Lisa C. Daniel v. Jay Enterprises, Inc.

Summary

The Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia affirmed the denial of Lisa C. Daniel’s request for an additional permanent partial disability award arising from a compensable lumbar sprain. The court held that the Board of Review correctly applied the impairment methodology under West Virginia Code § 23-4-9b and West Virginia Code of State Rules § 85-20-Table C, including deduction of the claimant’s preexisting impairment. The court concluded that the Board’s decision was supported by the evidence and contained no clear legal or constitutional error.

Holdings

1. For a compensable injury involving a noncompensable preexisting definitely ascertainable impairment, the impairment attributable to the preexisting condition must be deducted from the final whole-person impairment rating determined under West Virginia Code of State Rules § 85-20.
2. The Board of Review’s decision denying an additional permanent partial disability award was not clearly erroneous, legally infirm, or unsupported by the evidentiary record.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the Board of Review properly affirmed the denial of an additional permanent partial disability award.
2. Whether the impairment methodology required deduction of impairment attributable to a noncompensable preexisting condition from the final whole-person impairment rating determined under West Virginia Code of State Rules § 85-20.

Disposition

affirmed