England v. Amerigas Propane and Indemnity Insurance Company of North America, 2017 CO 55

Victor England, a truck driver, injured his shoulder at work and underwent two surgeries; in Sept. 2013 he settled his workers’ compensation claim for $35,000 using the Director’s mandatory Form WC104, which was approved by the Director.
The Form’s paragraph 4 incorporated the statutory right to reopen settlements for fraud or mutual mistake of material fact; paragraph 6 contained a broad release of claims for "unknown injuries."
After settlement approval England continued to experience pain; subsequent evaluation revealed a previously undiagnosed scapular fracture that existed at the time of settlement and was caused by a pre-settlement surgery.
England moved to reopen the settlement on the ground of mutual mistake of material fact; an ALJ and the ICAO granted the reopening, finding the fracture was a mutual, material, preexisting fact unknown to the parties.
The Colorado Court of Appeals reversed, holding paragraph 6’s release of "unknown injuries" excluded such preexisting, unknown surgical complications from reopening; the Supreme Court granted certiorari.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the Form's paragraph 6 release of "unknown injuries" waives or limits the statutory right to reopen a settlement for mutual mistake of material fact	England: paragraph 6 cannot eliminate the statutory right to reopen under § 8-43-204(1); paragraph 4 preserves that right	Amerigas: paragraph 6 excludes "unknown injuries," including undisclosed surgical complications, so the scapular fracture cannot be a basis to reopen	The Form cannot waive statutory reopening rights; paragraph 6 must be construed to apply only to injuries that develop after settlement, leaving paragraph 4 operative for preexisting mutual mistakes
Whether the undisclosed scapular fracture here constituted a mutual mistake of material fact allowing reopening	England: both parties were unaware of an existing, material condition that would have prevented settlement	Amerigas: the fracture falls within the Form's "unknown injuries" release and thus cannot support reopening	The court held the fracture was a mutual, material, preexisting fact; England may reopen his claim

Padilla v. Industrial Comm’n, 696 P.2d 273 (Colo. 1985) (settlement waivers cannot nullify statutory reopening principles; relief available for mistake)
Monfort Transp. v. Indus. Claim Appeals Office, 942 P.2d 1358 (Colo. App. 1997) (agency rules conflicting with statute are void)
Carpenter v. Hill, 283 P.2d 963 (Colo. 1955) (mutual mistake voids contracts where fact is the very basis of the agreement)
Hailpern v. Dryden, 389 P.2d 590 (Colo. 1964) (mutual mistake cannot concern a future fact)