Workers' Comp Update: Could Comparing Apples And Oranges Be A Lemon For Employers?

The Iowa Supreme Court Interprets the Successive Disabilities Statute

The Iowa Supreme Court recently provided guidance regarding the application of the successive disabilities statute (Iowa Code §85.34(7)), in Loew v. Menard, Inc., No. 22-1894, 2024 WL 501439 (Iowa Feb. 9, 2024).

This case involved a worker who sustained two separate back injuries in 2015 and 2018, while working for Menard, Inc. In an earlier case, the commissioner found the 2015 injury caused a 20% functional impairment and awarded 30% (150 weeks) industrial disability, inclusive of the functional impairment, for the reduction in earning capacity. For the 2018 injury, the worker was assigned a 28% functional rating, only 8% of which was found to be attributed to the new injury. In the 2018 case, the issue was the amount of credit offset allowed for the prior compensated injury.