Should Martins settlement agreement be set aside on appeal as a matter of law?
FACTUAL BACKGROUND On January 3, 1977, Kenneth Martin suffered an industrial injury arising out of and in the course of his employment with Glen Rindal, who was insured by the State Compensation Insurance Fund. Three years later, on January 29, 1980, Martin and the State Fund entered into a petition for final settlement for the amount of $2025 which represented twenty-five weeks of benefits. The petition was submitted to the Division of Workers’ Compensation which issued its order approving final settlement on January 31, 1980. On January 13, 1995, Martin filed a petition for hearing in the Workers’ Compensation Court in which he sought to set aside the final settlement agreement and reopen his claim. In his petition, Martin alleged: A dispute exists between the parties. Despite the fact that Claimant suffered a severe injury which required a laminectomy of L4-5 and L5-S1, and despite the fact that this injury had a very substantial effect on the earning capacity of Claimant, whose wor
