Dintaman v. Board of County Commissioners

Powers, J., delivered the opinion of the Court. Ronald W. Dintaman, employed as a firefighter by Prince George’s County, Maryland, filed, on 8 November 1971, a claim with the Workmen’s Compensation Commission of Maryland asking compensation for an injury which he alleged he sustained in the course of his employment on 29 January 1969. The Commission first held a separate hearing on the issue of whether the claim was barred by the provisions of Code, Art. 101, § 39 (a), which provides, “* * * that failure of an employee to file a claim for compensation within two years from the date of the accident shall constitute a complete bar to any claim under this article.” At the hearing, Dintaman’s position was that he did not realize at the time of the accident that he had been injured, that his injury was latent, and that he did not become aware of it until September of 1971, when he became disabled, some two years and eight months after the injury to which he attributed his disability. The Commission filed an order on 20 April 1972 disallowing the claim.

An Order for Appeal and an Appeal Petition were filed in the Circuit Court for Prince George’s County alleging that the limitations did not begin to run until the employee knew, or should have ³⁴⁷ known, of the injury, and that the Commission misconstrued the law and the facts applicable to the case. The self-insured employer filed a Motion for Summary Judgment, to which Dintaman filed opposition. The motion was argued before Judge Bowie on 29 June 1972 and summary judgment in favor of the self-insured employer was granted. Judgment nisi was entered on that date and final judgment was entered on 6 July 1972.

On 21 July 1972 Dintaman filed a Motion for Rehearing, in which he asserted that the court had improperly interpreted the law as it applied to the facts of this case, and if such interpretation of the statute were proper, then the statute barring his claim was an unconstitutional denial of his right to due process and equal protection of the laws. The employer and self-insurer filed an answer merely denying the contentions of the petition. By a written memorandum and order filed on 2 August 1972, Judge Bowie said, “The Court now has studied the Motion for Rehearing and the Answer thereto, and feels the matters set forth therein do not justify a rehearing.” The motion was denied without a hearing. Dintaman appealed to this Court from the judgment of the Circuit Court and from the denial of his Motion for Rehearing.

Appellant cites cases decided prior to a 1957 amendment to the statute, which held under the law as it then existed that the period of limitations did not begin to run until there was disability which was apparent to the claimant. Among these are Griffin v. Rustless Iron & Steel Co., 187 Md. 524 , where the Court of Appeals said, at page 540: “There are some jurisdictions in which the limitations statute begins to run after the ‘accident’ as compared with ‘injury’ or ‘disability’ in others. ³⁴⁸ We think, however, that the wording of the Maryland statute indicates that the period of limitation begins to run from the time when disability becomes, or should become, reasonably apparent.” and Cumberland Sales v. Hilliker, 210 Md. 70 , in which the Court of Appeals said, at page 74: “ ‘Disability’, within the meaning of the statute, is not synonymous with ‘accident’, but usually the right to compensation arises when the accident occurs, even though the full extent of the disability is not then apparent and the disability is not so pronounced as to incapacitate the injured person from performing his usual work. If the injury is not latent or trivial, limitations begins to run when the injury occurs.” See also Grade v. Koppers Co., 213 Md. 109 . By acts of 1957, Chapter 814, the Legislature amended the applicable section of the statute to provide that the period of time which would constitute a complete bar to the claim began to run “from the date of the accident” rather than “after the beginning of his disability”.

An explanation of the reason for the 1957 amendment, and its effect, is found in Workmen’s Compensation in Maryland,