Sanders v. Northwest Airlines, Inc.

OPINION STRINGER, Justice. Certiorari on the relation of Northwest Airlines and its workers’ compensation liability insurer, Kemper Risk Management Services/Kemper National Insurance Companies, to review that portion of a decision of the Workers’ Compensation Court of Appeals reversing a denial of temporary partial disability compensation. We reverse and reinstate the decision of the compensation judge. Deartice (Mason) Sanders sustained a compensable low back injury, in the nature of an acute lumbosacral strain, on October 26, 1990, while working as a flight attendant for Northwest Airlines. Except for a brief attempt to return to work in a light-duty position in the summer of 1991, the employee has not returned to work for the employer. The employer/insurer paid temporary total disability benefits through March 27, 1992; and from April 3 through September 25,1992, the employer/ insurer made periodic payments of economic recovery compensation pursuant to Minn.Stat. § 176.101, subd. 3t(b) (1994). The employee thereafter found employment at a number of jobs that paid significantly less than her preinjury wage. The compensation judge denied the employee’s claim for temporary partial disability benefits, concluding that the evidence was insufficient to establish that she had sustained a reduction in earning capacity as a result of her work-related injury. In arriving at her decision, the compensation judge considered all of the medical records, including evaluations made by medical experts who felt that the employee’s work injury of October 1990 had since been resolved and that any disability for which compensation was sought was unrelated to the work injury. Having thoroughly reviewed the entire record in this matter, we can only conclude that the compensation judge’s factual determination had the requisite evidentia-ry support. See Hengemuhle v. Long Prairie Jaycees, 358 N.W.2d 54, 59-60 (Minn. 1984). While certainly there are instances in which the reversal of a compensation judge’s *359 factual determination is warranted, we do not see this as one of them. We, therefore, reverse that portion of the decision of the Workers’ Compensation Court of Appeals ordering payment of temporary partial disability benefits and reinstate the decision of the compensation judge. Reversed and reinstated.