West v. Lehigh Metals
West v. Lehigh Metals
Opinion of the Court
ORDER
This case came before the Supreme Court for oral argument on November 4,1997, pursuant to an order that directed the parties to show cause why the issues raised in this petition for certiorari by Leon West (petitioner or West) should not be summarily decided. After hearing the arguments of counsel for the parties and after consideration of their memoranda, we conclude that cause has not been shown, and the case will be decided at this time.
On August 21, 1995, petitioner sustained work-related injuries while employed at Le-high Industries (Lehigh). Although he did not return to work for Lehigh, West returned to gainful employment on January 7, 1996. Pursuant to G.L.1956 § 28-33-18, West sought payment of varying and partial indemnity benefits for the period of January 7, 1996 to January 19, 1996. In denying
It is well settled that our review of a decree of the Appellate Division is limited to determining whether that tribunal erred in deciding questions of law. Wehr v. Truex, 700 A.2d 1085 (R.I. 1997). If the decree has been decided on a legally competent basis, it is binding upon this Court. Id.
The case before us is controlled by our recent holding in Wehr v. Truex, in which we addressed the same issue. Id. In Wehr, we determined that statutory language specifically excluding overtime pay from the calculation of pre-injury wages rendered significant the Legislature’s failure to exclude overtime from the calculation of post-injury earnings. Id. We affirmed the Appellate Division’s interpretation of the statute as excluding overtime pay from the calculation of pre-injury wages but including it in calculating post-injury wages, thereby propounding the rule that applies to this ease.
Therefore, we deny the petition for certio-rari, quash the writ previously issued, and affirm the final decree of the Appellate Division to which we remand the papers in this case.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Leon West v. Lehigh Metals.
- Status
- Published