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...