BALDOMERO SANCHEZ-RIVERA, Employee/Appellant,
v.
SWIFT PORK CO. and SEDGWICK CLAIMS MGMT. SERVS., INC., Employer-Insurer/Respondents
and
PRAIRIE REHAB. SERVS., INC., SANFORD HEALTH, CORE ORTHOPEDICS, JOHN PETERSON, and AVERA MED. GROUP, Intervenors.
No. WC18-6182
Minnesota Workers Compensation
Workers’ Compensation Court of Appeals
October 31, 2018
CAUSATION
– SUBSTANTIAL EVIDENCE. Substantial evidence, including
medical records, lay testimony and expert medical opinion,
supported the compensation judge’s findings denying the
employee’s Gillette injury claims.
Robert
M. Maus, Baudler, Maus, Forman & King, LLP, Austin,
Minnesota, for the Appellant.
William G. Laak, McCollum, Crowley, Moschet, Miller &
Laak, Bloomington, Minnesota, for the Respondents.
Determined by: Deborah K. Sundquist, Judge, David A.
Stofferahn, Judge, Gary M. Hall, Judge.
Compensation Judge: Danny P. Kelly
Affirmed.
OPINION
DEBORAH K. SUNDQUIST, Judge.
The
employee appeals the compensation judge’s denial of
wage loss, medical, and vocational rehabilitation benefits.
Substantial evidence supports the compensation judge’s
findings and we, therefore, affirm.
BACKGROUND
Baldomero
Sanchez-Rivera arrived in Baltimore, Maryland from Guatemala
in 2004 with limited proficiency in English, few vocational
skills, and minimal education. After working in jobs
installing siding and laying carpet, the employee moved to
Minnesota and found a job in 2010 with Swift Pork Co./JBS,
the employer. He passed a pre-employment physical and was
hired. He had no history of upper extremity medical treatment
or injury.
The
employee worked primarily boxing meat. The job required him
to assemble boxes of meat on a roller table which was waist
high. Using tape and other materials, he made a box and
placed a pound of ice in it. Meat was then machine loaded
into the box. The employee placed another pound of ice over
the meat and slid the box across the roller table to the
scale. The employee would add meat to the box until the box
weighed 63 pounds. He sealed the box with tape and carried it
to a nearby pallet on which he stacked the 63-pound boxes to
a lift height of 48 inches. Working a daily shift of between
eight and nine hours, the employee handled 170 to 180 boxes
each day.
On July
27, 2016, the employee claimed a cumulative trauma injury to
his bilateral forearms, heels, and right shoulder while doing
his regular job. There was no specific injury identified. The
First Report of Injury indicates that the employee gave
notice to the employer on the same day.
The
employee sought treatment with Charles O. Dike, M.D. at
Sanford Clinic on August 8, 2016, complaining of work-related
right shoulder pain which began three weeks prior. Within a
few weeks, the employee saw orthopedic surgeon Travis R.
Liddell, M.D. and complained of bilateral shoulder and elbow
pain. He saw Dr. Dike in a follow up appointment in September
2016 and received work restrictions limiting his use of the
right arm above the shoulder for one month.
In
November 2016, the employee underwent an MRI of the shoulders
which showed, among other conditions, partial thickness tears
of the supraspinatus tendon bilaterally,
subacromial/subdeltoid bursitis, and a SLAP tear on...
