Wheeler v. Cinna Bakers LLC

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Patricia Wheeler was employed by Cinna Bakers, Westside Casino, and Get ’N’ Go and held the three separate jobs concurrently. Wheeler was injured in the course of her employment with Cinna Bakers, which rendered her unable to work at any of her jobs. Cinna Bakers and its insurance company (together, Cinna Bakers) accepted Wheeler’s injuries as compensable but disputed whether all three of Wheeler’s concurrent employments should not be aggregated to calculate her Average Weekly Wage (AWW). An administrative law judge determined that only Wheeler’s wage from Cinna Bakers could be utilized to calculate her AWW. The circuit court affirmed. The Supreme Court reversed, holding (1) South Dakota law allows for the aggregation of wages when an injury at one employment renders the worker incapable of performing that employee’s other concurrently held employments; and (2) the Court is persuaded to adopt the “growing minority rule,” which allows for aggregation of wages from all concurrently held employments, not just similar or related employments. View "Wheeler v. Cinna Bakers LLC" on Justia Law