RODNEY MITCHELL
v.
WEATHER CONTROL INCORPORATED ACCIDENT FUND GENERAL INS CO, Insurance Carrier
ACCIDENT FUND INS COMPANY OF AMERICA, Claim Administrator
Jurisdiction Claim No. VA00001502418
Claim Administrator File No. AFC230091452
Virginia Workers’ Compensation
Virginia In The Workers’ Compensation Commission
March 29, 2021
Date
of Injury: August 13, 2018
David
M. Snyder, Esquire Casey Duchesne, Esquire For the Claimant.
Kwabena Akowuah, Esquire For the Defendants.
REVIEW
on the record by Commissioner Marshall, Commissioner Newman,
and Commissioner Rapaport at Richmond, Virginia.
OPINION
NEWMAN
Commissioner
The
claimant requested review of the Deputy Commissioner’s
December 4, 2020 Opinion declining to find the claimant was
the beneficiary of a de facto award, and holding that the
claimant did not sustain a compensable injury by accident. We
AFFIRM.
I.
Material Proceedings
The
claimant, a HVACR technician, alleged injuries when he struck
his left knee on a metal ladder on August 13, 2018.[1] He sought
an award of medical benefits and temporary total disability
beginning August 13, 2018. The claimant also asserted
entitlement to a de facto award. The defendants contested the
de facto award, compensability of the claim as well as
causation.
The
Deputy Commissioner declined to find a de facto award. She
also held that the claimant’s injury, a right
quadriceps rupture, was not suffered in an accident that
arose out of his employment or was causally related to the
claimant striking his knee on the top rung of a ladder.
II.
Findings of Fact and Rulings of Law
On
August 13, 2018, the claimant was tasked with repairing an
air conditioning unit on the roof of a building. To access
the roof, the claimant ascended a drop-down metal ladder. He
climbed the twenty rungs but struck his left knee on the top
rung of the ladder. He sat on the roof for fifteen minutes
rubbing his leg. He then got up, walked thirty feet to the
unit and diagnosed the problem. After fixed some wiring and
ordering a part he would need to complete the repair, a
process that took approximately thirty minutes, he departed
the roof by descending the ladder. He testified his leg was
throbbing the whole time. He walked about fifty feet to the
front desk to secure a signature on his paperwork and then
walked about three feet to the steps at the front door. He
denied there was anything wrong with the steps or that
anything was blocking his view but when he went to descend
the steps, his left “leg just blew up like the shotgun
blast” and he fell to the ground. (Tr. 11.) The
claimant testified that after hitting his knee on the ladder,
he could walk but with a limp. When his knee popped at the
stairs, the pain was more intense as there was an explosion
in his leg, and he could no longer walk.
After
his fall, the claimant was transported to the hospital where
he was diagnosed with a suspected quadriceps tendon rupture.
He eventually came under the care of Dr. Edward S. Chang who
ordered an MRI which confirmed he had torn his quadriceps
tendon. Dr. Chang performed two surgeries. The claimant then
underwent rehabilitation and was provided light duty work
restrictions. He has not looked for any work since his
release to light duty.
The
medical records reflect that the claimant was seen at Inova
Fairfax Hospital Emergency Department on the accident date
where the history records the claimant “was descending
the steps and felt a sudden pop at the front of the [left]
knee.” The claimant reported left knee pain over the
past year with frequent buckling. The doctor suspected a
quadriceps tendon strain or tear and referred the claimant
for follow up with an orthopedist.
The
claimant came under the care of Dr. Chang on August 16, 2018.
The claimant reported left knee pain for three days. He
reported he “was walking down steps at work and felt a
large pop in his knee.” Dr. Chang ordered an MRI which
confirmed a rupture of the quadriceps tendon of the left
knee. On August 20, 2018, Dr. Chang performed a left[2] quadriceps
tendon repair, after which he ordered physical therapy and
kept the claimant out of work. On February 19, 2019, the
claimant’s knee gave way, and after additional
diagnostic testing, Dr. Chang performed a second surgery on
March 12, 2019.
On
October 15, 2020, Dr. Chang responded to a series of
questions from claimant’s counsel. The questionnaire
included portions of the claimant’s deposition
transcript which contained his narrative about striking his
knee on the top rung of the ladder. It also contained a work
hardening report from Rehab at Work dated April 7, 2020,
wherein the claimant reported “while climbing a ladder
to the roof of a building, he hit his left knee while
climbing the last rung of the ladder and fell to the ground
after planting his right foot on the roof. Mr. Mitchell
reports that he sustained injuries to his left knee when he
hit it on the ladder.”
On the
questionnaire, Dr. Chang...