TIMOTHY K. KORDELL, Employee,
v.
TAPPERS, INC., and AMERICAN COMPENSATION INS. CO./RTW, Employer-Insurer/Appellants,
and
HEALTHPARTNERS, INC., FAIRVIEW HOSP. & HEALTH SERV., DUCHIEN CHIROPRACTIC, INC., ORTHOPAEDIC CONSULTANTS, and MN DEP'T OF LABOR & INDUS., Intervenors.
Minnesota Workers Compensation
Workers' Compensation Court of Appeals
August 1, 2001
HEADNOTES
CAUSATION
- GILLETTE INJURY; CAUSATION - PERMANENT
AGGRAVATION; CAUSATION - PRE-EXISTING
CONDITION. Substantial evidence, including medical
records, the medical opinions of the employee's treating
physician and chiropractors, and testimony by the employee
and employer representatives concerning the type of duties
performed by the employee, supported the compensation
judge's finding that the employee's work activities
for the employer resulted in a Gillette injury in
the nature of a permanent aggravation of the employee's
pre-existing degenerative changes in his cervical spine.
TEMPORARY
TOTAL DISABILITY; MAXIMUM MEDICAL IMPROVEMENT. Where the
employee was awarded temporary total disability benefits for
a brief period of time beyond the expiration of 90 days
post-MMI, that portion of the compensation judge's order
is remanded to the compensation judge for determination of
the statutory basis for the award of benefits.
Affirmed
in part, reversed in part and remanded.
Determined by: Rykken, J., Johnson, J., and Wheeler, C.J.
Compensation Judge: Peggy A. Brenden
OPINION
MIRIAM
P. RYKKEN, Judge
The
employer and insurer appeal from the compensation judge's
determination that the employee sustained a
Gillette1 injury on July 13, 1999, arising out
of and in the course and scope of his employment at Tappers,
Inc. We affirm in part, and reverse in part and remand.
BACKGROUND
Claimed
Gillette Injury of July 13, 1999
Timothy
K. Kordell, the employee, commenced work for Tapper's,
Inc., the employer, on June 21, 1999, working as a panel saw
operator. The employee claims that he sustained a
Gillette injury on July 13, 1999, as a result of his
work as a panel saw operator. On July 13, 1999, the
employee was 43 years old and earned a weekly wage of
$400.00. On that date, the employer was insured for
workers' compensation liability in the state of Minnesota
by American Compensation Insurance Company/RTW, the insurer.
The
employer is engaged in the manufacture of cabinets. As a
panel saw operator, the employee cut sheets of plywood,
melamine or particle board. These sheets measured four
feet by eight feet, and weighed approximately 80 pounds per
sheet. The employee estimated that he cut approximately
20 sheets per hour. Using a forklift, the employee
positioned a bundle of sheets on a hydraulic scissors
lift. He then raised the scissors lift so that the
material was positioned slightly above the bed of the panel
saw. The employee then manually pushed a quantity of
sheets off the bundle, typically three or four at one time,
sliding the sheets onto the bed of the saw. Once the
panels were on the saw bed, he lined them up, and pushed the
stack of sheets through the saw to make the necessary cuts,
first to length and then to width.
After
the employee cut the boards to the proper size, he picked
them up off the saw bed and stacked them on a
pallet. The number of cut boards the employee carried at
one time depended upon their size. He estimated that he
typically carried a stack of cut boards weighing ten pounds,
but could carry up to 50 to 60 pounds of cut boards. The
employee testified that the most physically demanding aspect
of this job occurred when he cut single sheets, as he would
grab one full sheet and carry it back to the saw bed; he
performed that task approximately four times during his
tenure with the employer. He also testified that he
utilized the most physical force when pushing the boards off
the bundle and onto the saw bed. The employee testified
that he was able to perform this work, testifying that
"it was very hard work, it was harder than what I was
used to but I was still capable of doing it." (T.
79.)
On July
13, 1999, the employee awoke in extreme pain with a pinching
sensation in his neck. His pain radiated down into his
right shoulder and right elbow. He also experienced
numbness from his right elbow, extending down into his fourth
and fifth fingers on his right hand. The employee
telephoned his supervisor, Lance Hartkopf, advising him of
his symptoms. He advised Mr. Hartkopf that he was not
sure whether this happened at work. (T. 82.) The
employee spoke in person with Mr. Hartkopf on July 15, and
advised him that he felt the work was too physical for him
and "that it wasn't a good fit there." (T.
82.)
The
employee first received chiropractic treatment for his
symptoms from Dr. Orin DuChien on July 13, 1999, and again on
July 14 and 19. He then consulted Dr. Brenda Sommerdorf
at Fairview Northland Clinic on July 19, reporting neck and
right upper extremity symptoms. The employee received a
total of eight chiropractic treatments between July 13 and
August 4, 1999, but discontinued as the chiropractic
treatment was not alleviating his symptoms. At a
follow-up medical appointment on August 13, 1999, Dr. Chris
Pensinger diagnosed medial epicondylitis with ulnar nerve
neuropathy. He referred the employee for an EMG, which
he underwent on August 30, 1999, and which was interpreted as
being abnormal and consistent with a C8-T1
radiculopathy. The employee underwent an MRI of his
cervical spine on September 18, 1999, which was interpreted
to show a subacute or old herniated disc at the C7-T1 level
to the right with advanced foraminal compromise and a central
discogenic spur at C3-4 and C6-7.
The
employee's symptoms persisted. He testified that his
initial neck and shoulder pain dissipated but that the
numbness in his right hand and arm persisted. He also
noted that the strength in his right arm was weakening, a
symptom he had not experienced before his July 13, 1999
injury. He attempted working for a different employer,
Tru Therm Aluminum, starting on September 13, 1999. This
position was less physical than his position for the
employer, and was similar to work that he had done previously
for another employer. However, while at Tru Therm, he...
