No. 02592696 (1999). EMPLOYEE: Thomas Corkery.

CourtMassachusetts
Massachusetts Workers Compensation 1999. No. 02592696 (1999). EMPLOYEE: Thomas Corkery COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS DEPARTMENT OF INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS EMPLOYEE: Thomas Corkery EMPLOYER: General Motors Corporation INSURER: General Motors CorporationBOARD NO. 02592696REVIEWING BOARD DECISION (Judges Wilson, Smith and McCarthy)APPEARANCES Michael J. Powell, Jr., Esq., for the employee Robert P. Jachowicz, Esq., for the self-insurer WILSON, J. The self-insurer appeals from a decision in which the administrative judge awarded two closed periods of weekly benefits under §§ 34 and 35 and ongoing partial incapacity benefits from December 1, 1996 for a contusion injury at work on July 10, 1996. Because we discern errors in the judge's use of the impartial medical report, we vacate the decision in part and recommit the case for further findings. Mr. Corkery's work injury occurred when he was unloading a rack that shifted, causing him to fall off the forklift that he was operating onto his back, hitting his head on the concrete floor. He suffered a large abrasion on his lower back. After being treated for lower back pain and headaches, he was released to return to modified duty work in August 1996 by both the insurer's examiner and his treating physician, Dr. Lever. (Dec. 4.) The employee's return to work on August 30, 1996 did not go well. Although the employee had provided his supervisor with Dr. Lever's medical restrictions, he was assigned to his regular duties of lifting parts weighing up to forty pounds, along with frequent bending in a full shift of eight hours on his feet. As the employee could not tolerate the physical demands of the job, on September 16, 1996, he left work on Dr. Lever's advice to rest and undertake a course of physical therapy. (Dec.5.) Despite unresolved back problems, the employee returned to work again in October, due to financial constraints. Because he was unable to perform the regular job duties to which he was again assigned, the employee voluntarily retired from his job, after working at General Motors for thirty-three years. (Dec. 3, 5.) The employee brought a claim for workers' compensation benefits after the self-insurer paid him benefits without prejudice for several weeks in July and August of 1996. The judge denied the employee's claim at conference and he appealed to a full evidentiary hearing, where he sought a closed period of temporary and total incapacity benefits, as well as partial incapacity benefits from September 16, 1996 to date and continuing. The...

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