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O'Neal v. City of Augusta3/9/1998
Reporter of Decisions
The employers in this consolidated appeal challenge decisions of the Workers' Compensation Board concluding that, for purposes of determining whether fringe benefits must be included in the average weekly wage, 39-A M.R.S.A. Section 102(4)(H) (Supp. 1997), the determination whether a partially incapacitated employee's weekly benefit exceeds 2/3 the state average weekly wage at the time of the injury must be based on actual weekly benefit levels, and not a one-time calculation based on what the employee could hypothetically receive for total incapacity. We affirm.
The employee in the first consolidated appeal, Duane O'Neal, suffered compensable injuries in 1992 and 1993 while employed by the City of Augusta. Wendy Howes, the employee in the second consolidated case, suffered a work-related injury on August 28, 1992, while employed for Augat, Inc. Both employees were awarded benefits for partial incapacity. In both cases, the Board determined that fringe benefits must be included in the pre-injury average weekly wage pursuant to section 102(4)(H), because to include the fringe benefits would not increase the employee's weekly partial benefits above 2/3 the state average weekly wage on the dates of their respective injuries. The employers contended before the Board that fringe benefits must be excluded because the inclusion of fringe benefits would increase the employee's compensation for total incapacity above 2/3 of the state average weekly wage at the time of the injury. We granted the employers' petitions for appellate review pursuant to 39-A M.R.S.A. Section 322 (Supp. 1997).
The issue in this appeal involves the definition of "average weekly wage" in 39-A M.R.S.A. Section 102(4)(H):
H. "Average weekly wages, earnings or salary" does not include any fringe or other benefits paid by the employer that continue during the disability. Any fringe or other benefit paid by the employer that does not continue during the disability must be included for purposes of determining an employee's average weekly wage to the extent that the inclusion of the fringe or other benefit will not result in a weekly benefit amount that is greater than 2/3 of the state average weekly wage at the time of injury.
The employers contend that the Legislature intended a "one-shot" determination of the average weekly wage based on the benefits that an employee would receive for total incapacity. We disagree.
The plain language of section 102(4)(H) clearly supports the decisions of the Board. Section 102(4)(H) provides that fringe benefits must be included unless the employee's "weekly benefit amount" is greater than 2/3 of the state average weekly wage at the time of the injury. 39-A M.R.S.A. Section 102(4)(H). The phrase "weekly benefit amount" is sufficiently broad to include both total or partial benefits. It means the weekly amount of benefits actually received by the employee for either partial or total incapacity. If the Legislature wanted the determination to be based on what the employee would hypothetically receive for total incapacity, it could have made that meaning clear in the statute. Because the statutory language is clear, it is unnecessary to look to the legislative history for further indicia of legislative intent.
The employers next contend that section 102(4)(H) must be interpreted according to "entrenched meaning" that has arisen from prior decisions of this Court. See Tripp v. Philips Elmet Corp., 676 A.2d 927, 930-31 (Me. 1996) ("when statutory language has acquired a consistent and entrenched meaning through prior judicial decisions, we will not abandon our traditional interpretation of that language
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