MARK CODY, Claimant
v.
MCKEE CONTRACTING CO., Employer,
and
AUTO-OWNERS INS., Insurance Carrier, Defendants.
No. 5066860
Iowa Workers Compensation
Before the Iowa Workers' Compensation Commissioner
March 6, 2020
Head
Note No. 1803
ARBITRATION DECISION
JAMES
F. ELLIOTT, DEPUTY WORKERS’ COMPENSATION COMMISSIONER
STATEMENT
OF THE CASE
Mark
Cody, claimant, filed a petition in arbitration seeking
workers’ compensation benefits from employer McKee
Contracting Company (McKee) and Auto-Owners Insurance
Company, insurance carrier, as a result of an injury he
sustained on December 2, 2016 that arose out of and in the
course of his employment. This case was heard in Des Moines,
Iowa on January 17, 2020, with claimant and his attorney
participating via CourtCall video conferencing. The matter
was fully submitted on February 21, 2020, with submission of
the briefs. The evidence in this case consists of the
testimony of claimant, Joint Exhibits 1 - 6,
Defendants’ Exhibits A - C and Claimant’s
Exhibits 1 - 6.
The
parties filed a hearing report at the commencement of the
arbitration hearing. On the hearing report, the parties
entered into various stipulations. All of those stipulations
were accepted and are hereby incorporated into this
arbitration decision and no factual or legal issues relative
to the parties’ stipulations will be raised or
discussed in this decision. The parties are now bound by
their stipulations.
ISSUES
The
extent of claimant’s disability.
Assessment
of costs.
FINDINGS
OF FACT
The
deputy workers’ compensation commissioner, having heard
the testimony and considered the evidence in the record,
finds that:
Mark
Cody, claimant, was 57 years old at the time of the hearing.
Claimant graduated from high school. He has no other formal
education. For most of his working life he has worked in
construction; from “frame to finish.” (Transcript
internal page 17) Claimant has worked in construction for
over 35 years. A No. of years ago claimant worked as a
janitor while he was also working construction. (Exhibit A,
Deposition p. 17) Claimant was self-employed in construction
for over 20 years. (Ex. A. Depo. p. 21) Claimant testified he
was generally healthy up until his work accident. Claimant
started working for McKee on July 15, 2015 as an independent
contractor. In November 2016 claimant became an employee of
McKee. Claimant was earning $30.00 per hour at McKee. (Ex. C,
p. 17) Claimant never returned to work for McKee after his
injury of December 2, 2016. (Ex. A, Depo. p. 26)
On
December 2, 2016, claimant was on a job site for McKee.
Claimant fell from scaffolding about 6 feet. Claimant was
taken by air ambulance to Creighton University Medical
Center. (Joint Ex. 1, pp. 1 -5) Claimant regained regular
consciousness when he was in the MRI at Creighton University
Medical Center. Claimant was admitted to the hospital
overnight. A CT of his head did not show evidence of acute
intracranial or calvarial fracture. Claimant had a larger
posterior vertex scalp hematoma. (JE 2, p. 9) Claimant said
his left elbow was broken, he had a fractured tailbone, and
sprained left ankle.
Claimant
received treatment for his left elbow and right ankle at
Professional Medical Solutions from December 20, 2016 through
January 24, 2018. (JE 3, pp. 10 -27) Claimant reported to
Annie Knierim, M.D. on January 24, 2017 that his ankle was
healing and elbow was doing fairly well. Dr. Knierim noted
claimant had a left elbow dislocation with small nondisplaced
fracture type 1 of the coronoid process of the left ulna. (JE
3, p. 16) Claimant was complaining of fuzziness and
difficulty in thinking due to his concussion. (JE 3, p. 14)
On February 28, 2017, claimant was complaining of left hip
and neck pain. (JE 3, p. 17)
On
January 23, 2017, Jeremiah Ladd, M.D. of the Nebraska Spine +
Pain Center began treating claimant for cervical pain. His
impression was,
• Neck strain
• Cervical disc degeneration C5-C6 . . .
• Cervical disc degeneration C6-C7 . . .
• Cervical spondylosis without myelopathy or
radiculopathy . . .
• Cervical spondylolisthesis . . .
Post-concussive syndrome
(JE 4, p. 34) An MRI of February 21, 2017 showed,
1) Severe bilateral foraminal stenosis at ¶ 3-4 and
C5-6.
2) Moderate to severe bilateral foraminal stenosis at ¶
6-7.
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