Denial of Impairment Award Passes Constitutional Muster

The Montana Workers’ Compensation Court rejected a constitutional challenge to the state’s system of awarding impairment awards to only a subset of workers who have industrial injuries that do not cause wage loss. Case: Hensley v. Montana State Fund, No. 2013-3235, 08/22/2019, published. Facts: Susan Hensley suffered a shoulder injury in 2012 while working as a paramedic. The Montana State Fund accepted liability, and Hensley returned to work in May 2013. Her doctor placed her at maximum medical improvement one month later, assigning a 4% whole person impairment rating...