Fremont Indemnity Co. v. Industrial Commission

OPINION

GREER, Judge.

The employer and carrier (petitioners) in this workmen’s compensation case request review of the decision of the hearing judge awarding the claimant unscheduled permanent partial disability benefits. The central issue on review is whether the hearing officer erred in giving res judicata effect *351to an out-of-state disability award for a prior injury, and finding it conclusive proof of a pre-existing impairment, for the purpose of unscheduling the claimant’s current scheduled injury. We hold that the judge did err, and therefore we set aside the award.

The claimant sustained a…