Fluor Alaska, Inc. v. Mendoza

OPINION

Before RABINOWITZ, C. J., CONNOR, BURKE and MATTHEWS, JJ., and DIMOND, Senior Justice. RABINOWITZ, Chief Justice.

In this appeal, we are confronted with an issue of first impression in post-statehood Alaska, namely, the proper interpretation of AS 23.30.095(d). That statute, part of the Alaska Workers’ Compensation Act, provides:

If at any time during the period [of disability] the employee unreasonably refuses to submit to medical or surgical treatment, the [Alaska Workers’ Compensation] [B]oard may by order suspend the payment of further compensation while the refusal continues, and no…