Morin v. Essex Optical/The Hartford, 2005 VT 15

Summary

The Supreme Court of Vermont considered whether a permanently and totally disabled workers' compensation claimant was entitled to annual cost-of-living adjustments that caused her weekly benefit to exceed her average weekly wage at the time of injury. The court held that 21 V.S.A. § 650(d) required the adjustments and that neither 21 V.S.A. § 601(19) nor another provision authorized capping permanent disability compensation at the claimant's original average weekly wage.

Holdings

1. Section 601(19) does not cap permanent total disability compensation at the employee's average weekly wage because its relevant language applies only when the average weekly wage is lower than the minimum weekly compensation, a condition not present here.
2. Section 650(d) requires annual cost-of-living adjustments to permanent total disability benefits, and the statute does not authorize stopping those adjustments when the resulting benefit exceeds the employee's average weekly wage at the time of injury.
3. The Commissioner could not impose a cap on permanent total disability benefits based on an asserted longstanding departmental policy or legislative acquiescence where the statutory text contains no such cap.

Questions Presented

1. Whether 21 V.S.A. § 601(19) caps permanent total disability compensation at the employee's average weekly wage at the time of injury.
2. Whether 21 V.S.A. § 650(d) requires annual cost-of-living adjustments to permanent total disability benefits when the adjusted benefit exceeds the employee's average weekly wage at the time of injury.
3. Whether the Department of Labor and Industry could rely on an asserted longstanding administrative policy to impose a cap on permanent total disability benefits.

Disposition

reversed