WILLIAM W. KITTILA
v.
PETRO HOLDINGS, INC.
W.C.C. No. 2016-00869
Rhode Island Worker Compensation
State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations Providence
May 26, 2020
FINAL
DECREE OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION
This
matter came on to be heard by the Appellate Division upon the
claim of appeal of the petitioner/employee and upon
consideration thereof, the employee's appeal is denied
and dismissed, and it is
ORDERED,
ADJUDGED, AND DECREED:
That
the findings of fact and the orders contained in a decree of
this Court entered on May 4,2017 be, and they hereby are,
affirmed.
PER
ORDER:
Nicholas
DiFilippo, Administrator
PROPOSED
FINAL DECREE OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION
This
matter came on to be heard by the Appellate Division upon the
claim of appeal of the petitioner/employee and upon
consideration thereof, the employee's appeal is denied
and dismissed, and it is
ORDERED,
ADJUDGED, AND DECREED:
That
the findings of fact and the orders contained in a decree of
this Court entered on May 4,2017 be, and they hereby are,
affirmed.
DECISION
OP THE APPELLATE DIVISION
OLSSON, J.
This
matter is before the Appellate Division on the employee's
appeal from a decision and decree of the trial judge denying
the employee's petition to review seeking to amend the
description of his work-related occupational disease to
include "bilateral ulnar neuropathy."[1] After a
thorough review of the record and consideration of the
arguments presented by both parties, we find that the trial
judge did not commit error by accepting Dr. Arnold-Peter C.
Weiss's opinion as more persuasive than the testimony of
the employee's physicians and finding that the employee
did not suffer from bilateral ulnar neuropathy, We,
therefore, deny the employee's appeal and affirm the
decision and decree of the trial judge.
On
November 10, 2014, William W. Kittila (the employee) filed an
original petition, W.C.C. No. 2014-06679, alleging he
sustained work-related injuries on August 4, 2014 to both
hands, both elbows, and his left middle finger resulting in
disability beginning August 8, 2014 and continurng. The
description of the alleged injury in the petition was amended
on February 24, 2015 to read "bilateral carpal tunnel
syndrome, left middle finger trigger finger," and a
pretrial order was entered on that date granting the petition
as amended and awarding partial incapacity benefits from
August 8, 2014 -and continuing. The employer claimed a trial
from that order. On August 7, 2015, the trial judge entered a
decree in W.C.C. No, 2014-06679 finding that the employee
developed a work-related occupational disease described as
"bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome and a left middle
finger trigger finger," which resulted in partial
incapacity from August 8, 2014 and continuing. The trial
judge in that matter also determined that the employee's
personal medical profile, specifically the employee's
diabetes, contributed twenty percent (20%) to his disablement
and his weekly benefits were reduced accordingly.
On
February 12, 2016, the employee filed this petition to review
alleging that the decree entered in W.C.C. No. 2014-06679
does not accurately state all of the employee's injuries
which should be described as "bilateral carpal tunnel
syndrome, a left middle finger trigger finger and bilateral
ulnar neuropathy." The petition was denied at the
pretrial conference and the employee filed a timely claim for
trial.
The
employee testified that in 2014 he noticed symptoms in his
hands while working as a service technician repairing,
cleaning, and installing boilers and hot water tanks for
Petro Holdings, Inc., (the employer), a heating oil and home
comfort services provider. Initially, he experienced weakness
in his hands while working. He then developed pain and
numbness in his hands at night which made it difficult to
sleep. These symptoms worsened over time and progressed to
his elbows. His left middle finger began to lock as well. The
nurse practitioner in his primary care physician's office
referred him to Dr. Leonard F. Hubbard, an orthopedic surgeon
specializing in hand surgery.
The
employee left .work on August 8, 2014, and Dr. Hubbard
performed surgery on his left middle finger, wrist, and elbow
in May 2015, and on his right wrist and elbow in July 2015.
The employee's symptoms improved following the operations
and on August 3,2015, he returned to Ms regular job with the
same employer. In explaining the current condition of his
hands and elbows, the employee stated that "[t]hey are
better than what they were, but it depends on what I do....
When I get home, they sometimes - sometimes they don't
hurt; a lot of times they do still." Tr. 15:25-16:3. He
takes Tramadol at night when his hands and elbows bother him.
The
employee acknowledged that he was diagnosed with non-insulin
dependent Type 2 diabetes by. Dr. Robert J. Dobr2ynski, Jr.,
an endocrinologist who prescribes medication to treat the
employee's diabetes and neuropathy in his feet. The
employee added that he has had heart surgery to implant two
(2) stents and also aortic femoral bypass surgery. His past
medical history also includes prior right elbow surgery in
2006. In addition, he smoked cigarettes for forty (40) years
before stopping in 2012.
The
medical evidence consists of the depositions and records of
Drs. Leonard F. Hubbard, Joseph B. Fitzgerald, Robert J.
Dobrzynski, and Arnold-Peter C, Weiss. Dr. Hubbard first
examined the employee on June 25, 2014 for complaints of
numbness and tingling in both hands and triggering of the
left middle...