KEITH A. KUCHARCZYK xxx Plaintiff
v.
DAIMLERCHRYSLER CORPORATION, SELF-INSURED Defendant
No. 2007-273
Michigan Workers Compensation
State of Michigan Department of Labor & Economic Growth Workers’ Compensation Agency Board of Magistrates
December 8, 2006
HEARING
DATE(S): November 15, 2005
Robert
S. Strager (P30896) for plaintiff.
David
J. Berge (P40045) for defendant.
OPINION
MURRAY
A. GORCHOW, MAGISTRATE (220G) JUDGE
STATEMENT
OF CLAIM:
Plaintiff
alleged injury knees and legs at work on 5/30/95, claiming
that he fell off a machine; on 9/3/04 he slipped on a
machine; and 9/24/04 while he worked as a machine operator.
At trial, plaintiff, without objection, amended the alleged
9/24/04 date of injury to 1/14/05.
STIPULATIONS:
For all
three alleged dates of injury, the parties
stipulated that the employer and the employee were
subject to the Act; that defendant carried the risk as a
self-insured employer; that the employee was in the employ of
the employer at the time of the alleged personal injury; that
the employer had timely notice of the alleged personal
injury; and that a timely claim for compensation was made.
The
Average Weekly Wage, excluding fringe benefits, was
stipulated for 5/30/95 as $926.88; for 9/3/04 as $1,023.28;
and for 1/14/05 as $899.44. The parties stipulated for all
dates that there were fringe benefits, which always
continued. There was no stipulation as to the value of the
fringe benefits. If the value of the fringes becomes relevant
in the future, the parties may return to the Board of
Magistrates for a hearing on that issue if necessary.
The
parties left to proofs the plaintiff’s tax
filing status, dependents if any, and any entitlement to
coordination of benefits. There was no claim for
dual employment.
Defendant
denied that any personal injury arose out of and in
the course of employment; and that any disability was due to
the alleged personnel injuries.
WITNESS
TESTIFYING PERSONALLY:
Plaintiff
Keith
A. Kucharczyk
Defendants
Thomas
C. Stroud
WITNESS
TESTIFYING BY DEPOSITION:
Plaintiff
Kevin
J. Sprague, M.D. (Plaintiff’s Exhibit #1)
Defendants
Shrirang
M. Lele, M.D. (Defendant’s Exhibit A)
Both
depositions were admitted into evidence subject to the
objections contained therein, including defendant’s
objection at the time of Dr. Sprague’s deposition
claiming that not all of the doctor’s records were
there at the time of the deposition.
EXHIBITS
OTHER THAN DEPOSITIONS:
Plaintiff
None
Defendant
Defendant’s
Plant Medical Records (4 pp) (Def. Exh. B)--admitted without
objection.
SUMMARY
OF PLAINTIFF’S LAY TESTIMONY
Keith
A. Kucharczyk
Plaintiff,
Keith A. Kucharczyk, was 37 years old at the time of trial
having been born xxx. He is single. His tax filing status for
the claimed dates of injury of 9/3/04 and 1/14/05 is single
head of household. He claims two dependent children, Lauren
(dob xxx) and Seth (dob xxx). Both children were living with
him on the date of these two alleged injuries. He shares
fifty percent legal custody of the children and claims them
both on his tax return as dependents. I find both children to
be dependents of plaintiff for those two dates of injury.
Regarding the alleged injury date of 5/30/95, plaintiff was a
singled taxpayer claiming no dependents, having no children
at that time.
Plaintiff
graduated from high school in 1986 and has had approximately
two years of college from 1987 until 1988 at Heidelberg
College. From 1988 to 1993 he worked as a sales
representative for Official Sports Center, a sporting goods
supplier. He called on elementary and high schools as well as
colleges. He left that employment because he was not making
sufficient salary. He left to go to work for defendant
DaimlerChrysler Corporation in order to obtain better pay and
benefits. He began work for defendant on 9/27/93 and worked
for defendant until 1/14/05. On beginning his employment with
defendant, plaintiff had a pre-employment physical and there
were no restrictions imposed on his work activities. During
his first seven to eight months, he was placed on the motor
line at the Trenton Engine Plant. He was then transferred to
a machine putting motor mounts on the machine to bend the
parts. He then placed them on a skid. He also worked as a
hoist man taking motors off the mount using a hydraulic hook.
While the motor was on the hook he would walk it along to a
rack and then swing it using his body weight and
“jimmy” it into the rack carefully. These motors
were completed motors coming off the line. Care was necessary
to avoid damaging the oil pan on the motors which were very
heavy weighing as much as 1000 pounds. He was on his feet 95%
of the day with the remaining 5% being break time. He did his
work standing on a cement floor. There was a little bending,
but most of the work was done with his back and legs. There
was also a little bit of squatting, but mostly walking and
“fighting” with the motors to position them at
the rack. He did this for the first 7 to 8 months of his
employment.
He then
worked at the machine division where there were machines on a
metal platform. This work required a lot of going up and down
steps, and squatting and working on his knees in small
confined spaces. He would lift manifolds weighing ten to
fifteen pounds and work using his hands and upper body and
did squatting. He would change tools weighing fifty pounds.
He described this work as a physically demanding job. He
described it as being one of the hardest jobs at the plant.
He worked on a metal platform that was approximately
1-1/2” thick and consisted of perforated steel. The
platform was 4’ by 2-3’ by 1-1/2”. He said
that 90% of the machines were on these platforms and were two
to three steps up to the platform to do the work. Sometimes
he would have to get up and down from the platform every
three minutes. Sometimes he would stay on the platform. He
would also be required to bend and squat to get into a part
box that was sitting on a skid on the floor; although
sometimes it was on a stand. Sometimes squatting into the box
was done all day long and sometimes not that frequently. He
worked at this job 10 hours to 12 hours per day and 6 to 7
days per week.
While
performing this work he described that there was a lot of
slipping and sliding on coolant that was on the floor and
especially on the rubberized mat, which, in his words, was
“very slick with coolant”. He sometimes put
cardboard on the floor to avoid slipping on the coolant. The
coolant was enough of a problem that he would change booths
almost every day because they got so wet with the coolant. He
would also have to climb on and off of these machines which
he described as being “mammoth” in size. While
the platforms he worked on were approximately 3’ high,
he would also have to climb up onto the machines six to eight
to ten times per day while carrying tools and then stand on
the machine doing his work. Sometimes he would have to get on
his knees to get inside of the area to work on the machine.
For example: to remove the cutter. He said that he did that
two to three times per day and more frequently up to eight to
ten times per day if there was breakage. He repeated that his
work was mostly standing but also twisting and turning most
of the day with a lot of bending and squatting. There was no
sitting on the job at all. He would also have to use
cross-overs to get over the flumes. He said that he would
walk up 20 steps up and 20 steps down from the cross-over and
this would occur sometimes 6 times per day sometimes as many
as 20 times per day. The only time he would not be walking
over the cross-overs was during the time he worked as a job
setter in 1995 until approximately 1998 or 1999. His work as
a job setter would require kneeling and squatting during
breakdowns.
After
being a job setter, he did camshaft work beginning in 1998 or
1999. This job involved climbing over pipes and cross-overs
to do the work. He would have to bend to change caps and
kneel to change tooling. He opened the machine physically
pulling it open to change the tooling, and did a lot of
walking and bending to lift camshafts. He used his legs and
knees and low back on the camshaft line. If the cams got
jammed, he would have to climb...
