Tellez v. JBS USA, LLC, 122920 MNWC, WC20-6362

Case DateDecember 29, 2020
CourtMinnesota
MARA TELLEZ, Employee/Respondent,
v.
JBS USA, LLC, and SEDGWICK CLAIMS MGMT. SERVS., INC., Self-Insured Employer/Appellants,
and
SANFORD HEALTH, ORTHOPEDIC INST., and VOCATIONAL RESTORATION SERVS., INC., Intervenors.
No. WC20-6362
Minnesota Workers Compensation
Workers’ Compensation Court of Appeals
December 29, 2020
         GILLETTE INJURY – SUBSTANIAL EVIDENCE. Substantial evidence, including lay testimony, medical records and expert medical opinion, supported the findings of Gillette injuries with respect to the employee’s right shoulder, left carpal tunnel, left trigger fingers, and recurrent right carpal tunnel, culminating in disability on July 23, 2019.           Vincent A. Petersen, Law Offices of Donald F. Noack, Jr., Mound, Minnesota, for the Respondent.           Craig B. Nichols, Sean B. Taylor, Hansen, Dordell, Bradt, Odlaug & Bradt, P.L.L.C., St. Paul, Minnesota, for the Appellants.           Determined by: Patricia J. Milun, Chief Judge, David A. Stofferahn, Judge, Gary M. Hall, Judge           Compensation Judge: Stacy B. Bouman          Affirmed.          OPINION           PATRICIA J. MILUN, Chief Judge.          The self-insured employer appeals from the findings that the employee sustained Gillette[1] injuries to the right shoulder, left carpal tunnel, left trigger fingers, and recurrent right carpal tunnel, culminating in disability on July 23, 2019. We affirm.          BACKGROUND          The employee, Maria Tellez, began working in the meat processing industry in 1986. She is a resident of Worthington, Minnesota.          She started working for the employer, JBS USA, a Worthington meat processing firm, in January 2007 on the employer's "picnic line" trimming hog shoulders. This job required her to use a vibrating "Whizard knife" to remove the skin from pork shoulders that came down a conveyor belt. The job is described as very repetitive. She held the knife in her right hand and grasped a hook in the left hand which was used to move and turn the shoulders as necessary to remove the skin. The shoulders typically weighed from 25 to 30 pounds. She testified that at times, as many as 2,500 shoulders could come down her line during a single shift. The employee stood on an adjustable platform which raised and lowered as needed, but she testified that because she needed to work at the same level as a shorter co-worker to avoid injuries to one another, she rarely used this and generally worked in a slightly hunched forward position. The employee testified that she used her arms extended in front of her through her full shift. She normally worked forty hours a week Monday through Friday with occasional overtime.          The employee acknowledged that none of her repetitive work activities on the picnic line were above chest or at shoulder level. However, when asked whether any of her work activities required her to reach above her head, she testified that sometimes the line would “get stuck and the shoulders [would] stop,” and she would need to “throw them up to unclog the line,” using her hands to lift them up. (T. 64-65.)          The employee sustained an injury to her right hand and wrist on April 18, 2012, when she fell at work and landed on her right hand. The compensation judge below found that this injury was temporary and resolved shortly after the incident. No appeal has been taken from this finding.          On July 11, 2017, the employee saw Dr. Quentin Tanko at Sanford Health Services for numbness and tingling in her right hand. She was diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome due to her repetitive work and was referred for an EMG. The EMG showed findings consistent with right carpal tunnel. On November 20, 2017, after reviewing the EMG results, Dr. Tanko reiterated his view that the employee's carpal tunnel was related to the use of vibrating tools at work. He also diagnosed a cubital tunnel condition but considered it unrelated to the employee’s work activities. The self-insured employer accepted primary liability for the employee’s right carpal tunnel syndrome and she underwent right carpal tunnel release surgery on January 19, 2018. On February 17, 2018, she returned to work with restrictions by Dr. Tanko.          The employee was seen again by Dr. Tanko on March 1, 2018. She reported some continued pain in her right hand, but Dr. Tanko released her to return to work at her regular duties without restrictions.          Dr. Paul Cederberg performed an independent medical evaluation for the self-insured employer on September 21, 2018. He also diagnosed the employee with carpal tunnel syndrome of the right wrist as a result of her use of vibratory tools at work. He also noted a mild adhesive capsulitis of the right shoulder but opined that this would normally be expected to resolve without treatment within 12 to 18 months.          When seen by a certified nurse practitioner on October 19, 2018, the employee was sore over her incision site but denied any pain, numbness, tingling, or weakness in her right hand. The nurse practitioner noted that the self-insured employer had denied recommended occupational therapy, such that the employee was at the end of her care. She suggested the employee massage the area of her surgical scar.          The employee did not have any work restrictions until April 2019. She continued to work in her regular job on the picnic line. She testified that after returning to work on the picnic line her righthand symptoms eventually worsened. She also began feeling that “something was pulling her” and experiencing increased pain in her shoulders. (T. 50-52, 80-81.)          On April 23, 2019, the employee returned to Sanford Health Services where she was seen by Dr. Paul Reynen. She reported that she was experiencing a shock sensation in her right arm and pain into the right shoulder. Dr. Reynen diagnosed residual right carpal tunnel syndrome or median nerve issues, and a possible right shoulder injury. He administered a right shoulder injection and imposed work restrictions which disallowed repetitive work or lifting with the right hand.          Thereafter, the self-insured employer provided the employee with job duties that did not require repetitive use of the right hand...

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