Birrer v. Principal Financial Group

Claimant petitions for review of an order of the Workers’ Compensation Board that upheld both employer’s denial of the continued compensability of injuries to her right and left wrists and its contemporaneous closure of the claim without an award of permanent disability. She argues that the Board improperly allowed employer to raise a ground for the denials that it did not mention in the denial letter and that it should have required a medical arbiter’s report before deciding the extent of her left wrist disability. We reverse and remand.

The issues in this case are primarily procedural. We…