Donna Olson, for the Estate of Gordon E. Olson, Deceased v. Kenneth S. Apfel, Commissioner of Social Security

LOKEN, Circuit Judge.

Gordon Olson injured his back working as a school custodian. He received North Dakota worker’s compensation benefits, including a lump-sum permanent partial impairment award for loss of bodily function under N.D.Cent.Code §§ 65-05-12 to -14 (Supp. 1998). The Commissioner of Social Security determined that Olson was eligible for social security disability benefits but reduced those benefits under the federal statute that offsets social security and worker’s compensation disability benefits. See 42 U.S.C. § 424a. Olson’s widow sued, challenging the Commissioner’s decision…