June 27, 2022
Iowa Supreme Court defines ‘shoulder’ in rotator cuff work comp injury case
On April 1, 2022, the Iowa Supreme Court affirmed a district court’s finding in Chavez v. MS Technology LLC/Westfield Insurance Co. that an employee’s injury was a scheduled member injury to her shoulder rather than an unscheduled whole-body injury, agreeing that the definition of “shoulder” should not just be limited to the joint.
In 2018, Rosa Chavez filed a workers’ compensation claim seeking permanent partial disability benefits after she claimed to have suffered a shoulder injury while wringing out a mop at work for MS Technology.
An independent medical examination found that Chavez sustained an acute injury to her right shoulder that included the rotator cuff, tendons and cartilage around the shoulder joint and the attached muscles. Court records indicate Chavez underwent corrective surgery to repair the damage. The independent medical examination also found that the employee was at maximum medical improvement at the time of examination, and she had a 10% upper extremity impairment, which was equal to a 6% impairment of the whole body. Permanent partial disability benefits are generally higher for unscheduled whole-body injuries.
Chavez’s attorney argued that her injury should be classified as whole-body since her symptoms and impairment extend beyond the shoulder joint, and she should be awarded permanent partial disability benefits based on an unscheduled whole-body injury.
Under Iowa workers’ compensation law, the classification of a claimant’s injury as either scheduled or unscheduled determines the extent of the claimant’s entitlement to permanent partial disability benefits.
After several appeals, the case was brought before the Iowa Supreme Court, which upheld the district court’s finding that the employee’s impairment was only to the upper extremity, awarding Chavez permanent partial disability compensation benefits for a scheduled member injury.
This case further interpreted what constitutes a “shoulder” in light of the 2017 amendments to Iowa Code 85.34, sub. 2, that identify the “shoulder” as a scheduled member when classified for workers’ compensation benefits.
You can read the full court decision here .
