PETER CORBINO
v.
ARLINGTON COUNTY GOVERNMENT (RARLINGTON COUNTY, Insurance Carrier
HELMSMAN MANAGEMENT SERVICES, Claim Administrator
Jurisdiction Claim No. VA00001642582
Claim Administrator No. 80DE74705
Virginia Workers’ Compensation
Virginia In The Workers’ Compensation Commission
March 16, 2021
Date
of Injury: August 26, 2019
Peter
Corbino Claimant, pro se. [1]
Ryan
Samuel, Esquire For the Defendant. [2]
REVIEW
on the record by Commissioner Marshall, Commissioner Newman,
and Commissioner Rapaport at Richmond, Virginia.
OPINION
NEWMAN
COMMISSIONER
The
employer requests review of the Deputy Commissioner’s
August 17, 2020 Opinion finding that the claimant suffers
from work-related post-traumatic stress disorder and was
entitled to temporary total disability beginning April 30,
2020. We AFFIRM in part, VACATE in part, and REMAND.
I.
Material Proceedings
The
claimant was employed as a firefighter Emergency Medical
Technician (EMT) and a Deputy Fire Marshall between 2005 and
February 7, 2020. Over the course of his employment he began
to experience anxiety, stress, hypervigilance, social
avoidance behaviors, and fears of contamination. The claimant
began treatment for anxiety on October 8, 2010 and was
diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder
(“OCD”) on January 21, 2013. His symptoms
continued to worsen, and he was placed on work-related
disability on August 26, 2019. On April 30, 2020, the
claimant received the additional diagnosis of complex
post-traumatic stress disorder (“C-PTSD”).
On
September 27, 2019 and May 1, 2020, the claimant filed claims
for benefits alleging he suffered from the occupational
diseases or compensable ordinary diseases of life of C-PTSD,
OCD, and anxiety. He sought an award of medical benefits and
temporary total disability beginning August 26, 2019 through
February 7, 2020. The employer argued the claims were barred
under the Virginia Code § 65.2-406 statute of
limitations and that the claimant had not proved an
occupational disease or compensable ordinary disease of life.
The
Deputy Commissioner denied the claims for obsessive
compulsive disorder and anxiety, finding they were not timely
filed and therefore barred by the statute of limitations. The
claimant has not requested review of these denials. However,
the claim alleging C-PTSD was timely with a date of
communication of April 30, 2020, and the Deputy found the
claimant’s diagnosis “of PTSD has been shown by a
preponderance of the evidence to be causally related to his
exposure to traumatic events in the performance of his duties
at work.” The Deputy Commissioner concluded that the
claimant suffered from PTSD as an occupational disease, and
because “it [was] stipulated that the claimant’s
temporary total disability is ongoing” she awarded
indemnity benefits beginning April 30, 2020 and
continuing.[3] (Op. 9.)
The
employer filed a Motion to Reconsider/Request for Review
arguing the Deputy Commissioner erred by awarding temporary
total disability for a period not asserted by the claimant,
noting that the claimant only alleged wage loss beginning
August 26, 2019 through February 7, 2020. It also argued the
claimant alleged he suffered from C-PTSD, not the PTSD
awarded. The Deputy Commissioner denied the Motion, and the
Request for Review was forwarded to the Commission’s
review docket.
II.
Findings of Fact and Rulings of Law
The
claimant’s employment as a firefighter EMT began in
2005. He subsequently became a deputy fire marshal and worked
in that position until being placed on work-related
disability on August 26, 2019. (Tr. 15.) The claimant’s
work exposed him to blood, human waste, and dead bodies, and
over the course of his employment he began to experience
fears that either he or his environment was contaminated. He
described his emotional state at work as one of hyperarousal
or high anxiety, which caused him to suffer stress,
exhaustion, and anger both on and off the job. He cleaned
excessively, had difficulty touching doorknobs and surfaces
in bathrooms, and worried that he would bring contamination
from work into his home. (Tr. 18-19.) He decided to apply for
disability retirement when his symptoms began to interfere
with his work and family life. (Tr. 22-23.)
The
claimant initiated psychiatric treatment with Dr. Catherine
C. Crone in May of 2010. Dr. Crone examined the claimant
regularly and managed medications prescribed for obsessive
compulsive disorder (OCD). He also began counseling sessions
for anxiety with Dodie Gill, a therapist. Treatment continued
until April of 2018 when Gary Randle, a licensed professional
counselor, took over for Ms. Gill. LPC Randle stated that the
claimant had become increasingly agitated and that his OCD
was becoming more problematic. Similarly, Dr. Crone’s
July 31, 2019 record reflects the claimant having scheduled
an earlier than usual appointment due to elevated anxiety and
increased stress. Dr. Crone diagnosed mixed obsessional
thoughts and acts.
The
claimant submitted to an independent medical examination
(“IME”) by Jonathan DeRight, PhD, a
Board-Certified Clinical Neuropsychologist, on December 2,
2019. The examination was scheduled by the employer after the
claimant applied for work-related disability. Dr. DeRight
found the claimant suffered from OCD, that its late onset
made it more likely than not that the condition was a
consequence of the claimant’s work, and that it was
unlikely he would be able to continue work as a fire marshal.
Dr. DeRight also noted that symptom validity testing
“did not produce an excessive number of atypical
symptoms that would suggest exaggeration of PTSD
symptoms.” He concluded that a diagnosis of OCD
“makes more sense than a primary diagnosis of
posttraumatic stress disorder, though several symptoms
overlap between these two conditions (e.g. avoidance,
attempts to reduce negative affect, frequent fears of the
worst happening).”
Madeline
Suss Bishop, LCSW, authored an April 26, 2020 letter stating
that she began treating the claimant for trauma related OCD
on October 24, 2019 upon a referral from Mr. Randle. She
opined that in addition to the OCD, the claimant satisfied
the criteria for PTSD, which she related to the
claimant’s work. She noted the claimant experienced
intrusive thoughts related to contamination, that he engaged
in persistent avoidance of things...
