2006-004. Peak Oilfield Service Co. and Liberty Mutual Fire Ins. Co. Appellants vs. James L. Lindgren Appellee.

• Case Date: February 23, 2006
• Court: Alaska

Alaska Workers Compensation Decisions 2006. Workers' Compensation Appeals Commission 2006-004. Peak Oilfield Service Co. and Liberty Mutual Fire Ins. Co. Appellants vs. James L. Lindgren Appellee Alaska Workers' Compensation Appeals Commission Peak Oilfield Service Co. and Liberty Mutual Fire Ins. Co., Appellants, vs. James L. Lindgren, Appellee.Decision No. 004 February 23, 2006AWCAC Appeal No. 06-004 AWCB Decision No. 05-0321 AWCB Case No. 200220655Memorandum Decision and Order on Motion to Stay Memorandum Decision and Order on Motion to Stay Alaska Workers' Compensation Board Decision and Order No. 05-0321, December 9, 2005 and Alaska Workers' Compensation Board Decision and Order on Reconsideration No. 06-0007, January 9, 2006, by the Southcentral Panel at Anchorage, Darryl Jacquot, Chairman, and Patricia Vollendorf, Board Member for Labor. Appearances: Matthew Teaford, Delisio, Moran, Geraghty and Zobel, for the appellants Peak Oilfield Service Co. and Liberty Mutual Fire Ins. Co.; Michael Jensen, Jensen Law Office, for the appellee James L. Lindgren. This decision has been edited to conform to techinical standards for publication.Commissioners: Philip Ulmer, John Giuchici,and Kristin Knudsen. By: Kristin Knudsen, Chair. The commission heard argument on the motion for stay by the appellants in this case on January 30, 2006. The appellants were represented by Matthew Teaford of Delisio, Moran, Geraghty and Zobel; the appellee was represented by Michael Jensen of the Jensen Law Office. At the commission's request, the parties supplied copies of the missing pages of Dr. Paton's deposition. The commission stays the payment of certain lump sums of compensation and interest but denies the motion to stay on-going periodic payment of compensation and medical benefits. Introduction. James Lindgren was an insulator for Peak Oilfield Service Co., located on the Kenai Peninsula. Lindgren filed a notice of injury for a lower back injury while tossing bags of insulation into a dumpster on September 9, 2002. Lindgren's employer initially disputed the injury, but began payment after he filed a claim for compensation in December 2002. Peak Oilfield's insurer paid temporary disability compensation until March 14, 2003. A hearing before the board resulted in an award of temporary disability compensation from March 14, 2003 and continuing indefinitely into the future, medical benefits, statutory interest, and attorney fees of $28, 302. Appellant's argument for a stay. The appellant argues in the motion for stay that the board improperly awarded temporary total disability compensation beyond a date of medical stability of no later than September 9, 2004. AS 23.30.185 is, appellant argues, a self-executing prohibition on payment of temporary disability compensation during a time that the employee is not medically stable, which the board ignored in its award of compensation after September 9, 2004. Appellant argued that the appellant, once it pays compensation and medical benefits ordered paid by the board panel, will be unable to recover them from the appellee if the appeal is decided in the appellant's favor. The Supreme Court, in Croft v. Pan...