Broken hand ruling raises concerns
Posted: Sunday, August 03, 2008
DES MOINES (AP) -- Iowa employers are raising concerns about a state administrative judge's decision to award worker's compensation and medical benefits to a part-time United Parcel Service employee who broke his hand when he lost his temper and hit a trailer.
The damages were awarded by a state administrative law judge who acknowledged that the worker had not been truthful about how he broke his hand and was fired for destroying customer packages and creating a hostile work environment.
Deputy Workers Compensation Commissioner James Elliott awarded Joseph Lause $8,000 in worker's compensation and medical expenses.
While Elliott said Lause's actions were "inappropriate and showed a lack of maturity," he said he didn't believe there "is sufficient evidence provided ... to show that the claimant intended to injure himself," which would have been needed to reject the claim.
The decision has been appealed to Elliott's boss.
It also has raised concern among Iowa employers, said John Gilliland of the Iowa Association of Business and Industry.
"It's an example of how favorable Iowa's system is for claimants. And that is certainly a factor in Iowa's overall business climate," Gilliland said.
Elliott declined to comment further on the case, other than to say: "I went where the law took me."
His ruling dismissed three precedents presented by UPS lawyer Patrick McNulty before citing another precedent that said: "To disqualify a claimant for a simple explosion of temper would reintroduce the concept of contributory negligence and employees fault when those concepts have no place in workers' compensation setting."
Elliott also noted that Lause had not been truthful about how he injured his hand.
"Overall, the claimant is not a credible witness," he said.
But Elliott also said speculation that Lause had tried to hurt himself didn't make sense.
"That does not appear to be consistent with the fact that (he) was working as a carpenter as his other job and was working on his own basement at the time of his injury," Elliott said in his ruling.
The damages were awarded by a state administrative law judge who acknowledged that the worker had not been truthful about how he broke his hand and was fired for destroying customer packages and creating a hostile work environment.
Deputy Workers Compensation Commissioner James Elliott awarded Joseph Lause $8,000 in worker's compensation and medical expenses.
While Elliott said Lause's actions were "inappropriate and showed a lack of maturity," he said he didn't believe there "is sufficient evidence provided ... to show that the claimant intended to injure himself," which would have been needed to reject the claim.
The decision has been appealed to Elliott's boss.
It also has raised concern among Iowa employers, said John Gilliland of the Iowa Association of Business and Industry.
"It's an example of how favorable Iowa's system is for claimants. And that is certainly a factor in Iowa's overall business climate," Gilliland said.
Elliott declined to comment further on the case, other than to say: "I went where the law took me."
His ruling dismissed three precedents presented by UPS lawyer Patrick McNulty before citing another precedent that said: "To disqualify a claimant for a simple explosion of temper would reintroduce the concept of contributory negligence and employees fault when those concepts have no place in workers' compensation setting."
Elliott also noted that Lause had not been truthful about how he injured his hand.
"Overall, the claimant is not a credible witness," he said.
But Elliott also said speculation that Lause had tried to hurt himself didn't make sense.
"That does not appear to be consistent with the fact that (he) was working as a carpenter as his other job and was working on his own basement at the time of his injury," Elliott said in his ruling.
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