EMPLOYMENT LAW
Sasha Kahn
In Murphy v. Fairbanks North Star Borough, 494 P.3d 556 (Alaska 2021), the supreme court held that, based on legislative history and intent, the two-year statute of limitations on disability claims under the Alaska workers’ compensation statute applies to impairment claims as well. (Id. at 566–69). A mechanic working for the Fairbanks North Star Borough injured his back in the course of his employment and received several surgeries in 2000. (Id. at 558–59). A doctor’s assessment first found him eligible for temporary total disability compensation and then, when he was deemed medically stable, permanent partial impairment benefits. (Id. at 559). The following year, in 2001, a different doctor found that the injured worker had improved and suggested there was now a different level of impairment. (Id.). The Borough then filed an updated compensation report and had the injured worker’s benefits altered, which he did not challenge. (Id. at 560). In 2016, after the Borough controverted any care that exceeded the statutory frequency standards, the injured worker retained counsel and sued claiming his benefits had been incorrectly paid. (Id.). The Alaska Workers’ Compensation Board, and on appeal, the Alaska Workers’ Compensation Appeals Commission, agreed with the Borough that the two-year statute of limitations for claims for “compensation for disability” applies to impairments and therefore barred the suit. (Id. at 561–62). The supreme court evaluated the statute and, while noting that, if read plainly, the sentence discussing the statute of limitations only appears to apply to “disability,” its relationship to the following sentence makes it ambiguous. (Id. at 563–66). The court then affirmed the Commission’s decision, reasoning that based on legislative history and intent, the two-year statute of limitations on disability claims under the Alaska workers’ compensation statute applies to impairment claims as well. (Id. at 566–69).
