KEVIN THOMAS (Appellee)
v.
UNITED AMBULANCE SERVICE (Appellant)
and
MAINE EMPLOYERS’ MUTUAL INSURANCE CO. (Insurer)
Decision No. 21-10
No. A.D. 18-0031
Maine Workers Compensation Decisions
State of Maine Workers’ Compensation Board
March 16, 2021
Conference held: February 6, 2019
Attorney for Appellant: Matthew W. Marett, Esq. MEMIC
Attorney for Appellee: Christopher J. Cotnoir, Esq.
Workers’ Compensation Board Employee Advocate Division
PANEL
MEMBERS: Administrative Law Judges Collier, Elwin, and Knopf
Knopf,
Administrative Law Judge.
[¶1]
United Ambulance Service appeals from a Workers’
Compensation Board administrative law judge (Goodnough,
ALJ) decision granting Kevin Thomas’s Petition for
Award and granting in part his Petition for Payment of
Medical and Related Services. United Ambulance contends that
the ALJ erred in determining that an August 14, 2016,
injury1 arose out of and in the course of
employment even though the injury manifested off the
employer’s premises when Mr. Thomas was not working. We
disagree and affirm the decision.
I.
BACKGROUND
[¶2]
Mr. Thomas worked at United Ambulance as a dispatcher
beginning in 2004. Although he was promoted to supervisor, he
continued to do full-time dispatching. Mr. Thomas estimated
that he handled 230 to 240 calls per day. He worked ten-hour
days, four days a week plus frequent overtime, in a highly
stressful environment. He worked in a fixed-posture position
performing repetitive movements using a telephone and
keyboard.
[¶3]
Mr. Thomas’s employment with United Ambulance was
terminated in March 2017 for reasons unrelated to the injury,
and he has returned to his prior occupation, truck driving.
[¶4]
On August 14, 2016, Mr. Thomas was at home, reaching over his
bathtub with an arm extended, when he felt a
“pop” and immediately felt pain in his neck and
left shoulder. He was treated at the emergency department and
diagnosed with a thoracic strain. He was ultimately diagnosed
with cervical disc herniations at C5-6 and C6-7. He pursued a
workers’ compensation claim, contending his cervical
disc problems were caused by his employment.
[¶5]
Mr. Thomas underwent an independent medical examination by
Dr. Bradford (IME), pursuant to 39-A M.R.S.A. § 312(7)
(Pamph. 2020). Based on Dr. Bradford’s opinion, the ALJ
concluded that Mr. Thomas sustained a compensable injury to
his cervical spine, finding that the 2016 the injury
“occurred gradually due to repetitive computer
activities and static posturing while functioning as a
dispatcher over many years.” He further reasoned that
the bathtub incident was the culmination of a delayed-onset
work injury rather than a nonwork-related event.
[¶6]
The ALJ granted the petitions and awarded the protection of
the Act for the 2016 cervical spine injury, and payment of
related medical bills. United Ambulance filed a Motion for
additional findings of fact and conclusions of law, which the
ALJ granted. The ALJ issued additional findings but did not
change the outcome. United Ambulance appeals.
II.
DISCUSSION
A.
Standard of Review
[¶7]
The Appellate Division accords deference to ALJ decisions
addressing whether an injury is compensable under the Act.
See Cox v. Coastal Prods. Co., Inc., 2001 ME 100,
¶ 12, 774 A.2d 347; Moore v. Pratt & Whitney
Aircraft, 669 A.2d 156, 158 (Me. 1995). The ALJ’s
findings of fact are not subject to appeal. 39-A M.R.S.A.
§ 321-B(2) (Pamph. 2020). “[O]ur role on appeal is
limited to assuring that the [ALJ’s] . . . decision
involved no misconception of applicable law and that the
application of the law to the facts was neither arbitrary nor
without rational foundation.” Moore, 669 A.2d
at 158 (quotation marks omitted).
B.
Arising Out of and in the Course of Employment
[¶8]
At issue is whether Mr. Thomas’s injury arose out of
and in the course of his employment pursuant to 39-A M.R.S.A.
§ 201 (Pamph. 2020). “An injury arises out of and
in the course of employment when there is a sufficient
connection between the injury and the...
