IN THE MATTER OF THE CLAIM OF: LUKE JASSO, Claimant,
v.
CITY OF LITTLETON a/k/a LITTLETON FIRE AND RESCUE, Employer,
and
CCMSI, Insurer, Respondents.
W.C. No. 5-057-876-01
Colorado Workers Compensation
Industrial Claim Appeals Office
November 16, 2018
LAW
OFFICE OF OTOOLE & SBARBARO PC, Attn: NEIL D OTOOLE ESQ,
(For Claimant)
NATHAN
DUMM & MAYER PC, Attn: BERNARD WOESSNER ESQ, C/O: KAITLIN
AKERS ESQ, (For Respondents)
FINAL ORDER
The
respondents seek review of an order of Administrative Law
Judge Felter (ALJ) dated March 29, 2018, that awarded the
claimant temporary benefits and mental impairment benefits
for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). We affirm.
This
matter went to hearing on the following issues: (1) whether
the claimant sustained a compensable mental impairment claim
under §8-41-301, C.R.S.; (2) if compensable, whether the
claimant is entitled to ongoing temporary total disability
(TTD) benefits from September 19, 2017, ongoing; (3) whether
the claimant is at fault for the termination of his
employment effective January 25, 2018; and (4) whether Janet
Ruby, is an authorized provider.
After
the hearing, the ALJ found that the claimant had been a
firefighter for approximately 16 years and had been a
Lieutenant Paramedic Firefighter for the respondent employer
for the last 11 years. The claimant's essential duties
and responsibilities for the respondent employer were
extensive and included the following: supervising station
personnel; "planning, directing, and supervising the
work activities of subordinates; evaluating and reviewing the
work products and work performance of subordinates, making
recommendations on disciplinary actions; and assisting in the
training and professional development of subordinate
employees." The claimant also was responsible for
proctoring and providing training for EMS students assigned
to his station.
Prior
to filing his mental impairment claim, the claimant had been
experiencing increasingly significant psychological problems
impacting his ability to function in his job. These symptoms
caused anxiety and affected the claimant's leadership,
his ability to train younger firefighters, and his
concentration.
After
the claimant submitted his mental impairment claim, the
respondents referred him to Dr. Ritzer for evaluation and
treatment. He first saw Dr. Ritzer on September 27, 2017. The
claimant reported that about a month prior to September 27,
he had responded to an incident where a 20-year-old female
was found hanging in the woods. Additionally, in December
2016 and January 2017, the claimant had responded to two
graphic suicides of middle-aged men, one of which was a
gunshot to the face. Dr. Ritzer also referenced the
claimant's exposure to a pilot being burned alive
following a small plane crash as being a traumatic
experience. The claimant's symptoms included nightmares,
wakening up terrified, panic attacks and numbness and
tingling in both extremities. Dr. Ritzer opined that the
claimant's symptoms were consistent with a work place
mental impairment of PTSD and anxiety. Dr. Ritzer took the
claimant off work. She referred the claimant to Dr.
Gutterman, a Level II accredited and board certified
psychiatrist.
The
claimant first saw Dr. Gutterman on October 4, 2017. Dr.
Gutterman documented the claimant's symptoms of anxiety,
racing heart, nightmares, and hypervigilance. He noted these
symptoms had increased over the prior three years following
numerous traumatic incidents the claimant had witnessed at
work. Dr. Gutterman further noted the claimant was unable to
sleep and that the claimant was a zombie although he tried to
sleep as best as possible. According to the claimant, he had
been suffering a disintegration of his personality and not
functioning well at work. He understood his need for
psychological intervention when he filed his workers'
compensation claim on September 17, 2017.
During
his evaluation of the claimant, Dr. Gutterman stated the
claimant had demonstrated anxiety when speaking about
traumatic incidents to which he had responded as a
firefighter in the recent past. Dr. Gutterman concluded that
the claimant was experiencing symptoms consistent with PTSD,
and was continuing to suffer anxiety, panic attacks,
hypervigilance, nightmares, and intrusive memories of the
traumatic incidents and scenes he had responded to as a
firefighter. Dr. Gutterman prescribed medications.
By
November 14, 2017, Dr. Gutterman reported the claimant had
been more stable with less anxiety having been away from work
and his sleep had improved, although his nightmares
continued. At that point, Dr. Gutterman suggested the
claimant undergo Eye Movement Disintegration Resource (EMDR).
The claimant was referred to Janet Ruby for the EMDR
treatment. Dr. Ritzer concurred in this recommendation and
agreed that the claimant see Ms. Ruby for the EMDR treatment.
When
the claimant saw Dr. Ritzer on January 3, 2018, the claimant
was continuing to experience nightmares and waking up
terrified. This was accompanied by panic attacks, palpations,
as well as numbness and tingling in both extremities. Dr.
Ritzer stated that the claimant had suffered a "syncopal
episode" when he struck his head leaning forward in the
middle of the night some weeks before the visit.
The
respondent employer terminated the claimant effective January
25, 2018. The respondent employer asserted that the claimant
inappropriately cancelled a Fit for Duty...