St. Cyr v. Workers' Compensation Board Appeals Commission (Alta.), 2012 ABCA 358

• Judge: Paperny, O'Brien and McDonald, JJ.A.
• Court: Court of Appeal (Alberta)
• Case Date: October 02, 2012
• Citations: 2012 ABCA 358;(2012), 539 A.R. 190

St. Cyr v. WCBAC (2012), 539 A.R. 190; 561 W.A.C. 190 (CA)

MLB headnote and full text

Temp. Cite: [2012] A.R. TBEd. NO.126

Andre St. Cyr (appellant/applicant) v. The Workers' Compensation Board and Appeals Commission for Alberta Workers' Compensation (respondents/respondents)

(1103-0229-AC; 2012 ABCA 358)

Indexed As: St. Cyr v. Workers' Compensation Board Appeals Commission (Alta.)

Alberta Court of Appeal

Paperny, O'Brien and McDonald, JJ.A.

November 28, 2012.

Summary:

St. Cyr was injured in a workplace accident in 2002. In 2006, the Workers' Compensation Board (WCB) Appeals Commission determined that the accident caused or contributed to St. Cyr's continuing symptoms such that he was unable to return to his date of accident employment and that he was unable to work at all. All remaining entitlement issues were remitted to the WCB. In 2010, a new Appeals Commission decision found, inter alia, that St. Cyr was capable of modified employment from 2002 to 2006, was not entitled to full wage replacement after March 2007 and that the position of front desk clerk in Ft. McMurray was suitable for estimating his post-accident earning capacity and calculating his wage loss benefit after March 2007. St. Cyr appealed and applied for judicial review.

The Alberta Court of Queen's Bench, in a decision reported at (2011), 521 A.R. 323, dismissed the appeal and the application for judicial review. St. Cyr appealed.

The Alberta Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal.

Estoppel - Topic 386

Estoppel by record (res judicata) - Res judicata as a bar to subsequent proceedings - Issues decided in prior proceedings - St. Cyr was injured in a workplace accident in 2002 - In 2006, the Workers' Compensation Board (WCB) Appeals Commission determined that the accident caused or contributed to St. Cyr's continuing symptoms such that he was unable to return to his date of accident employment and that he was unable to work at all - All remaining entitlement issues were remitted to the WCB - In 2010, a new Appeals Commission decision found, inter alia, that St. Cyr was capable of modified employment from 2002 to 2006, was not entitled to full wage replacement after March 2007 and that the position of front desk clerk in Ft. McMurray was suitable for estimating his post-accident earning capacity and calculating his wage loss benefit after March 2007 - On appeal, St. Cyr asserted that the 2010 panel was bound by the finding made in the 2006 decision that he was unable to continue to work at all - A chambers judge rejected the argument, finding that the 2010 panel determined whether St. Cyr was entitled to full wage replacement benefits for a temporary total disability and whether the position of front desk clerk was suitable employment - It did not determine causation - The issues were different - Accordingly, neither res judicata nor issue estoppel applied - The Alberta Court of Appeal agreed - The 2006 and 2010 decisions did not deal with the same question - The former dealt with causation, while the latter determined entitlement to benefits - See paragraphs 54 to 63.

Estoppel - Topic 388

Estoppel by record (res judicata) - Res judicata as a bar to subsequent proceedings - Decisions of administrative tribunals - [See Estoppel - Topic 386 ].

