S-17-1188 John J. Bower (Appellant) v. Eaton Corporation and Old Republic Insurance Company (Cross-Appellants)
Workers’ Compensation Court, Judge Tom Stine
Attorneys: Vikki S. Stamm (Stamm Romero & Associates, PC, LLO) for appellant; Kent M. Smith (Scheldrup Blades) for cross-appellants.
Civil: Claim for additional benefits
Proceedings Below: Court awarded some additional benefits, a wait-time penalty, and attorney’s fees. It denied various other benefits requested and determined it lacked jurisdiction over his contract and tort claims.
Issues: The Trial Court erred when it 1) determined that the Appellant was not entitled
to recover his out of pocked medical expenses pursuant to the exhibits offered at trial, 2) found that the Appellant was not entitled to a loss of earning capacity award as a result of his work-related injury, 3) found that the Appellant was not entitled to an award for future medical expenses for injections for the pain due to his work-related injury, 4) found that the Appellant was not entitled to a waiting time penalty from the date of the work-related injury and not from the date of payment of benefits in August 2016, 5) found that the Appellant was not entitled to reimbursement from the Appellee for using his vacation time and short-term disability as a result of the Appellee's denial of his claim, 6) found that it did not have jurisdiction to make a determination on the necessity to repay payments made by short-term and long-term disability to the Appellant, 7) found that it did not have jurisdiction to determine if the Appellant was entitled to an award for wrongful termination due to the actions of the Appellee, 8) found that the Appellant only suffered a 12% impairment rather than the 15% impairment submitted by the Appellant's expert.