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Wanstrom v. North Dakota Workers Compensation Bureau2/2/2001
Filed 2/2/01 by Clerk of Supreme Court
Appeal from the District Court of Burleigh County, South Central Judicial District, the Honorable James M. Vukelic, Judge.
REVERSED AND REMANDED.
Opinion of the Court by VandeWalle, Chief Justice.
[ ] Orlyn Wanstrom appealed from a district court judgment affirming a North Dakota Workers Compensation Bureau denial of Wanstrom's claim for disability benefits. The Bureau concluded Wanstrom's employment as a firefighter was not a substantial contributing factor in the causation of his lung disease, therefore the N.D.C.C. § 65-01-02(18)(d) presumption his lung condition was suffered in the line of duty was successfully rebutted and Wanstrom did not have a compensable injury. We conclude reasoning minds reasonably could not have determined the presumption was rebutted by the weight of the evidence from the entire record and we reverse and remand.
I.
[ ] Wanstrom was a firefighter with the City of Bismarck from May 1, 1974, until June 30, 1997. Wanstrom was exposed to smoke regularly in his work as a firefighter, however, he never required medical treatment for smoke inhalation. Wanstrom smoked cigarettes, approximately one to one-and-a-half packs per day for 30 years. Dr. Monica T. Paulo examined Wanstrom on June 6, 1997. Dr. Paulo diagnosed Wanstrom with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease ("COPD") and stated Wanstrom was at risk for further exposure to smoke or other inhalants. On June 30, 1997, the City of Bismarck placed Wanstrom on medical leave.
[ ] On July 3, 1997, Wanstrom filed a claim with the Bureau seeking application of the presumption in N.D.C.C. § 65-01-02(18)(d) (1995). If applicable, the statute would presume Wanstrom's lung condition was suffered in the line of duty. N.D.C.C. § 65-01-02(18)(d) (1995). The Bureau held because Wanstrom filed his claim after July 1, 1997, he was subject to N.D.C.C. § 65-01-15, a statute enacted by the legislature in 1995 to confine the occupational-lung disease presumption to nonsmokers. Therefore, the Bureau concluded Wanstrom was prohibited from using the presumption under N.D.C.C. § 65-01-02(18)(d). Wanstrom appealed and this Court held the Bureau erred as a matter of law by concluding the application date was dispositive instead of the injury date; therefore Wanstrom was entitled to the presumption his lung disease was suffered in the line of duty. Wanstrom v. North Dakota Workers Comp. Bureau, 2000 ND 17, 9, 604 N.W.2d 860. We remanded for additional findings of fact and conclusions of law as to whether the presumption has been successfully rebutted. Id.
[ ] On remand, the Bureau looked to the administrative law judge's findings of fact from the previous hearing on October 19, 1998. The Bureau found Wanstrom's employment as a firefighter for 23 years was not a substantial contributing factor in the causation of his lung disease. Therefore, the Bureau concluded the presumption was successfully rebutted and Wanstrom's injury was not compensable. The district court affirmed the Bureau's decision.
II.
[ ] On appeal from a judgment involving the decision of an administrative agency, we review the decision of the agency and our review is limited to the record before the agency. Tangen v. North Dakota Workers Comp. Bureau, 2000 ND 135, 9, 613 N.W.2d 490. Under N.D.C.C. §§ 28-32-19 and 28-32-21, we affirm the Bureau's decision unless its findings of fact are not supported by a preponderance of the evidence, its conclusions of law are not supported by its findings of fact, its decision is not supported by its conclusions of law, its decision is not in accordance with the law or violates the claim
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