Boelter v. City of Ham Lake
Docket: No. C6-91-1486
Court: Supreme Court of Minnesota; February 27, 1992; Minnesota; State Supreme Court
Certiorari was granted to review a decision from the Workers’ Compensation Court of Appeals regarding the weekly wage determination for volunteer firefighter Gregory Boelter. Boelter, who was a journeyman carpenter foreman and a volunteer firefighter, injured his back while on duty, rendering him unable to perform both roles. Although he returned to work as a construction estimator, his new position paid less than half of his previous wage as a foreman. Initially, benefits were calculated based on his pre-injury wage at the construction company, but the City of Ham Lake later sought to apply an “imputed wage” for a firefighter in Anoka, which was significantly lower. A compensation judge ruled that the appropriate pre-injury wage for calculating temporary benefits should be the average weekly wage from Boelter's regular employment at the construction company. This decision was upheld by the Workers’ Compensation Court of Appeals. The city argued that the precedent set in Johnson v. City of Plainview required the use of the imputed wage per Minn.Stat. 176.011, subd. 3. However, the Johnson case involved an imputed wage that exceeded the regular wage, and the court emphasized that fairness should allow a volunteer firefighter the choice between actual wages and imputed wages for wage basis computations. The court affirmed the lower decision and awarded Boelter $400 in attorney fees.