Welke v. General Motors Corp., 120106 MIWC, 2007-531

Case DateDecember 01, 2006
CourtMichigan
THOMAS WELKE SS # xxx Plaintiff,
v.
GENERAL MOTORS CORP, SELF-INSURED, Defendant.
No. 2007-531
Michigan Workers Compensation
State of Michigan Department of Labor & Economic Growth Workers’ Compensation Agency Board of Magistrates
December, 2006
         The social security number and dates of birth have been redacted from this opinion.           Trial was held on September 28 2006 in Flint, Genesee County Michigan. The trial was continued to 11/8/06 for receipt of wage information considering the alleged 2001 injury, and to receive an additional deposition transcript into evidence. On 11/8/06, the record is closed having received stipulations pertaining to the wages, and having received the deposition of Dr. Weir taken on 11/1/06.           THE PLAINTIFF Michael P Doud, P 55491, for Plaintiff.           THE DEFENDANT George Wyatt, P 25492, for Defendant.           OPINION           MICHAEL T. HARRIS, MAGISTRATE, 199, JUDGE          THE CLAIM          STIPULATIONS:
1. The parties are subject to the Michigan compensation laws on the dates of injury alleged, 2/18/04.
2. The defendant was self-insured.
3. Plaintiff was in the employ of defendant on the date of injury alleged.
4. No prejudice is claimed for lack of any timely, formal notice.
5. Claim was made according to statute.
6. Plaintiff’s wage was $984.81 and that wage produces a compensation rate of $582.42.
7. There is no dual employment.
8. The tax status is married, filing joint, with no dependents.
         ISSUES:
1. Whether plaintiff met with personal injury arising out of and in the course of his employment on or about the date alleged, 2/18/04.
2. Whether a disability resulted from the alleged injury.
3. Whether a wage loss has been incurred, and if so, the term and amount of compensation to be paid as a result.
4. Plaintiff’s entitlement to medical expenses and treatment.
5. Whether any benefits were paid or furnished for which coordination or offset would be appropriate under Section 354 or 358.
         SUMMARY OF THE EVIDENCE          THOMAS WELKE, a 61 year old man, said he has claimed his wife as a dependent on his taxes for all the time they have been married. She works as a secretary at Saginaw State University and does get paid for it.[1]He graduated high school, attended MSU one year, and then went to work for GM in 1964. His pre-employment physical was uneventful. His first job was as a machinist, cutting the pinions for rack and pinion steering. It required standing on cement floors all day. They later went to wood platforms.          Plaintiff went into the military in August 1965 until May 1967. He served in Vietnam as a helicopter mechanic and went back to GM in June. He ran the same machines until June 1978.          In 1978 plaintiff was offered an opportunity to go into skilled trades as a machine repairman. The program was a 6 year program and he worked with a journeyman until he was able to do it himself. He also took math and hydraulics and blueprint reading courses. He also took a physics course and an industrial safety course for this job.          The types of machines he was repairing were metal lathes, and they varied greatly in size and type.          The repair job involved lots of standing, working on ladders, some crawling, some squatting and working in awkward positions and lifting. He had to lift gears, bearings, and shafts. He had a toolbox that had wheels and he could push it from machine to machine. He was pushing this on concrete floors. The job activity was heavy for the most part.          The first time plaintiff developed a problem with his knees was in 1979. He was drilling out something and had to get up on the machine and it clamped down on his foot. It jerked him off his feet and he experienced pain in his right foot and knee.. He received treatment at the plant for these problems and did not miss work.          As plaintiff continued to work his knees would swell by the end of the day. He did not complain very often. He got his journeyman card in 1984 and was sent to a different area, repairing grinding machines. This area had cement floors and wood platforms. Usually, when a machine repair call was made, it involved an oil spill, and plaintiff occasionally slipped in this oil while doing his job. The activities were essentially the same as his lathe repair was.          Plaintiff had lots of overtime, and in fact sometimes worked 12 hours a day, 7 days a week. These long hours seemed to make his knees hurt more.          Eventually, plaintiff sought treatment for his knees outside and inside the plant. The inside people told him to see his family doctor and gave him some elastic bands that didn’t really help. Dr. Whiting was his family doctor and his records are in evidence. They show the right knee giving out in 1999, and plaintiff said this happened at work, while pushing his toolbox or walking to the job. Dr. Whiting took him off work and told him to use a knee brace and crutches. There was left knee pain as well as right but the left was not so bad.          Plaintiff was referred to Dr. Weir by his family doctor. He gave Dr. Weir a history of slipping and falling at work. He underwent a surgery and the knee was a bit better, but still not good. He returned eventually to work without restrictions. He may have worked for a while with restrictions first. His job duties remained the same. Gradually, the knees got a little worse and a little worse.          In early 2001, he was getting out of his car in the parking lot, slipped down, and injured his knees.. After that, he got worse. He followed up with Dr. Weir and got gradually worse. He requested a handicap pass in 2002 and got it. In fact, he probably had one before that, maybe two or three years earlier.          In addition to his knees problems he had foot problems too. One of his feet went out to the right, he said.          As his knees worsened, he had a surgery in February 2003 by Dr. Weir. That was the left knee. In April 2003 he returned to work without restrictions. Had he been assigned restrictions, there would maybe have been a problem in his coming back to work.          His knees kept getting worse and were swollen at the end of the day. In February 2004 he had a knee replacement by Dr. Weir and was not allowed to come back to work because of his restrictions. He also had his left knee replaced in January 2005.          Currently, plaintiff receives social security disability and his disability pension with GM.          Plaintiff says he filled out sickness and accident forms in 2003 and 2004 and on question 9, he answered no that his claim was not caused by employment. He says he checked no because he didn’t really understand how this worked, plus he believed people who told him he couldn’t draw comp because there was no accident.          Plaintiff said his evaluation by Dr. Gonte lasted about 5 minutes. He was not asked for a job description, a history of the injury, or even whether any of the problems were caused by work activity.          Plaintiff tries to stay active in his retirement. He tries to golf once a week and often uses a cart. He does yard work, and rides a riding lawn mower. He insulated and dry-walled his garage.          Activities that cause the knees to worsen include lawn mowing, because sitting makes his knees sore. Prolonged walking and standing make his knees worse.          Plaintiff loved his GM job and didn’t want to leave it. As he sits here today, he doesn’t think he could do his job with his restrictions. He was never offered a job by GM within his restrictions but thinks he could work within them.          Plaintiff acknowledges receiving S & A and EDB benefits and his disability retirement.          CROSS: plaintiff admits there is a separate question on the GM forms that...

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