ROBERT R. MATSON, Employee/Appellant,
v.
GREAT LAKES COCA-COLA DISTRIB., LLC, admin’d by SEDGWICK CLAIMS MGMT., INC., Self-Insured Employer/Respondent,
and
COCA-COLA REFRESHMENTS USA, Self-Insured Employer/Respondent,
and
COCA COLA ENTERS., INC., and BROADSPIRE, Employer-Insurer/Respondents,
and
CTR. FOR DIAGNOSTIC IMAGING, TRIA ORTHOPAEDIC CTR., FAIRVIEW HEALTH SERV., MINN. TEAMSTERS JC 32 – EMPLOYERS HEALTH AND WELFARE FUND, and TWIN CITIES SURGERY CTR., Intervenors.
No. WC19-6252
Minnesota Workers Compensation
Workers’ Compensation Court of Appeals
August 1, 2019
CAUSATION
– SUBSTANTIAL EVIDENCE. Substantial evidence, including
a well-founded medical opinion, supports the compensation
judge’s finding that the employee’s November 2016
low back work injury resolved in three months.
Scott
P. Heins, Scott P. Heins & Associates, P.A., White Bear
Lake, Minnesota, for the Appellant.
Jennifer M. Fitzgerald and Megan M. Oliver, Cousineau,
Waldhauser & Kieselbach, P.A., Mendota Heights,
Minnesota, for Great Lakes Coca-Cola Distrib./Respondent.
David
J. Klaiman and Elliot E. Frayne, Aafedt, Forde, Gray, Monson
& Hager, P.A., Minneapolis, Minnesota for Coca Cola
Refreshments USA, Inc., and Coca Cola Enterprises,
Inc./Respondents.
Determined by: Patricia J. Milun, Chief Judge David A.
Stofferahn, Judge Sean M. Quinn, Judge
Compensation Judge: John R. Baumgarth
Affirmed.
OPINION
PATRICIA J. MILUN, Chief Judge
The
employee appeals the compensation judge’s finding that
the employee’s November 18, 2016, work injury resolved
within three months. We affirm.
BACKGROUND
Robert
Matson, the employee, worked for Coca Cola Bottlers for over
thirty years and sustained various work injuries during that
time. The company was owned by different corporations over
those years. In 1998, the employee injured his low back while
working for Coca Cola Enterprises, Inc., insured by
Broadspire. He had surgery on the L5-S1 disc and was awarded
10 percent permanent partial disability (PPD). Three months
later, he was released to work without restrictions. In 2007,
he had another low back injury while working for self-insured
Coca Cola Refreshments USA, Inc. He had another surgery at
the same level, was awarded 11 percent PPD, and returned to
work with no restrictions. In about 2014, the employee
started working as a forklift driver for the company. He had
some back and neck pain with that work until some
modifications were made. A July 2014 lumbar spine MRI scan
indicated bulging discs and neural foraminal narrowing at
levels L1 through L5 and evidence of previous surgery at
L5-S1. He had no restrictions from 2014 through 2016.
On
November 18, 2016, the employee injured his low back lifting
a heavy overhead warehouse door while working for Great Lakes
Coca Cola...
