In the Matter of the Worker's Compensation Claim of Lea V. Porter v. State of Wyoming, ex rel. Department of Workforce Services, Workers' Compensation Division

Summary

The Wyoming Supreme Court considered whether a claimant was barred from challenging a later denial of payment for an MRI because she had not timely objected to an earlier Division determination denying compensability. The Court held that an uncontested initial compensability determination by the Workers’ Compensation Division does not receive collateral-estoppel effect, and it reversed and remanded the matter.

Holdings

1. An uncontested Wyoming Workers' Compensation Division determination denying benefits does not have collateral-estoppel effect, even when the determination is based on a finding that the employee did not suffer a compensable injury. Porter's failure to object to the August 2014 determination therefore did not preclude her from objecting to the later MRI-benefit determination.
2. An appropriate diagnostic measure is not noncompensable merely because it fails to reveal an injury causally connected to an on-the-job injury. The compensability of Porter's MRI depends on whether the evidence establishes an objective indication of a physiologic connection between her injury and the diagnostic measure.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Porter's failure to timely object to the Division's August 2014 final determination denying compensability collaterally estopped her from challenging the Division's October 2014 determination denying payment for the MRI.
2. Whether the matter should be remanded for determination of whether the MRI was compensable diagnostic testing.

Disposition

reversed_and_remanded