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Hayashi v. Scott Company3/14/2000
159, 628 P.2d at 208.
In Demond, this court previously held that "the time period for notice or claim does not begin to run until the claimant, as a reasonable [person], should recognize the nature, seriousness and probable compensable character of his injury or disease." Demond at 104, 503 P.2d at 438 (quoting 3 Larson, Law of Workmen's Compensation s 84.20 (1971)). In applying this rule, this court denied a ten-year-old workers' compensation claim, determining that Demond, "who was represented by counsel, should have recognized the compensable character of her injuries." Id.
Both Tomita and Demond set forth reasonable interpretations of HRS § 386-82; however, for the sake of clarification, we reiterate that, under HRS § 386-82, the two-year statute of limitations for the filing of a workers' compensation claim begins to accrue when the claimant's injury becomes manifest, as set forth under Demond.
B. The LIRAB properly concluded that Hayashi's TMJ claim was timely filed.
Hayashi suffered his work-related injury on May 21, 1991. However, he was not aware that he was suffering from a TMJ injury until June 4, 1992, when Dr. Sakoda noted the possibility of a TMJ injury and suggested that Hayashi see a specialist. Thus, Hayashi did not recognize the nature, seriousness, and probable compensable character of his injury until he was initially diagnosed with TMJ by Dr. Sakoda. See Demond.
The LIRAB properly determined that Hayashi's TMJ injury did not become manifest until June 4, 1992, when it was accurately diagnosed. An expert diagnosis validating a claim is not required in order to trigger the running of the statute of limitations. See Buck v. Miles, 89 Hawai`i 244, 250, 971 P.2d 717, 723 (1999) (holding that under the discovery rule, a plaintiff need only have factual knowledge of the elements necessary for an actionable claim). However, with respect to Hayashi's claim, a TMJ injury is difficult to diagnose, and the necessary treatment cannot commence until the injury is properly identified. Thus, despite Hayashi's admission that he began to suffer from headaches, jaw pain and popping, and difficulty chewing within a week of the accident, the injury did not become manifest until June 4, 1992. Therefore, Hayashi's March 3, 1994 claim for workers' compensation benefits for his TMJ injury was properly filed within the two-year statute of limitations, as set forth in HRS § 386-82.
IV. CONCLUSION
For the aforementioned reasons, we affirm the LIRAB's decision and order filed on February 10, 1998 and the LIRAB's denial of the motion for reconsideration, dated August 11, 1998.
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