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LAPOINTE v. UNITED ENGINEERS & CONSTRUCTORS8/1/1996
In a 1991 decision of the former Workers' Compensation Commission, United Engineers & Constructors was permitted to offset its obligation to pay weekly workers' compensation benefits to its employee, Norman LaPointe, by the payments that LaPointe received pursuant to a Massachusetts decree. After LaPointe obtained a lump-sum settlement of his claim against his Massachusetts employer, the Workers' Compensation Board granted LaPointe's petition for an order of payment, ruling that United Engineers was no longer entitled to the offset and must reinstate weekly benefits. Because we agree with the employer that the Board misconstrued the 1991 decision of the Commission, we vacate the decision of the Board.
In August 1986 Norman LaPointe injured his back while working for United Engineers. LaPointe suffered a subsequent work-related back injury in February 1989 while employed in Massachusetts by Wormald Fire Systems and was awarded short-term total and ongoing partial incapacity benefits for that injury pursuant to Massachusetts workers' compensation law. In 1991 the Maine Commission granted LaPointe's petition for restoration, concluding that his 1986 injury was "a substantial contributing factor" to his ongoing incapacity. The Commission ordered United Engineers to pay short-term total and ongoing partial incapacity benefits, but also concluded that United Engineers was entitled to "receive a week by week setoff for benefits paid to the Employee under Massachusetts law for his various periods of incapacity." Because the Massachusetts award exceeded United Engineers' weekly benefit payments, the employer set off its entire weekly benefit obligation. The Commission's 1991 decision was not appealed.
In May 1992 LaPointe entered into a lump-sum settlement of his Massachusetts claim for ongoing partial incapacity benefits in the amount of $100,000, with an additional $25,000 for attorney fees. The settlement did not include payment for permanent impairment
United Engineers contends that the setoff awarded in 1991 was not conditional on the continuation of weekly benefit payments from the Massachusetts employer, and therefore it is entitled to set off the entire amount of LaPointe's Massachusetts settlement against its continuing obligation to pay weekly incapacity benefits. LaPointe contends, however, that a hearing officer's interpretation of a Commission decision must be affirmed on appeal if supported by competent evidence. The hearing officer's interpretation of the 1991 decision was a conclusion of law, not a finding of fact. This is not a case in which the Board relied on extrinsic evidence to aid in the interpretation of ambiguous language in a prior decision. Moreover, despite the deference we accord to an administrative agency's application of its statute, the Board's interpretation of the 1991 decision is incorrect.
The Board gave controlling weight to the fact that the 1991 decision awarded a "week by week setoff." A "week by week setoff for benefits paid" is not the same as a setoff "for benefits paid week by week." In the first instance, the phrase "week by week" is intended to modify the setoff; in the latter instance the phrase is intended to describe the benefits that may be set off. The 1991 decision did not award a setoff "for benefits paid week by week," language that might have supported the Board's conclusion that the decision was conditional on the payment of weekly, as opposed to lump-sum, benefits. In this case, however, United Engineers was awarded a "week by week setoff" that corresponded to its duty to pay week by week benefits. There is nothing in the language of the 1991 decision to support the conclusion that the setoff was contingent on the payment o
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