DONALD GOODRICH, Employee/Respondent,
v.
CENTERPOINT ENERGY, INC., and TRAVELERS GRP., Employer-Insurer/Appellants,
And
PHYSICIANS DIAGNOSTICS, Intervenor.
No. WC20-6339
Minnesota Workers Compensation
Workers’ Compensation Court of Appeals
December 22, 2020
NOTICE
OF INJURY – GILLETTE INJURY. Substantial
evidence supports the compensation judge’s conclusion
that the employer had sufficient knowledge of the
employee’s injury within the statutory notice
requirements.
WEEKLY
WAGE – CALCULATION. The compensation judge did not err
in including payment for sick leave the employee earned and
received when unable to work for a non-work-related condition
in calculating his weekly wage.
Gary
Manka, Katz & Manka, Ltd., Minnetonka, Minnesota, for the
Respondent.
Mark
A. Kleinschmidt, Cousineau, Waldhauser, Kieselbach, P.A.,
Mendota Heights, Minnesota, for the Appellants.
Determined by: David A. Stofferahn, Judge, Patricia J. Milun,
Chief Judge, Sean M. Quinn, Judge
Compensation Judge: Kirsten Tate
Affirmed.
OPINION
DAVID
A. STOFFERAHN, Judge
The
employer and insurer appeal from the compensation
judge’s determination that the employee gave timely
notice of his work injury as required by the statute and from
the compensation judge’s average weekly wage
determination. We affirm.
BACKGROUND
The
employee, Donald Goodrich, began working for the employer,
Centerpoint Energy, in 2008. He passed a pre-employment
physical examination. Initially, Mr. Goodrich made service
calls on residential customers for furnaces and air
conditioning maintenance and repair. His work was later
expanded to include residential service calls for washers,
dryers, and other household appliances. These assignments
required crawling, bending, and twisting to access confined
spaces to reach pipes and appliances, as well as lifting and
moving of appliances. According to the job description from
the employer, lifting 75 pounds on a regular basis was
required. Mr. Goodrich’s job also involved significant
mandatory overtime; his employment records showed more than
500 hours of overtime in 2013-2014. Wage records introduced
by the employer at hearing showed that 45 percent of the
employee’s pay in 2014 was overtime pay.
The
employee received intermittent chiropractic care beginning in
2014. He began treating with Dr. Stephen Kramer, a
chiropractor, on March 23, 2015, with complaints of low back
pain. An MRI scan was done on April 1, 2015, which was read
as showing multilevel degenerative disc disease and
Schmorl’s nodes. A physician’s statement dated
June 13, 2015, was faxed to “Rosie” at
Centerpoint, who the employee identified as a human resources
representative at the corporate office. In the statement, Dr.
Kramer limited the employee to lifting no more than 50 pounds
and...