No. 04680696 (1999). EMPLOYEE: Mabel Cannon.

• Case Date: September 09, 1999
• Court: Massachusetts

Massachusetts Workers Compensation 1999. No. 04680696 (1999). EMPLOYEE: Mabel Cannon COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS DEPARTMENT OF INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS EMPLOYEE: Mabel Cannon EMPLOYER:M.B.T.A. INSURER: M.B.T.A.BOARD NO. 04680696REVIEWING BOARD DECISION (Judges Levine, Carroll and Maze-Rothstein)APPEARANCES Michael J. Powell, Jr., Esq., for the Employee at hearing and on brief Kerri A. Morrissey, Esq., for the Self-Insurer at hearing Morgan J. Gray, Esq., and Michael E. Scott, Esq., for the Self-Insurer on brief LEVINE, J. The self-insurer appeals the decision of an administrative judge in which the employee was awarded § 34 and § 35 benefits, medical and psychological expenses and legal fees and expenses. We affirm the administrative judge's decision. Mabel Cannon, the employee, was fifty-two years old at the time of the hearing. She is a single mother of five and has a ninth-grade education. Her prior work experience consists of employment as a nurse's aide, a homemaker and an inspector of various camera parts. (Dec. 4.) In 1988, she commenced employment as a bus driver for the M.B.T.A. Years prior to her M.B.T.A. employment, the employee began a long-term, live-in relationship with James Ingram, who, coincidentally, was also an M.B.T.A. employee. The relationship with Mr. Ingram terminated in 1996. Id. Due to threatening telephone calls in October 1996, the employee obtained a restraining order against Mr. Ingram. (Dec. 4-5.) On Thanksgiving Day, 1996, Mr. Ingram, who was off-duty at the time, boarded an M.B.T.A. bus operated by the employee. The employee proceeded on her usual route with Mr. Ingram as a passenger. (Dec. 5.) At some point during the trip, Mr. Ingram asked the employee to reconcile. When the employee declined, Mr. Ingram attacked the employee with a knife. The employee was stabbed in the neck and the chest. In addition, the employee sustained a laceration to her right hand. (Dec. 5.) The employee was hospitalized at Beth Israel Hospital for six days. The employee has residual physical problems, and at the time of the hearing, was scheduled for restorative surgery. She receives on-going psychiatric care. (Dec. 6.) Initially, the self-insurer paid the employee § 34 benefits, without prejudice. These benefits were terminated in May 1997 after a light-duty job was offered. The employee filed a claim for further...