HOYLE STYLES V. ELKHORN TRUCK PARTS & SERVICE; ET AL.
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RENDERED : JUNE 17, 2010
TO BE PUBLISHED
'Suprtrat (fourf of '~Rtuf
2009-SC-000494-WC
DAT
HOYLE STYLES
V.
APPELLANT
ON APPEAL FROM COURT OF APPEALS
CASE NO . 2009-CA-000042-WC
WORKERS' COMPENSATION BOARD NO . 06-97414
ELKHORN TRUCK PARTS 8v SERVICE ;
HONORABLE CHRIS DAVIS,
ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGE ; AND
WORKERS' COMPENSATION BOARD
APPELLEES
OPINION OF THE COURT
AFFIRMING
A unanimous Workers' Compensation Board affirmed an Administrative
Law Judge's (ALJ's) refusal to delay the two-year period of the claimant's
permanent total disability benefits' from the date of injury until after the date
that the employer terminated voluntary temporary total disability (TTD)
benefits . The Court of Appeals affirmed .2 At issue is whether the court
misconstrued KRS 342 .730(4) .
1 See KRS 342.730(4) .
2 The Court of Appeals also affirmed the Board's decision to vacate and remand with
respect to the ALJs decision to impose 18% interest on past-due benefits . That
portion of the decision is not appealed .
We affirm. The claimant qualified for old-age Social Security benefits
when he was injured . KRS 342 .730(4) is unambiguous with respect to such an
individual's entitlement. It terminates "all income benefits" two years after the
injury.
The claimant, Hoyle Styles, was born in November 1940. He completed
only the eleventh grade and had no specialized or vocational training. His work
history involved various types of manual labor, including work as a diesel
mechanic . He became part owner of the defendant-employer, Elkhorn Truck
Parts 8. Service, in 1975.
Styles received crush injuries to his hip, pelvis, lower extremities, and
urinary tract on January 18, 2006, when the rear end of a truck under which
he was working fell on him. The employer paid $416 .69 per week in voluntary
TTD benefits from the date of accident through July 17, 2007 . Styles filed an
application for benefits early in 2008.
Styles was 65 years old and receiving normal old-age Social Security
benefits at the time of the accident. He testified that he worked until the
accident because the benefits provided inadequate income on which to live . He
alleged that he was permanently and totally disabled due to his injuries and
stated that he sold his share of the business in 2008. The parties limited the
contested issues to the extent and duration of disability .
Styles acknowledged that his receipt of old-age Social Security benefits
limited the duration of his permanent income benefits to two years from the
date of injury under KRS 342 .730(4) . He argued, however, that when KRS
342.730(1)(b) and KRS 342.730(4) are read in tandem, his permanent total
disability award should not commence until the date that his employer
terminated TTD benefits. In other words, he argued that he was entitled to the
TTD benefits plus two years of permanent total disability benefits. The
employer conceded that Styles was permanently and totally disabled but
argued that KRS 342 .730(1)(b) applies only to permanent partial disability .
The ALJ awarded permanent total disability benefits but limited the
duration of the award to a period of two years from the date of injury under
KRS 342 .730(4) . Having found the employer's decision to terminate TTD
benefits on July 17, 2007, to be "inexplicable," the ALJ ordered the employer
sua sponte to pay interest on past-due income benefits at the rate of 18%
under KRS 342.040(l) . The ALJ also denied the employer's petition for
reconsideration, stating that the early termination of TTD "was without purpose
or need nor supported by the evidence." Styles appealed the duration of
benefits and the employer appealed the imposition of 18% interest.
The Board affirmed the decision to limit permanent income benefits to
two years from the date of injury unanimously. A majority vacated the decision
to impose 18% interest and remanded for additional findings in order to permit
meaningful appellate review. The Court of Appeals affirmed.
3
See Shields v. Pittsburgh and Midway Coal Mining Co., 634 S.W.2d 440, 444 (Ky.
App . 1982) .
KRS 342 .730(4) provides, in pertinent part as follows :
All income benefits pursuant to this chapter shall
terminate as of the date upon which the employee
qualifies for normal old-age Social Security retirement
benefits . . . or two (2) years after the employee's injury
or last exposure, whichever last occurs. . . . (emphasis
added) .
Styles urges the court to read KRS 342.730(4) in tandem with KRS
342 .730(1)(b), which provides income benefits for permanent, partial disability
but suspends the 425- or 520-week benefit period during any intervening
period of TTD . Having failed to convince the ALJ, Board, or Court of Appeals,
he continues to argue that the statutes entitle him to the previously-paid TTD
as well as to two years of permanent income benefits. We disagree for two
reasons.
First, KRS 342.730(1) (b) is inapplicable to Styles' claim because he has
been totally disabled continuously, from the time his accident occurred. KRS
342.730(1) (a), which provides income benefits for temporary and permanent
total disability, controls his claim. When Styles reached MMI from all of his
injuries and remained unable to work, hindsight showed that his total
disability, which appeared initially to be only temporary, was actually
permanent from the outset.4
Second, even if KRS 342 .730(1)(b) did apply, KRS 342 .730(4) is
unambiguous. It required "(a]11 income benefits" paid under Chapter 342 to
terminate two years after Styles' injury because he qualified for normal old-age
4
Young v. Johnson County Board ofEducation, 479 S.W.2d 638 (Ky. 1972) .
Social Security retirement benefits when he was injured.5 "All income benefits"
includes TTD benefits, permanent partial disability benefits, and permanent
total disability benefits. In other words, KRS 342.730(4) limited Styles to a
total of two years of income benefits, regardless of the type .
The decision of the Court of Appeals is affirmed .
All sitting. All concur.
COUNSEL FOR APPELLANT,
. HOYLE STYLES :
Glenn Martin Hammond
Stephanie Letitia Kinney
Glenn M. Hammond Law Office
P.O . Box 1109
685 Hambley Blvd ., Suite 3
Pikeville, KY 41502
COUNSEL FOR APPELLEE,
ELKHORN TRUCK PARTS & SERVICE:
Carl Martin Brashear
Hoskins Law Offices, PLLC
P.O. Box 24564
Lexington, KY 40524-4564
5 McDowell v. Jackson Energy RECC, 84 S.W.3d 71 (Ky. 2002).
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