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Mountain City Meat Co. v. Oqueda6/24/1996
EN BANC
These consolidated appeals present the issue of whether an enumerated injury arising under the schedule in section 8-42- 107(2), 3B C.R.S. (1995 Supp.), which is accompanied by a permanent medical impairment arising under section 8-42-107(8), 3B C.R.S. (1995 Supp.), must be converted to a whole person rating and compensated under section 8-42-107(8), when calculating permanent disability.
We granted certiorari in Mountain City Meat Co. & Colorado Compensation Insurance Authority v. Industrial Claim Appeals Office & Oqueda, 904 P.2d 1333 (Colo. App. 1995); DeWitt Transportation & Colorado Compensation Insurance Authority v. Industrial Claim Appeals Office & Shropshire, No. 94CE0033, (Colo. App. April 6, 1995) (not selected for official publication); WCS, Inc. & Colorado Compensation Insurance Authority v. Industrial Claim Appeals Office & Hernandez, No. 94CA1992, (Colo. App. May 4, 1995) (not selected for official publication); Durocher v. Industrial Claim Appeals Office & Department of Revenue & Colorado Compensation Insurance Authority, 905 P.2d 4 (Colo. App. 1995); and Monachelli v. Industrial Claim Appeals Office & Heating & Plumbing Engineers & Nationwide/Wausau Ins., No. 94CE0020, (Colo. App. April 6, 1995) (not selected for official publication); to review the decisions of the court of appeals, holding that, when a work-related accident results in at least one injury that is rated as a percentage of whole-person impairment, all effects of that work- related accident are to be rated as a percentage of whole-person impairment. Petitioners, Colorado Compensation Insurance Authority (CCIA) and the employers, contend that extremity injuries must be assessed under the statutory schedule even when the person has also suffered a head, neck, or torso injury. We affirm the judgment of the court of appeals in all five cases.
I.
The issue in each of these appeals is identical. The operative facts of the cases are not in dispute.
A. Oqueda
On October 23, 1992, Emiliano Oqueda, a meat-cutter for Mountain City Meat Co., lifted a one-hundred pound slab of meat and suffered an injury to his neck and shoulder. He was initially sent to a chiropractor; after seeing a physician at Clinicare, Oqueda returned to work with restrictions.
In order to determine the degree of permanent impairment and the date of maximum medical improvement, Oqueda was required to see an independent medical examiner (IME). See § 8-42- 107(8)(c). The IME determined that Oqueda's date of maximum medical improvement was April 20, 1993, and evaluated Oqueda under the applicable guidelines established by the Workers' Compensation Act of Colorado (the Workers' Compensation Act) to determine the degree of permanent impairment. Under the Workers' Compensation Act, injuries are generally divided into two categories: 1) injuries to extremities, which are entitled "scheduled injuries" and are rated as a percentage of injury to the extremity, section 8-42-107(2), 3B C.R.S. (1995 Supp.); and 2) injuries to the head, neck, and torso, which are rated as a percentage of injury to the whole person. § 8-42-107(8), 3B C.R.S. (1995 Supp.). Injuries to certain extremities, which are specified in section 8-42-107(8)(3.5), are also rated as a percentage of whole person impairment.
After the examination, the IME rated Oqueda's shoulder injury, a scheduled injury, as a three percent upper extremity impairment, and his neck injury, a non-scheduled injury, as a seven percent impa
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