38-11WC. Dzevad Zahirovic v. Super Thin Saws Inc.

• Court: Vermont

Vermont Workers Compensation 2011. 38-11WC. Dzevad Zahirovic v. Super Thin Saws Inc Dzevad Zahirovic v. Super Thin Saws Inc(November 17, 2011)STATE OF VERMONT DEPARTMENT OF LABORDzevad Zahirovic v. Super Thin Saws, Inc.Opinion No. 38-11WCBy: Phyllis Phillips, Esq. Hearing OfficerFor: Anne M. Noonan CommissionerState File Nos. S-6844 and CC-56257RULING ON DEFENDANTS' MOTIONS TO DISMISS CLAIMANT'S PETITION FOR ATTORNEY FEES AND COSTS Background Claimant has worked for Defendant Super Thin Saws, Inc. ("Super Thin Saws") for many years. His job requires him to work with machine coolants, oils and motor fluids on a daily basis. As a result of this exposure, in October 2001 Claimant was diagnosed with contact dermatitis, for which he filed a claim for workers' compensation benefits. The workers' compensation insurance carrier on the risk at that time was the predecessor in interest to Defendant One Beacon Insurance Co. ("One Beacon"). It accepted Claimant's claim as compensable and paid workers' compensation medical benefits accordingly. Claimant again sought workers' compensation medical benefits for contact dermatitis nearly ten years later, in April 2010. One Beacon seasonably denied the claim on various grounds. Most notably, it alleged that Claimant's current condition represented an aggravation for which Super Thin Saws' current workers' compensation insurance carrier, Defendant The Hartford Insurance Co. ("The Hartford"), was liable. Aside from asserting that Claimant had not treated for his condition in the intervening ten years since his 2001 claim, One Beacon offered no evidence in support of this contention. Through his attorney, on July 27, 2010 Claimant filed a Notice and Application for Hearing in which he disputed One Beacon's aggravation claim. Because the medical records available at the time recounted a ten-year history of the condition and referenced a 2001 date of injury, upon review the Department determined that One Beacon was liable. By interim order dated November 18, 2010 it directed One Beacon to pay workers' compensation benefits accordingly. Medical records produced subsequent to the Department's interim order clarified that in fact Claimant had neither sought treatment nor lost time from work on account of his condition for a period of years prior to April 2010. Accordingly, on December 7, 2010 the...