proceeding before the Medical Commission involved the same parties, and the final determination on the merits was rendered only after these parties fully and fairly litigated the issue. The Division was free to appeal that decision to the district court, but it did not do so. Thus, all the requirements for the application of the collateral estoppel doctrine were satisfied in this case.
However, the Division erroneously convinced the hearing examiner that because this was a new claim filed after the hearing before the Medical Commission, and the Medical Commission has no authority to rule on prospective claims, its decision did not apply in any way to the current dispute. Putting aside the issue of whether the claim for 1997 benefits was before the Commission at the time of the hearing, a new claim does not negate the application of collateral estoppel to the same issues which were previously litigated and decided.
Under our holdings in Tenorio and Ottema, an uncontested determination of benefits will not act as a bar to later claims or defenses. Ottema, 968 P.2d at 45; Tenorio, 931 P.2d at 239. However, in this case, several issues relating to the 1997 benefits were decided by the Medical Commission after a full hearing. First, it cannot be questioned that the law to be applied to extended permanent total disability benefits stemming from Wilkinson=s 1983 injury was an issue before the Medical Commission, the issue was litigated on its merits, and decided. Therefore, unless the Division contested the current claim because it was not causally related to the 1983 injury, any issues as to the applicable law were barred by the doctrine of collateral estoppel. The Division conceded that Wilkinson remained totally permanently disabled from his 1983 injury. Thus, the hearing examiner erred in failing to apply the law in effect in 1983.
Were we to approve the Division=s position that each new claim is totally untouched by previous rulings, we would be holding that a claimant will never have a final determination on any aspect of his claim extending beyond one year. The onerous burden on the claimant and the taxpayers of such a decision is clear. Each year, the claimant, represented by an attorney often paid by the taxpayers, would be required to litigate each and every element of his claim, even in the absence of an allegation that something had changed. At the same time, the costs of the Division=s legal representation would also be borne by the citizens of Wyoming. Thus, every year the parties would reargue the same issues, presenting the same witnesses and the same evidence, all at the expense of the Wyoming taxpayer. According to the position taken by the Division, Wilkinson could apply for permanent total disability benefits for 1998, and the law to be applied would again be relitigated. This certainly cannot be the intent of the legislature.
Finding that the 1983 law applies to Wilkinson=s 1997 benefits pursuant to the doctrine of collateral estoppel, we turn to the procedural requirements and Wilkinson=s burden of proof under that law. These issues have not been determined by this court in the past, and therefore we must consider the statutory provisions according to our well established rules of construction. Parker Land & Cattle Co.
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