JOSEPH REICH, Employee/Appellant,
v.
F&S CONSTR. and EMPLOYERS INS. CO. OF WAUSAU, Employer-Insurer/Respondent,
and
ADVANTAGE COATING and AQUITY, Employer-Insurer,
and
ALLINA/PHILLIPS EYE INST., Intervenor.
NO. WC04-133
Minnesota Workers Compensation
Workers' Compensation Court of Appeals
October 21, 2004
HEADNOTES
PRACTICE
& PROCEDURE - STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS; STATUTES CONSTRUED
- MINN. Stat. § 176.151. Where the compensation judge
expressly credited the employee's testimony that the
employer's owner had assured him that the bills for
treatment for his work injury would be paid, where the
employee was justified in relying on the owner's
statements, and because other than for payment of his medical
expenses the employee had had no reason to file a claim for
benefits at the time of his work injury, the employer and
insurer were estopped from pleading the statute of
limitations as a defense, and the compensation judge erred in
denying benefits based on the statute of limitations.
MEDICAL
TREATMENT & EXPENSE; INTERVENORS. Where there was no
dispute over the fact that the treatment at issue was
reasonable and necessary and causally related to the work
injury, and where the employee had made a direct claim for
payment of the treatment expenses at issue, the compensation
judge's order denying payment of the treatment expenses
at issue was reversed, notwithstanding the fact that several
of the providers involved and one third party payor of the
employee's medical bills had not formally intervened in
the case.
Reversed.
Attorneys: Carl J. Sommerer, Minneapolis, MN, for the
Appellant.
Sarah
E. Groskreutz, Conley Law Office, St. Paul, MN, for the
Respondent.
Determined by: Pederson, J., Johnson, C.J., and Wilson,
J.
Compensation Judge: Paul V. Rieke
OPINION
WILLIAM R. PEDERSON, Judge.
The
employee appeals from the compensation judge's
determination that the employee's claim for workers'
compensation benefits relating to a work injury of December
17, 1986, is barred by the statute of limitations and from
the judge's implicit denial of medical expenses claimed
by the employee. We reverse.
BACKGROUND
On
December 17, 1986, Joseph Reich [the employee] sustained an
injury to his left eye while working for F & S
Construction [the employer], which was insured on that date
by Employers Insurance of Wausau [Wausau]. The employee
was nailing siding at a townhouse project when a nail flew up
and struck him in the left eye. The employee evidently
notified one of the owners of the employer, Peter Seamons, of
his injury, and the following day he sought medical treatment
at Park Nicollet Medical Center.
The
employee was seen by Dr. A. E. Sadowsky, who obtained a
history of the work injury and diagnosed a conjunctival
laceration of the left eye and an inferior retinal
dialysis. The employee was referred immediately to Dr.
William Mestrezat, who performed a laser retinopexy. The
employee lost only a day or two of work as a result of the
injury and was able to return to his regular job duties with
no limitations regarding his left eye. The left eye
subsequently returned to 20/20 uncorrected vision, and the
employee was not required to wear eyeglasses. The
employee had no further problems with his left eye until
2001.
In late
October 2001, the employee developed a partial loss of vision
in his left eye, and on November 1, 2001, he sought medical
attention at Mound Eye Clinic. He was immediately
referred to the Phillips Eye Institute, where he came under
the care of Dr. Sundeep Dev of Vitreo Retinal Surgery,
P.A. On November 2, 2001, Dr. Dev diagnosed an inferior
chronic traction retinal detachment of the left eye and
performed a repair of the retinal detachment. Following...
