W.C. No. 4-484-746.Industrial Claim Appeals Office.
October 10, 2003.
ORDER
This matter has been remanded by the Court of Appeals in an order dated August 21, 2003. A mandate was issued on October 7, 2003.
The claimant suffered an admitted occupational disease which affected his upper extremities. A Division-sponsored independent medical examination (DIME) physician assigned a 13 percent impairment to the right upper extremity, and 5 percent impairment to the left upper extremity, which converts to 11 percent whole person impairment. The DIME physician also assigned 1 percent psychological impairment.
Administrative Law Judge Stuber (ALJ) determined the claimant’s functional impairment for the upper extremity injuries was fully compensated by a scheduled disability award. The ALJ further determined the parties did not litigate the question of whether the claimant was entitled to 12 weeks of mental impairment benefits under § 8-42-301(2), C.R.S. 2002. Therefore, the ALJ did not award any mental impairment benefits.
On review, we upheld the ALJ’s award of scheduled disability benefits for the claimant’s upper extremity injuries. We also concluded the claimant waived his right to benefits under §8-41-301(2), for mental impairment.
The court concluded that we erroneously determined the claimant waived his right to permanent partial disability benefits based on the DIME physician’s mental impairment rating. Therefore, the court set aside that portion of our order and remanded the matter for further proceedings on the claim for mental impairment benefits.
IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that the matter is remanded to the ALJ for further proceedings concerning the claimant’s entitlement to mental impairment benefits consistent with the court’s order.
INDUSTRIAL CLAIM APPEALS PANEL
______________________________ Kathy E. Dean
______________________________ Robert M. Socolofsky
Copies of this decision were mailed October 10, 2003 to the following parties:
Romolo Chavez, 80 Esther Dr., Security, CO 80911
Atmel Corporation, 1150 E. Cheyenne Mountain Blvd., Colorado Springs, CO 80906
Miki Lawler, Matrix Absence Management, 4300 San Mateo Blvd., NE, #A-120, Albuquerque, NM 87110
William A. Alexander, Jr., Esq., 3608 Galley Rd., Colorado Springs, CO 80909-4349 (For Claimant)
Gregory B. Cairns, Esq., 1125 17th St., #600, Denver, CO 80202 (For Respondent)
BY: A. Hurtado