39-71-744, MCA

MONTANA SUPREME COURT DECISIONS

Goble and Gerber v. Montana State Fund, 2014 MT 99 Making incarcerated claimants ineligible to receive workers compensation benefits satisfies the public policy behind the WCA found in § 39-71-105(1), -105(3), MCA, by removing benefits from claimants who are incapable of earning a wage and incapable of returning to work.  Such claimants are not losing wages as a result of their injuries but rather as a result of their criminal activity.

Goble and Gerber v. Montana State Fund, 2014 MT 99 The WCC correctly applied the provisions of § 39-71-744(1), MCA, deducting from the claimants’ PPD benefits one week of benefits for each week of incarceration, eventually drawing their benefits down to zero, provided they were incarcerated for more than thirty days.  Otherwise, the payment of benefits to incarcerated claimants would mean the public would bear the cost of their incarceration twice: first, through the payment of benefits; and second, through the cost of incarceration.
 
MONTANA WORKERS' COMPENSATION COURT DECISIONS

Gerber v. Montana State Fund [03/28/13] 2013 MTWCC 9 The declared legislative objectives of the WCA of providing wage-loss benefits that bear a relationship to actual wages lost and returning a worker to work as soon as possible after the worker has suffered a work-related injury or disease (§§ 39-71-105(1)&(2), MCA) are thwarted by Petitioner’s interpretation of § 39-71-744(1), MCA: that the legislature intended him to receive wage-loss benefits while incarcerated, incapable of earning a wage, and incapable of returning to work.

Goble v. Montana State Fund [03/28/13] 2013 MTWCC 8 The declared legislative objectives of the WCA of providing wage-loss benefits that bear a relationship to actual wages lost and returning a worker to work as soon as possible after the worker has suffered a work-related injury or disease (§§ 39-71-105(1)&(2), MCA) are thwarted by Petitioner’s interpretation of § 39-71-744(1), MCA: that the legislature intended him to receive wage-loss benefits while incarcerated, incapable of earning a wage, and incapable of returning to work.
McCuin v. Montana State Fund [12/21/06] 2006 MTWCC 41 Petitioner’s entitlement to benefits pursuant to § 39-71-703, MCA, accrued on July 2, 2003. However, Petitioner was not entitled to those benefits during the time of his incarceration pursuant to § 39-71-744, MCA.
McCuin v. Montana State Fund [12/21/06] 2006 MTWCC 41 The workers’ compensation system is designed so that the cost of an on-the-job injury is not borne by the injured worker, but by his employer and indirectly by the public via the increased cost of production. When a person is incarcerated, the public bears the cost of the incarceration. Were that person also to receive workers’ compensation benefits, the public would bear the cost of that person’s maintenance twice. A rational basis therefore exists for treating incarcerated individuals differently than the rest of the claimant population under this statute.