AI Generated Opinion Summaries

This summary was computer-generated without any editorial revision. It is not official, has not been checked for accuracy, and is NOT citable.

Facts

• A worker suffered a physical injury to the knee, which subsequently led to a secondary mental impairment. The dispute centers around the calculation of permanent partial disability (PPD) benefits for the worker, specifically the duration and percentage of benefits due to the secondary mental impairment resulting from the knee injury.

Procedural History

• Appeal from the Workers’ Compensation Administration, Terry S. Kramer, Workers’ Compensation Judge.

Parties' Submissions

• Worker-Appellee/Cross-Appellant: Argued that the decision to subtract sixty-six weeks from the worker's five hundred-week period of PPD benefits was incorrect, asserting that forty-four weeks were for temporary total disability (TTD) due to the physical injury and not for the secondary mental impairment, which should account for twenty-two weeks.
• Employer/Insurer-Appellants/Cross-Appellees: Contended that the award of 434 weeks of 27% PPD benefits for a secondary mental impairment was erroneous as a matter of law, given that the impairment resulted from a physical injury to the knee, which has a 150-week maximum period for payment of benefits.

Legal Issues

• Whether the award of 434 weeks of 27% PPD benefits for a secondary mental impairment resulting from a physical knee injury was erroneous under NMSA 1978, Section 52-1-42(A)(4) (1990).
• Whether the subtraction of sixty-six weeks from the worker's PPD benefits for TTD due to the physical injury was incorrect.

Disposition

• Affirmed the Workers’ Compensation Judge (WCJ) on the issue raised in the Employer’s appeal.
• Reversed and remanded on the Worker’s issue on cross-appeal for a recalculation of the Worker’s PPD benefits, indicating that the benefits should have been reduced by twenty-two rather than forty-four weeks.

Reasons

• Per Michael E. Vigil, J. (James J. Wechsler, J., and Linda M. Vanzi, J., concurring):
  The court agreed with the Employer that the award of 434 weeks of 27% PPD benefits for a secondary mental impairment was not erroneous under the law, affirming the WCJ's decision on this point. However, on the Worker’s cross-appeal, the court found that the WCJ erred in subtracting sixty-six weeks for TTD related to the physical injury, when only twenty-two weeks should have been deducted for the secondary mental impairment. The court thus reversed and remanded for a recalculation of the Worker’s PPD benefits, aligning with the Worker's argument that the deduction was improperly calculated.