JUDITH A. WEISS, Employee/Respondent,
v.
ST. MARY’S MED. CTR., SELF-INSURED/BERKLEY RISK ADM’RS CO., LLC, Employer/Appellant.
No. WC17-6097
Minnesota Workers Compensation
Workers’ Compensation Court of Appeals
March 15, 2018
CAUSATION
– GILLETTE INJURY. Substantial evidence,
including expert medical testimony, medical records, and lay
testimony, supported the compensation judge’s
Gillette injury findings.
TEMPORARY
PARTIAL DISABILITY – SUBSTANTIAL EVIDENCE. Substantial
evidence, including the employee’s testimony and
medical records, supported the compensation judge’s
finding that the employee was eligible for temporary partial
disability compensation.
WAGES;
PRACTICE & PROCEDURE – MATTERS AT ISSUE. Where the
issue of whether to include the employee’s wages from
her second job at Walmart in her weekly wage was not raised
at the hearing, the compensation judge did not err in leaving
that question open for future determination.
James
W. Balmer, Falsani, Balmer, Peterson & Quinn, Duluth,
Minnesota, for the Respondent.
Douglas J. Brown, Brown & Carlson, P.A., Minneapolis,
Minnesota, for the Appellant.
Determined by: Patricia J. Milun, Chief Judge, David A.
Stofferahn, Judge, Deborah K. Sundquist, Judge.
Compensation Judge: Jerome G. Arnold
Affirmed.
OPINION
PATRICIA J. MILUN, Chief Judge.
The
self-insured employer appeals from the compensation
judge’s finding that the employee sustained
Gillette1 injuries to her cervical spine and
right shoulder; from the judge’s ruling that the amount
of the employee’s weekly wage is preserved for future
determination; and from the finding that the employee is
entitled to temporary partial disability compensation. We
affirm.
BACKGROUND
The
employee, Judith Weiss, was born in 1954 and started working
for the employer, Essentia Health St. Mary’s Medical
Center,2 in 1990 at its hospital in Duluth. She
initially worked in housekeeping. She next worked in central
supply, gathering, cleaning, and sterilizing, and delivering
medical instruments throughout the hospital. In approximately
2007, the employee’s job changed to the collecting,
servicing, and cleaning of IV poles and pumps. In this job,
the employee went from floor to floor in the hospital to
collect IV poles, clean and sterilize the poles and
associated pumps and equipment, and return them to each
floor. The employee used a supply cart to bring her cleaning
supplies, parts, and equipment to the various locations
throughout the hospital where she cleaned poles and pumps.
For the first roughly 9 to 13 years, she used a pushcart
which she could pull behind her while pushing IV poles in
front of her. In about 2015 or 2016, the hospital replaced
its IV pumps with a newer type of pump, and a larger cart was
then required to transport the employee’s supplies and
equipment. The employee found this larger cart much harder to
maneuver as two of the wheels were stationary, making it very
difficult to turn. Sometime in 2016, the employer replaced
this cart with a different one that the employee acknowledged
was easier to use.3
The
employee’s medical records document some sporadic
treatment for pain radiating from the employee’s hands
to her shoulders, resulting in a diagnosis of bilateral
carpal tunnel syndrome. In 1990, cervical x-rays showed some
degenerative changes in the cervical spine consisting of
decreased height at C5-6 and C6-7, osteophyte formations at
C6-7, and joint spurring at C5-7. In 1991, the employee was
treated for a cervical strain which she attributed to pulling
a heavy cart. In 2003, the employee was taking an IV pole
from an elevator when the wheel stuck and the pole began to
fall. In catching the pole from falling, the employee
sustained what was initially diagnosed as acute myofascial
strain to her left shoulder. She also reported neck pain and
was evaluated in therapy for neck symptoms but continued
working full time. In 2007, the employee was seen for a right
shoulder injury at her primary care clinic, reporting that
she had experienced a pulling sensation in the right shoulder
while trying to bring IV poles into the elevator. She was
diagnosed with a right shoulder sprain.
On
April 2, 2015, the employee was seen by a chiropractor for
neck and upper back pain and bilateral arm tingling. She
stated she had been dealing with these symptoms for a number
of years and that upper body motions at her two jobs
aggravated her pain. Cervical x-rays showed severe
degenerative joint disease throughout the cervical spine. The
employee underwent one chiropractic treatment but declined
further treatments for financial reasons.
The
employee was seen by Dr. Mark Gregerson, an orthopedic
surgeon, on March 17, 2016, at the suggestion of her
attorney. The employee was reporting problems with her neck,
left shoulder, right shoulder, and left knee. She explained
to the doctor that her work for the employer since 1990 had
consisted of loading and moving heavy instrument carts. She
described needing to lean into the heavy, loaded carts to
move them, pushing off with her right leg and pulling with
her right upper extremity, and that she needed to turn her
neck to watch where she was going with the cart. The employee
stated that she had noted increased stiffness and pain in her
neck and shoulder over the past year. Over the past six
months, she had also noted increased right shoulder pain and
a feeling of “tearing” in the right shoulder when
lifting or carrying and while resting in bed.
Dr.
Gregerson opined that the employee’s work activities
had significantly aggravated the condition of her neck. He
ordered work restrictions and opined that further diagnostic
studies were needed to determine whether there was stenosis
or radicular findings. He assessed the employee’s right
shoulder condition as possible rotator cuff impingement or
tear. He also wanted to review x-rays and possibly an MRI of
the right shoulder. He recommended that the employee avoid
using her right arm. He found moderate swelling in the left
knee medially, but good alignment with full range of motion
and no crepitus, snapping, or instability. He requested...