STATE OF WISCONSIN
LABOR AND INDUSTRY REVIEW COMMISSION
P O BOX 8126, MADISON, WI 53708-8126 (608/266-9850)

JUDITH GEOGHEGAN, Applicant

NORTHWEST AIRLINES, Employer

LIBERTY INSURANCE CORP, Insurer

WORKER'S COMPENSATION DECISION
Claim No. 2005-010509

An administrative law judge (ALJ) for the Worker's Compensation Division of the Department of Workforce Development issued a decision in this matter. A timely petition for review was filed.

The commission has considered the petition and the positions of the parties, and it has reviewed the evidence submitted to the ALJ. Based on its review, the commission agrees with the decision of the ALJ, and it adopts the findings and order in that decision as its own.

ORDER

The findings and order of the administrative law judge are affirmed.

Dated and mailed March 28, 2006
geoghju . wsd : 175 : 8   ND § 3.5

/s/ James T. Flynn, Chairman

/s/ David B. Falstad, Commissioner

/s/ Robert Glaser, Commissioner


MEMORANDUM OPINION

The applicant asserts in her petition for commission review the administrative law judge erred in dismissing her application for hearing with prejudice because the department does not have jurisdiction over her claimed injury. The applicant contended at the hearing that she suffered a work-related injury while working as a flight attendant for the employer on an overseas flight to Europe on September 10, 2004. Under Wis. Stat. § 102.03(5)(b), if an employee while working outside the territorial limits of the state suffers an injury, shall be entitled to benefits provided under the act, if at the time of the injury she was working under a contract made in the state in employment not principally localized in any state. The evidence indicates the applicant was hired in Minnesota in 1972 and not in Wisconsin. The applicant could not recall any new hires since 1972, and she had never been discharged by the employer, and was never hired in Wisconsin.

From 1972 until 1991, the applicant flew out of Minneapolis, Minnesota and thereafter her flights began and ended in Detroit, Michigan. Beginning in 1991, she worked exclusively on international flights where she suffered the left knee injury on September 10, 2004. The evidence did not establish that the applicant was working under a contract of hire made in this state in employment not principally localized in any state. Therefore, the administrative law judge appropriately dismissed the claim with prejudice because the department does not have jurisdiction over her claimed knee injury.

cc:
Attorney Dan Gartzke
Attorney Michael C. Frohman


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