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Carroll v. State1/31/2001
REPORTED
Isaac Carroll, appellant, challenges an order of the Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County granting a motion, filed by the State of Maryland, Patuxent Institution and the Injured Workers' Insurance Fund, appellees, to implead the Subsequent Injury Fund ("Fund") and to remand the case to the Worker's Compensation Commission ("Commission") and ruling that he is not a "public safety employee," within the meaning of Md. Code (1999), section 9-628 of the Labor and Employment Article ("LE"). He also has filed a motion to remand in this Court.
Appellant presents the following questions for review, which we have reordered and rephrased:
I. Did the trial court err in granting appellees' motion to implead the Subsequent Injury Fund and to remand the case to the Commission?
II. Did the trial court err in failing to explain, in writing, its failure to rule on his written motion opposing remand and seeking costs, expenses, and sanctions?
III. Did the trial court err in ruling that appellant was not a "public safety employee"?
IV. Are appellees equitably or judicially estopped to deny that the Commission under-calculated appellant's award?
FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS
Appellant is a recently retired employee of the Patuxent Institution. On September 1, 1995, before he retired, appellant sustained an on-the-job injury to his left shoulder. He filed a claim against appellees with the Commission. On June 25, 1997, the Commission conducted a hearing on the issue of the nature and extent of the permanent partial disability of appellant's left shoulder.
On July 7, 1997, the Commission issued an order finding, inter alia, that appellant had sustained permanent partial disability of 14% loss of industrial use of his left shoulder. The Commission ordered the appellees to pay compensation to appellant for 60 weeks at $94.20 per week. The Commission also approved the payment of an attorney's fee of $1,130.40. A dispute was ongoing between appellant and his former counsel, however, and for that reason the Commission further ordered that the fee be held in escrow "until fee dispute is resolved."
On July 10, 1997, appellant filed a motion for rehearing before the Commission on four issues: whether he was a "public safety employee," under LE § 9-628(a), and, therefore, was entitled to a higher weekly benefit; whether he was entitled to payment of the bill of a Dr. William Russell; whether his permanent partial disability of the left shoulder was greater than 14%; and whether he was entitled to payment of the attorney's fee that had been placed in escrow.
On September 9, 1997, the Commission issued an order affirming its finding of a permanent partial disability of 14% loss of industrial use of the left shoulder; finding that correctional officers are not "public safety employees," within the meaning of LE § 9-628(a); finding that Dr. Russell's bill had not been submitted for payment; and finding that it would not order payment of the attorney's fee that it had approved until after the dispute pertaining to the fee had been resolved.
On August 26, 1997, appellant filed a petition for de novo review and request for jury trial, in the Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County. The case was scheduled for trial on July 9, 1998. Discovery ensued.
On the morning of trial, appellees filed a written motion to implead the Subsequent Injury Fund ("Fund") and to remand the case to the Commission for further proceedings. Appellant opposed the motion, arguing that the case was not one in which the Fund properly could be impleaded and that, even if it were such a case, the motion
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