Livingston v. WSI

FILED
IN THE OFFICE OF THE
CLERK OF SUPREME COURT
JANUARY 6, 2022
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA
IN THE SUPREME COURT
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA
2022 ND 6Antonio Livingston, Appellant
v.
Workforce Safety and Insurance (WSI), Appellee
and
Powerdrill Rig Services, Respondent
No. 20210232
Appeal from the District Court of Williams County, Northwest Judicial
District, the Honorable Paul W. Jacobson, Judge.
AFFIRMED.
Per Curiam.
Antonio Livingston (self-represented), North Little Rock, Arkansas, appellant;
submitted on brief.
Mitchell D. Armstrong and Jon C. Lengowski, Special Assistant Attorneys
General, Bismarck, North Dakota, for appellee; submitted on brief.
Livingston v. WSI
No. 20210232
Per Curiam.
[¶1] Antonio Livingston appeals from a district court judgment affirming an
administrative law judge’s (ALJ) decision that affirmed a North Dakota
Workforce Safety and Insurance decision denying him benefits. Livingston
argues the ALJ erred in finding he failed to prove that his peripheral vascular
disease and Raynaud’s disease were caused by his work injury. He also argues
the ALJ erred in finding he was not entitled to disability benefits. “In reviewing
an ALJ’s findings of fact, a court may not make independent findings of fact or
substitute its judgment for the ALJ’s findings; rather, the court must decide
only whether a reasoning mind reasonably could have determined the findings
were proven by the weight of the evidence from the entire record.” WSI v.
Badger Roustabouts, LLC, 2021 ND 166, ¶ 8, 964 N.W.2d 514. We conclude the
ALJ’s findings of fact are supported by a preponderance of the evidence and its
conclusions of law are supported by its findings of fact. We summarily affirm
under N.D.R.App.P. 35.1(a)(5).
[¶2] Jon J. Jensen, C.J.
Gerald W. VandeWalle
Daniel J. Crothers
Lisa Fair McEvers
Jerod E. Tufte
1