SANDRA FRIEDRICH, Employee/Appellant,
v.
FIRST BANK SYS. and ST. PAUL FIRE & MARINE INS. CO., Employer-Insurer,
and
FIRST BANK SYS., SELF-INSURED/CONSTITUTION STATE SERV. CO., Employer-Insurer,
and
HORMEL FOODS CORP. and FIRST BANK SYS., Intervenors.
Minnesota Workers Compensation
Workers' Compensation Court of Appeals
May 5, 1999
HEADNOTES
WAGES -
CALCULATION. Where the compensation judge did not accept
the employee's proof of the number of days worked in the
26 week period preceding the work injury and there was no
other evidence of the number of days worked, the compensation
judge did not err by using an alternate method of determining
the employee's weekly wage for her part-time position.
TEMPORARY
PARTIAL DISABILITY. Where there was no difference
between the employee's wage at the time of the injury and
her wage when she returned to work, the employee was not
entitled to temporary partial disability benefits.
CAUSATION
- MEDICAL TREATMENT; PRACTICE & PROCEDURE -
REMAND. Where the compensation judge's reason for
denial of certain medical expenses was based on the fact that
the medical evidence did not indicate a time period for how
long the aggravation was causally related, a remand is
required for reconsideration of whether the employee's
work injury was a substantial contributing cause of the
aggravation of the employee's preexisting stomach
condition.
GILLETTE
INJURY - ULTIMATE BREAKDOWN; NOTICE OF INJURY; PRACTICE &
PROCEDURE - REMAND. Where the compensation judge did not
indicate whether the date of injury claimed was the date of
culmination of the employee's left upper extremity
Gillette-type work injury, a remand is required for
reconsideration of the notice issue.
Affirmed
in part, vacated in part, and remanded.
Determined by Hefte, J., Johnson, J., and Wheeler, C.J.
Compensation Judge: Cheryl LeClair-Sommer
OPINION
The
employee appeals the compensation judge's finding that
the employee did not give adequate notice of a left upper
extremity injury, the finding that the employee's stomach
problems were not causally related to her work injury, the
calculation of the employee's weekly wage, and the
determination that the employee was not entitled to temporary
partial disability benefits. We affirm in part, vacate
in part, and remand.
BACKGROUND
Sandra
Friedrich (employee) was employed as a teller at First Bank
Austin (employer). In February 1993, the employee's
and all tellers' hours were permanently reduced from full
time to between 28 and 32 hours per week. The employee
signed a memorandum acknowledging the change. On March
22, 1993, the employee sustained an admitted injury to her
thoracic spine when she fell on ice in the parking
lot. Neither the employee nor any other teller had
returned to full-time work prior to the employee's work
injury. At that time, the employer was insured for
workers' compensation liability by St. Paul Fire and
Marine Insurance Company (St. Paul). The employee
received temporary total disability benefits and returned to
her pre-injury job with the employer in May 1993. The
employee worked fewer hours initially, and received temporary
partial disability benefits. In October 1993, the
employee was able to work her regular part-time hours of 28
to 30 hours per week. The employee's benefits were
paid based on a weekly wage of $257.17, which was apparently
calculated by multiplying the employee's hourly wage rate
by 32 hours per week. The employee was paid for a 10.5%
permanent partial disability for her thoracic spine injury.
On
March 2, 1995, the employee was examined by Dr. Robert
Wengler. Dr. Wengler opined that the employee had
sustained a 10.5% permanent partial disability for her
thoracic spine condition and that the employee had right
carpal tunnel syndrome, which would be rated as 3% permanent
partial disability of the whole body. On June 24, 1996,
the employee was examined by her treating physician and
reported painful hands, right greater than left. The
employee was referred to Mayo Orthopedics...