Mitchell v. Weather control Incorporated Accident Fund General Ins Co., 032921 VAWC, VA00001502418

Case DateMarch 29, 2021
CourtVirginia
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...

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