Idaho Supreme Court: ‘Odd lot’ worker disabled, but special fund not liable

The Idaho Supreme Court ruled that the last in a series of injuries to a longtime meat cutter was permanently and totally disabling and that the Industrial Special Indemnity Fund was not liable for any benefits.

Douglas Westman was a meat cutter with more than 30 years of experience who suffered a series of injuries that prompted surgeries and amputations from 1999 to 2015, as documented in Westman v. Industrial Special Indemnity Fund. In 2021 Mr. Westman filed a claim against the Industrial Special Indemnity Fund.

The fund was established to encourage the employment of those with preexisting impairments by shielding employers from liability for the full extent of a total and permanent disability.

The Industrial Commission assigned the matter to a referee, who determined that Mr. Westman was totally and permanently disabled as an odd-lot worker.

An odd-lot worker is one who as a result of an injury is impaired to an extent that his ability to perform services is so limited in quality, quantity or dependability that no reasonable market for his services exists.

Though the referee noted that Mr. Westman had multiple impairments that were manifest before a 2015 meat grinder accident, only Westman’s 2012 left wrist injury was a subjective hindrance, because injuries suffered before then had not prevented him from working full-time in heavy-duty jobs.

The referee further found that the meat grinder accident alone rendered Mr. Westman totally and permanently disabled because his left wrist injury did not contribute to or combine with the new injuries to cause his disability. Thus the referee concluded that the ISIF was not liable for any compensation to Mr. Westman.

The Industrial Commission adopted the referee’s findings. The Idaho Supreme Court, in affirming, said substantial and competent evidence supports the finding that ISIF is not liable for any portion of Mr. Westman’s total and permanent disability.

“When a claimant has a preexisting permanent physical impairment and sustains a subsequent compensable injury or occupational disease, and the combined effects of the preexisting impairment and the subsequent injury render the claimant totally and permanently disabled, the claimant may apportion total and permanent disability benefits between the claimant’s employer and ISIF,” the court said in its ruling Wednesday.

The court noted that the commission determined that a preexisting left wrist injury did not contribute to or combine with the 2015 injuries to render him totally and permanently disabled.

Both parties presented vocational expert testimony, and both experts agreed that Mr. Westman was no longer employable, the court said. Mr. Westman’s expert opined that the preexisting impairments, although not previously disclosed to him, were “subjective hindrances” that contributed to Mr. Westman’s inability to work after the 2015 accident, while ISIF’s expert concluded that the preexisting conditions had no material impact on his employability before 2015.

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