IN THE SUPREME COURT, STATE OF WYOMING 2022 WY 166 OCTOBER TERM, A.D. 2022 December 30, 2022 FERNANDO RODRIGUEZ, Appellant (Petitioner), v. S-22-0131 STATE OF WYOMING, ex rel. DEPARTMENT OF WORKFORCE SERVICES, WORKERS’ COMPENSATION DIVISION, Appellee (Respondent). Appeal from the District Court of Carbon County The Honorable Tori R.A. Kricken, Judge Representing Appellant: Herbert K. Doby, Torrington, Wyoming. Representing Appellee: Bridget Hill, Wyoming Attorney General; Mark Klaassen, Deputy Attorney General; Peter Howard, Senior Assistant Attorney General; Holli J. Welch, Senior Assistant Attorney General. Before FOX, C.J., and KAUTZ, BOOMGAARDEN, GRAY, and FENN, JJ. NOTICE: This opinion is subject to formal revision before publication in Pacific Reporter Third. Readers are requested to notify the Clerk of the Supreme Court, Supreme Court Building, Cheyenne, Wyoming 82002, of any typographical or other formal errors so that correction may be made before final publication in the permanent volume. FOX, Chief Justice. [¶1] Fernando Rodriguez suffered a left wrist and right knee injury after falling from a truck in a 2007 work accident. After years of treatment, he claimed his pain persisted and spread throughout his body, leaving him unable to work. He applied for permanent total disability benefits under the odd-lot doctrine in 2019, which the Department of Workforce Services denied. After a contested case hearing, the Medical Commission upheld the denial, finding Mr. Rodriguez did not meet his burden to prove a degree of obvious physical impairment. The district court affirmed as do we. ISSUES [¶2] Mr. Rodriguez argues two issues on appeal which we rephrase: 1. Was there substantial evidence to support the Commission’s determination that Mr. Rodriguez failed to show his degree of obvious physical impairment, coupled with other facts, qualified him for odd-lot treatment? 2. Were the Commission’s credibility determinations arbitrary and capricious? FACTS [¶3] Mr. Rodriguez injured his left wrist, left shoulder, and right knee after falling out of a truck bed while employed at Gregory & Cook Construction in 2007. Mr. Rodriguez had two wrist surgeries, but was released to light-duty work within a few days of his first surgery, with lifting restrictions on his left wrist. Mr. Rodriguez did not return to work despite his employer’s accommodations and was terminated weeks later. [¶4] Mr. Rodriguez applied for temporary disability benefits and underwent two impairment ratings for his injuries, which assigned him a two- to three-percent impairment rating. He was awarded temporary partial disability and temporary total disability benefits between November 2007 and April 2008 for injuries to his left wrist, left shoulder, and right knee. The Medical Commission (Commission) determined his other complaints; injuries to his head, neck, face, back, and heart, were unrelated to his workplace injury and therefore not compensable. [¶5] In the following months and years, Mr. Rodriguez continued to report pain throughout his body. He has not worked since the accident and has not looked for work. He has consistently seen Dr. Harlan Ribnik, a pain specialist, for pain management. Despite extensive testing, no objective medical evidence of injury was found to support …
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