No. 00978595 (1999). EMPLOYEE: Judith K. Burnette.

• Case Date: March 03, 1999
• Court: Massachusetts

Massachusetts Workers Compensation 1999. No. 00978595 (1999). EMPLOYEE: Judith K. Burnette COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS DEPARTMENT OF INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS EMPLOYEE: Judith K. Burnette EMPLOYER: Command Marketing Corp. INSURER: Continental Insurance CompanyBOARD NO. 00978595REVIEWING BOARD DECISION (Judges Wilson, Levine and Fischel 1)APPEARANCES John Trefethen, Jr., Esq., for the employee at hearing Sandra Jenkins-Bryant, for the employee on brief Charles Dixon, Esq., for the insurer at hearing Karen A. Loughlin, Esq., for the insurer on brief WILSON, J. The employee appeals from a decision of an administrative judge who awarded permanent and total incapacity benefits pursuant to § 34A, but denied payment of the deposition costs of her expert and psychotherapy treatment after a certain date, and reduced the fee payable to her attorney. Finding no error in the judge's rulings, we affirm his decision. The employee, who was fifty-seven years old at the time of the hearing, had worked for approximately two years as a shipper and receiver lifting boxes that weighed up to fifty pounds when, on January 26, 1990, she injured her back and neck in an attempt to open a heavy, metal, sliding door at work. She continued to work for the employer in a sedentary position until February 8, 1991, and then she left work due to severe pain. (Dec. 5.) The employee received treatment from a neurologist and a neurosurgeon for her physical problems and, beginning in 1992, from a psychotherapist, Dr. Harvey Kraslin. (Dec. 6.) The insurer accepted her claim and paid temporary, total incapacity benefits pursuant to § 34, as well as medical benefits pursuant to §§ 13 and 30 for both the physical and psychological treatment. Following the insurer's complaint for discontinuance, a November 29, 1995 conference order assigned the employee a $105.00 per week earning capacity. (Dec. 2.) The conference order also allowed the employee's motion to join a claim for § 34A weekly benefits and for §§ 13 and 30 benefits relative to the payment of her psychotherapy bills. The employee appealed and a hearing de novo was held on September 18, 1996. At hearing, the insurer challenged the employee's entitlement to weekly benefits; the causal relationship of any ongoing physical or emotional incapacity; and the reasonableness and necessity of the employee's psychotherapy treatment beginning in January of 1995. The § 11A impartial physician, Dr. Caprio, testified that the employee's neck and back strain had resolved, but that she had chronic pain due to ongoing degenerative disc disease, (Dec. 7, 8), which had become symptomatic as a result of her industrial injury. (Dec. 11; Dr. Caprio Dep. 30.) He determined that she was capable of only lighter, sedentary work. (Dec. 9.) The judge found the § 11A examiner's report to be...