State Industrial Insurance System v. Surman

OPINION

Respondent Eddie Surman injured his shoulder in a compensa-ble industrial injury on May 15, 1981. Subsequently, Surman was rated for permanent partial disability (PPD) and found to have a sixteen percent impairment. His entitlement to the PPD compensation accrued in February, 1985.

At the time Surman was injured, NRS 616.605(4)(b)(2)(II) (1979) provided that a claimant may elect to receive twenty-five percent of his compensation in a lump sum if his PPD impairment exceeded twelve percent. In 1983, the legislature changed the lump sum payment provisions to provide that claimants injured…