Workers' Compensation - Topic 5609

Compensation - Compensable injuries and disabilities - Temporary total disability - St. Cyr was injured in a workplace accident in 2002 - In 2006, the Workers' Compensation Board (WCB) Appeals Commission determined that the accident caused or contributed to St. Cyr's continuing symptoms such that he was unable to return to his date of accident employment and that he was unable to work at all - All remaining entitlement issues were remitted to the WCB - In 2010, a new Appeals Commission decision found, inter alia, that St. Cyr was capable of modified employment from 2002 to 2006, was not entitled to full wage replacement after March 2007 and that the position of front desk clerk in Ft. McMurray was suitable for estimating his post-accident earning capacity and calculating his wage loss benefit after March 2007 - On appeal, St. Cyr asserted, inter alia, that he should have been paid temporary total disability (TTD) benefits from the date that he was laid off work (2002) until suitable employment was found, that the Appeals Commission had erred in concluding that Ft. McMurray was an appropriate location to determine suitable employment and that suitable employment had to be in the location where he was living, not where he was working at the time of the injury - A chambers judge dismissed the appeal, finding, inter alia, that St. Cyr's assertion that he was entitled to TTD until suitable employment was identified was not supported by the Workers' Compensation Act (Alta.) nor the WCB policies that St. Cyr relied on - It was reasonable to pay benefits equivalent to part-time employment at minimum wage until suitable employment was identified - The Appeals Commission's decision not to award TTD was reasonable - Further, the selection of suitable employment was not a direction to the worker to seek that position, but was the basis chosen for calculating the worker's earning loss - The identified employment did not have to be in the same locale as the worker - The Alberta Court of Appeal dismissed St. Cyr's further appeal, agreeing with the chambers judge that the Appeals Commission had reasonably interpreted the Act and the WCB policies - See paragraphs 28 to 45.

Workers' Compensation - Topic 5609

Compensation - Compensable injuries and disabilities - Temporary total disability - St. Cyr was injured in a workplace accident in 2002 - In 2006, the Workers' Compensation Board (WCB) Appeals Commission determined that the accident caused or contributed to St. Cyr's continuing symptoms such that he was unable to return to his date of accident employment and that he was unable to work at all - All remaining entitlement issues were remitted to the WCB - In 2010, a new Appeals Commission decision found, inter alia, that St. Cyr was capable of modified employment from 2002 to 2006, was not entitled to full wage replacement after March 2007 and that the position of front desk clerk in Ft. McMurray was suitable for estimating his post-accident earning capacity and calculating his wage loss benefit after March 2007 - On appeal, St. Cyr asserted, inter alia, that he should have been paid temporary total disability benefits from the date that he was laid off work (2002) until suitable employment was found - A chambers judge dismissed the appeal, finding, inter alia, that the medical evidence showed that St. Cyr was able to return to a suitable job with some work restrictions - The Alberta Court of Appeal dismissed St. Cyr's further appeal - The Appeals Commission carefully reviewed and weighed the medical information in coming to its conclusions, which were reasonable - The court agreed with the chambers judge that the Appeals Commission's decision was not subject to re-evaluation by the court - See paragraph 46 to 53.

Workers' Compensation - Topic 5623

Compensation - Measure of - Method of calculation - [See first Workers' Compensation - Topic 5609 ].

Cases Noticed:

Dr. Q., Re, [2003] 1 S.C.R. 226; 302 N.R. 34; 179 B.C.A.C. 170; 295 W.A.C. 170; 2003 SCC 19, refd to. [para. 19].

Alberta (Minister of Municipal Affairs) v. Municipal Government Board (Alta.) et al. (2002), 312 A.R. 40; 281 W.A.C. 40; 2002 ABCA 199, refd to. [para. 20].

Watson v. Workers' Compensation Board (Alta.) et al. (2011), 502 A.R. 207; 517 W.A.C. 207; 2011 ABCA 127, refd to. [para. 21].

Workers' Compensation Board (Alta.) v. Workers' Compensation Board Appeals Commission (Alta.) et al. (2005), 371 A.R. 62; 354 W.A.C. 62; 2005 ABCA 235, refd to. [para. 21].

Gahir v. Workers' Compensation Board Appeals Commission (Alta.) et al. (2009), 448 A.R. 135; 447 W.A.C. 135; 1 Alta. L.R.(5th) 290; 2009 ABCA 59, refd to. [para. 22].

Tartaglia v. Workers' Compensation Board Appeals Commission (Alta.) (2012), 533 A.R. 138; 557 W.A.C. 138; 2012 ABCA 186, refd to. [para. 27].

Counsel:

K.W. Penonzek, for the appellant;

C.B.R. Craig, for the respondent, Workers' Compensation Board;

S.R. Hermiston, for the respondent, Appeals Commission.

This appeal was heard on October 2, 2012, by Paperny, O'Brien and McDonald, JJ.A., of the Alberta Court of Appeal. On November 28, 2012, the court filed the following memorandum of judgment.