No. 04158082 (1999). EMPLOYEE: Richard F. Tremblay.

• Case Date: July 22, 1999
• Court: Massachusetts

Massachusetts Workers Compensation 1999. No. 04158082 (1999). EMPLOYEE: Richard F. Tremblay COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS DEPARTMENT OF INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS EMPLOYEE: Richard F. Tremblay EMPLOYER: Art Cement Products Co., Inc. INSURER: American Mutual Insurance Co/Helmsman Mgt. Co.BOARD NO. 04158082REVIEWING BOARD DECISION (Judges Wilson, McCarthy and Smith)APPEARANCES Charles R. Casartello, Jr., Esq., and Gerald L. Pellegrini, Esq., for the employee Ronald C. Kidd, Esq., for the insurer WILSON, J. The insurer appeals the decision of an administrative judge, who denied its complaint to modify or discontinue the employee's weekly benefits of permanent and total incapacity under § 34A. We conclude that the judge's finding that the employee remained totally and permanently incapacitated was based in part on subsidiary findings that were unsupported by the medical or lay evidence and in part on an inadequate vocational analysis. We vacate the decision and recommit the case for reconsideration of the employee's extent of incapacity without reference to the unsupported findings and with a vocational analysis supported by more detailed findings of fact. Richard Tremblay, who was forty-seven years old at the time of the hearing, has not worked since August 8, 1982, when he injured his lower back while employed as a heavy laborer for Art Cement. He had back surgery in 1982 and again in 1987. In 1988, he received an associate's degree in Human Services, and began working toward his bachelor's degree. However, due to his back pain, he had to withdraw from school. In 1991, an administrative judge awarded him § 34A permanent and total incapacity benefits. (Dec. 2.) 1 This case arises out of the insurer's complaint to modify or discontinue benefits. At a § 10A conference, the administrative judge denied the insurer's complaint, and the insurer appealed to a full hearing, which was held on June 7, 1996. (Dec. 1, 2.) The impartial report of Dr. Bernard Stone was admitted as the sole medical evidence. (Dec.1.) He opined that the employee suffers from a failed back syndrome related to his back injury and surgeries. Dr. Stone advised that the employee should avoid lifting weights of more than twenty pounds, and should refrain from standing in one position for more than ten to fifteen minutes or from sitting in any one position for more than one-half hour. He felt that the employee has a permanent partial disability and concluded that he " 'could probably do some sedentary work.' " (Dec. 3, quoting Statutory Ex. 1.) In finding that the employee remained totally and permanently incapacitated, the judge relied on the employee's report that "he still...