Weyerhaeuser Co. v. Bergstrom

Employer petitions for judicial review of an order of the Workers’ Compensation Board which affirmed the referee’s order awarding claimant interim compensation and assessing a 5 percent penalty against employer for an untimely denial. We reverse.

Claimant had retired on March 31, 1983, after 23 years of work for employer. Claimant alleged that he was forced to retire and filed a grievance. Employer offered claimant his job back in May, 1983. Claimant refused the offer. Meanwhile, in April, 1983, claimant’s attorney wrote a letter to employer making a claim for an occupational disease. Employer…