Mecene Laguerre
v.
JBS USA Holdings, Inc. and American Zurich Insurance Company
Appellant
Mecene Laguerre
Appellee
JBS USA Holdings, Inc. and American Zurich Insurance Company
Attorney for the Appellant
Andrew W. Bribriesco (argued) and Gabriela Navarro
Attorney for the Appellee
Andrew J. Workman (argued) Patrick V. Waldron
Court of Appeals
Court of Appeals Opinion
Opinion Number:
Date Published:
Summary
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Paul D. Scott, Judge. AFFIRMED. Heard at oral argument by Chicchelly, P.J., and Buller and Langholz, JJ. Opinion by Langholz, J. (21 pages)
Mecene Laguerre appeals the district court’s ruling on judicial review affirming the workers’ compensation commissioner’s decision that his skin injury, which was limited to his right arm and leg, was a scheduled injury under paragraph “t” of Iowa Code section 85.34(2) rather than an unscheduled injury under paragraph “v.” He argues that the court incorrectly interpreted section 85.34(2) because any non-face-or-head skin injury is always unscheduled as a matter of law. OPINION HOLDS: We agree with the district court that the commissioner did not err. None of Laguerre’s arguments overcomes the longstanding judicial and agency precedent—recently reaffirmed by our supreme court—that injuries like these to the skin must be evaluated case-by-case to determine whether the injury is localized to a scheduled body part or extends to the whole body. We thus affirm.
