Den Hartog Industries v. Dungan

On Friday, 10/3/2025, The Iowa Supreme Court issued an opinion in Den Hartog Industries v. Dungan that transforms how cases involving claimants who voluntarily leave their positions after returning to work are litigated. The case, which involved a claimant who quit his job after returning to work at a higher wage than he previously earned, required the Court to determine the correct interpretation of Iowa Code section 85.34(2)(v). Specifically, the Court was tasked with deciding whether claimants who quit after returning to work at wages equal to or higher than those they earned at the time of the accident should be compensated based on their functional impairment or their industrial disability ratings. 

The Court used a plain-text reading to determine the meaning of the provision, deliberately eschewing the policy-driven interpretations that were utilized by the lower courts. Opining that the text of 85.34(2)(v) “isn’t ambiguous,” the Court found that the provision states that claimants who voluntarily leave their positions after returning to work for compensation that is equal to or greater than what they earned at the time of the accident are to be compensated based on functional impairment—not industrial disability. The Court also acknowledged that 85.34(2)(v) enables claimants who are terminated by their employers to pursue a second litigation process in which they can be compensated based on industrial disability. However, they affirmed that this right belongs solely to employees who are terminated, and not employees who voluntarily leave their positions. 

It is worth noting that the facts of this case did not require the Court to address work that was merely offered (but not accepted) to a claimant at the same or greater wages, given that the claimant in this case returned to work after his injury. However, given the Court’s plain-text reading of the statutory language of section 85.34(2)(v), employees who are offered, but do not actually return to, work at the same or greater earnings may also be limited to the functional impairment rating instead of the industrial disability analysis. This issue will likely be addressed by the appeals courts in the future. 

This ruling will have a significant impact on how both claimants and defendants will litigate workers’ compensation matters moving forward. Claimants will have to be aware of the impact that voluntarily quitting a position may have upon their case, while defendants must be mindful of the fact that any employees who quit after returning to work at equal or greater wages can be compensated based on the more favorable functional impairment rating. 

Read the Ruling Here: Den Hartog Industries v. Dungan