Lori A. Gregory v. Second Injury Fund of Iowa

Summary

The Iowa Supreme Court reverses the district court’s judgment affirming the workers’ compensation commissioner’s denial of Lori Gregory’s claim against the Second Injury Fund of Iowa. The court holds that Gregory’s permanent partial loss of her left hand qualified as a first injury under Iowa Code section 85.64, even though the same underlying injury also caused impairment to her shoulders and was compensated as an unscheduled body-as-a-whole injury. The case is remanded for determination of the Fund’s liability based on the combined effect of the qualifying hand and foot injuries.

Holdings

1. A permanent partial loss or loss of use of an enumerated member may qualify as a first injury under Iowa Code section 85.64 even when the same incident also causes disability to one or more other enumerated or unenumerated body parts.
2. The method used to calculate compensation for the first injury, including compensation as an unscheduled injury to the body as a whole under Iowa Code section 85.34(2)(u), does not control whether an enumerated-member loss qualifies as a first injury under section 85.64.
3. On remand, the commissioner must calculate the Fund's liability based only on the combined effect of Gregory's qualifying left-hand injury from 2000 and qualifying right-foot injury from 2002, considering the disability to other body parts from the 2000 injury only to the extent necessary to avoid compensating Gregory twice.

Questions Presented

1. Whether a permanent partial loss or loss of use of an enumerated member under Iowa Code section 85.64 may qualify as a first injury even when the same injury also causes impairment to other enumerated or unenumerated body parts.
2. Whether the fact that compensation for the first injury was calculated as an unscheduled body-as-a-whole injury under Iowa Code section 85.34(2)(u) prevents the injury from qualifying as a first injury under section 85.64.
3. What limitations apply to calculating the Second Injury Fund's liability so that Gregory does not receive a double recovery.

Disposition

reversed_and_remanded