DOROTHY CURRIER (Appellant)
v.
GOUDREAU’S RETIREMENT INN (Appellee)
and
MEMIC (Insurer)
Decision No. 21-9
No. A.D. 18-0027
Maine Workers Compensation Decisions
State of Maine Workers’ Compensation Board
March 9, 2021
Conference held: September 11, 2019
Attorney for Appellant: Charles E. Trainor, Esq. DESMOND
& RAND, P.A.
Attorney for Appellee: Elizabeth Eddy Griffin, Esq. MEMIC
PANEL
MEMBERS: Administrative Law Judges Collier, Hirtle, and
Stovall
Hirtle, Administrative Law Judge.
[¶1]
Dorothy Currier appeals from a decision of a Workers’
Compensation Board administrative law judge (Elwin,
ALJ) granting in part her Petition for Award regarding a
May 9, 2010, work injury. Ms. Currier contends that the ALJ
erred in finding that her work injury was temporary in nature
and not responsible for a period of alleged earning
incapacity. Because the independent medical examiner made
findings that Ms. Currier sustained restrictions as a result
of her work injury, we vacate the decision in part and remand
for consideration of whether the rejection of those findings
is supported by clear and convincing contrary evidence,
pursuant to 39-A M.R.S.A. § 312(7) (Pamph. 2020).
I.
BACKGROUND
[¶2]
Dorothy Currier worked for Goudreau’s Retirement Inn as
a cook and housekeeper for fifteen years. Ms. Currier has a
history of low back injuries beginning in 1983, and she had
undergone two lumbar discectomy surgeries before May 9, 2010,
when she slipped and fell at work and reported the onset of
low back symptoms. Her claim for benefits under the
Workers’ Compensation Act followed. An orthopedic
surgeon was appointed as an independent medical examiner
(IME) pursuant to 39-A M.R.S.A. § 312 (Pamph. 2020). The
IME issued a report dated June 9, 2017.
[¶3]
The IME did not address the issue of work capacity in that
initial report. The IME did provide an in-depth analysis of
whether the alleged work injury aggravated or accelerated Ms.
Currier’s low back condition, which the ALJ summarized
as follows: “Ms. Currier’s May 9, 2010 work
injury constituted...
