DocketNumber: No. SC 96513
Citation Numbers: 550 S.W.3d 65
Judges: Wilson
Filed Date: 5/22/2018
Status: Precedential
Modified Date: 1/21/2022
Following a work-related injury, Andrew Dickemann ("Dickemann") filed a workers' compensation claim against his employer, Costco Wholesale Corporation ("Costco"). A final award granted Dickemann permanent total disability benefits to be paid weekly. Two years later, the parties agreed Costco would make a lump sum payment to fully satisfy Dickemann's award. The parties requested that the Labor and Industrial Relations Commission ("Commission") approve this agreement, but the Commission declined to do so on the grounds that: (1) the Commission has no authority to approve the agreement as a "settlement" under section 287.390;
Background
In July 2010, Dickemann was injured in the course and scope of his employment with Costco and he filed a workers' compensation claim. A hearing was held on Dickemann's claim before an administrative law judge ("ALJ") of the Missouri Division of Workers' Compensation. The ALJ awarded Dickemann permanent total disability benefits in the amount of $799.11 per week, to be paid weekly beginning retroactively on March 1, 2013. Because neither party sought review by the Commission, the award became final in April 2014.
In November 2016, Dickemann and Costco entered into a "Stipulation for Voluntary Settlement and Agreement to Commute Award" (the "Agreement"). Pursuant to the terms of the Agreement, Costco agreed to pay Dickemann a lump sum of $400,000, which the parties agreed would fully and finally satisfy Dickemann's award of weekly permanent total disability benefits. In the Agreement, Dickemann acknowledged *67he voluntarily accepted the terms of the agreement, he understood his rights and benefits, and there had been no undue influence or fraud.
After the Agreement was signed, the parties presented it to the Commission with a request that it be approved. The Commission refused to approve the Agreement, however, on the grounds that: (1) the Agreement was not a "settlement" of a "claim," which the Commission is authorized to approve under section 287.390; and (2) the Agreement failed to meet the requirements for a "commutation," which the Commission is authorized to grant under section 287.530.
Analysis
In Dickemann's sole point on appeal,
This Court's review of the Commission's decision is governed by section 288.210. The Court "may modify, reverse, remand for rehearing, or set aside the decision of the commission on the following grounds:" (1) "the commission acted without or in excess of its powers;" (2) "the decision was procured by fraud;" (3) "the facts found by the commission do not support the award;" or (4) "there was not sufficient competent evidence in the record to warrant the making of the award."
*68"The primary rule of statutory construction is to ascertain the intent of the legislature from the language used, to give effect to that intent if possible, and to consider the words used in their plain and ordinary meaning." Wolff Shoe Co. v. Dir. of Revenue ,
The Commission was correct in determining it could not approve the Agreement as an application for a "commutation" under section 287.530. This statute provides:
The compensation provided in this chapter may be commuted by the division or the commission and redeemed by the payment in whole or in part, by the employer, of a lump sum which shall be fixed by the division or the commission, which sum shall be equal to the commutable value of the future installments which may be due under this chapter, taking account of life contingencies , the payment to be commuted at its present value upon application of either party , with due notice to the other, if it appears that the commutation will be for the best interests of the employee or the dependents of the deceased employee, or that it will avoid undue expense or undue hardship to either party, or that the employee or dependent has removed or is about to remove from the United States or that the employer has sold or otherwise disposed of the greater part of his business or assets.
§ 287.530.1 (emphasis added).
Notably, this statute also provides that a "commutation is a departure from the normal method of payment and is to be allowed only when it clearly appears that some unusual circumstances warrant such a departure." § 287.530.2. Additionally, when determining whether a commutation is in the best interest of the employee, the Commission is required to "constantly bear in mind ... that compensation payments are in lieu of wages and are to be received by the injured employee or his dependents in the same manner in which wages are ordinarily paid."
Here, the $400,000 lump sum proposed in the Agreement failed the financial equivalency requirement set forth in section 287.530.1 because the commutable value of the future installments, taking into account Dickemann's life contingency, was at least $590,000.
The parties sought to avoid the requirements of section 287.530.1 by arguing the Agreement was a "settlement" the Commission was authorized-and, indeed, bound-to approve under section 287.390. This statute provides, in relevant part:
Parties to claims hereunder may enter into voluntary agreements in settlement thereof, but no agreement ... shall be valid, nor shall any agreement of settlement or compromise of any dispute or claim for compensation under this chapter be valid until approved by an administrative law judge or the commission.... An administrative law judge, or the commission, shall approve a settlement agreement as valid and enforceable as long as the settlement is not the result of undue influence or fraud, the employee fully understands his or her rights and benefits, and voluntarily agrees to accept the terms of the agreement.
§ 287.390.1 (emphasis added).
The key to a proper interpretation of section 287.390 is found in the first sentence, which provides, "Parties to claims hereunder may enter into voluntary agreements." § 287.390.1 (emphasis added). See also
Here, Dickemann asserted his claim for workers' compensation following his injury in 2010. In 2013, a hearing was held on his claim and, in April 2014, an award was rendered on Dickemann's claim in his favor. Therefore, as of April 2014, Dickemann's claim had been resolved. As a result, in signing the Agreement in November 2016, Dickemann was no longer making an authoritative "request," "claim," or "demand" for compensation under the workers' compensation law. Instead, from and after April 2014, Dickemann possessed a right to such compensation. Because Dickemann and Costco were not "parties to claims" under the workers' compensation statutes in November 2016 when they entered *70into the Agreement, the Agreement did not constitute a "settlement" of such claims for purposes of section 287.390.1. Accordingly, the Commission did not have the authority to consider-let alone approve-the Agreement under section 287.390.
Conclusion
For the reasons set forth above, the Commission's decision is affirmed.
All concur.
All statutory references are to RSMo Supp. 2013, unless indicated otherwise.
The Commission's decision in this case was "without prejudice." When a civil petition is dismissed "without prejudice," such a judgment generally is not appealable. Mayes v. Saint Luke's Hosp. of Kan. City ,
Costco does not dispute the error alleged by Dickemann and has adopted Dickemann's brief as its own.
More precisely, Nance holds an agreement to reduce weekly benefits to a single lump sum payment (i.e., an "uncontested" commutation) is a "claim" that can be settled under section 287.390 and, therefore, the process set forth in section 287.530 applies only to "contested" commutations. Nance ,
In 2005, the Workers' Compensation Law was amended to require "strict construction" of its provisions. § 287.800.1. This has no impact on the analysis in this case, however, because this Court is no more entitled to ignore the plain and unambiguous meaning of a statute's words under "strict construction" than it is under "liberal construction" or in the absence of such an instruction. In the end, when the intent of the legislature can be ascertained from the plain and ordinary meaning of the statutory language, the Court is bound to give the statute that construction. Wolff ,
The Commission's order states: "Accepting the parties' agreed-upon 20-year life expectancy and using the regulatory 4% discount rate, the present value of the permanent total disability award exceeds $590,000.00." This Court is bound by that finding. § 288.210.