CINDY WOLFF, Employee,
v.
ZERCOM and ST. PAUL FIRE & MARINE INS. CO., Employer-Insurer,
and
ZERCOM and AETNA/TRAVELERS INS. CO., Employer-Insurer/Appellants.
Minnesota Workers Compensation
Workers' Compensation Court of Appeals
February 2, 1999
HEADNOTES
CAUSATION
- GILLETTE INJURY; GILLETTE INJURY - DATE
OF INJURY. Where the employee's treating physician
opined that the employee's condition resulted from
repetitive work activities, and the condition was first
diagnosed on July 25, 1995, the compensation judge was
supported by substantial evidence in finding that the
employee had sustained a Gillette injury culminating
on July 25, 1995.
GILLETTE
INJURY - MULTIPLE EMPLOYERS-INSURERS. Where the employer
changed workers' compensation insurers 25 days before the
culmination of the employee's Gillette injury,
the compensation judge is required to find that the
employee's work activities during that 25 days were a
substantial contributing cause of the Gillette
injury before the new insurer can be held responsible for
benefits as a result of the Gillette injury.
Affirmed
in part and remanded in part.
Determined by Wheeler, C.J., Wilson, J., and Hefte, J.
Compensation Judge: Carol A. Eckersen
OPINION
STEVEN
D. WHEELER, Judge
The
employer and its insurer prior to July 1, 1995,
Aetna/Travelers, hereinafter Aetna, appeal from the
compensation judge's finding that the employee sustained
a Gillette-type
1 injury in the nature of right first
dorsal compartment tenosynovitis, otherwise known as de
Quervain's disease, culminating on July 25, 1995.
BACKGROUND
The
employee, Cindy Wolff, commenced working for the employer
Zercom on June 11, 1991 as an assembler. At the time the
employee was 31 years of age. The parties stipulated
that for purposes of calculating the employee's weekly
wage that she regularly worked a 36-hour week. All of
the positions that the employee engaged in required her to
continuously grasp and handle circuit boards on a highly
repetitive basis. Prior to May 25, 1993, the employee
never experienced any problems, difficulties or symptoms with
her right or left upper extremities.
On May
25, 1993, the employee was working in the "lead trimmer
job" when her right hand came in contact with an exposed
electric wire. The electrical jolt knocked the employee
to the ground, may have caused a brief period of loss of
consciousness and caused a burn on the back of her right
hand. The employee testified that she immediately felt
tingling and a "strange feeling" in her right hand.
The
employee sought treatment from Dr. Macy at St. Joseph's
Hospital in Brainerd on May 26, 1993. Subsequently she
was referred to Dr. James M. Smith, an orthopedic surgeon at
Midsota Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons in St. Cloud,
hereinafter Midsota. She first was examined by Dr. Smith
on June 7, 1993. On examination Dr. Smith found "a
five to eight millimeter, slightly raised, very superficial,
excorciated area on the dorsal aspect" of the
employee's right hand. The employee reported to Dr.
Smith that within a few days of the electrocution accident
she noted increased swelling and discomfort around "the
dorsal aspect of the right hand overlying the index MPC joint
area." Dr. Smith's notes indicate that he
advised the employee that electrocution injuries are
"very unpredictable." He provided the employee
with anti-inflammatory medication and indicated to her that
surgical procedures would be unnecessary at that
point. (Pet. Ex. A, office note of 6/7/93.)
On June
25, 1993, the employee was seen by Dr. Thomas L. Satterberg,
also with Midsota, for a plastic surgery consult at St.
Joseph's Hospital in Brainerd. Dr. Satterberg
prescribed a special protective glove for the employee to
wear during her work activities. The employee was seen
on follow-up at St. Joseph's on July 23, 1993 by Dr. Paul
M. Heath, also with Midsota Plastic Surgeons. On
examination the employee complained of some intermittent
sharp shooting pain as well as aching pain which was
persistent for some days. She indicated that her pain
waxed and waned. Dr. Heath recommended that the employee
continue to wear the protective glove while at
work. (Pet. Ex. C, records from St. Joseph's.)
The
employee returned to see Dr. Smith on August 30, 1993, at
which time she complained of discomfort and pain in the area
of the electrocution. Also on that date Dr. Smith
prepared a permanency rating, indicating that the employee
had a zero percent permanent partial disability (PPD) rating
as a result of her electrocution burn. (Pet. Ex. A,
office notes from Midsota.)
The
employee testified that after returning to work in May 1993
she was given a light duty job working on the
"Ragen" machine. This work did not involve
heavy lifting or handling vibrating tools or objects. It
did, however, require frequent grasping of parts to be placed
for the assembly process. The employee testified that
even on the Ragen machine she continued to have intermittent
tingling, pain and weakness in her right wrist which affected
her ability to perform her work for the
employer. Although she did not miss any time from work,
she indicated that work activity aggravated the pain in her
hand which continued to increase in frequency and intensity
over time. She stated she frequently reported her
difficulties to her supervisor, Mary, at the employer.
The
employee did not seek additional medical treatment until
April 22, 1994, when she again saw Dr. Heath at St.
Joseph's Hospital. Dr. Health's notes reflect
the following history from the employee:
[C]ontinued to have discomfort in her hand and now in the
upper forearm, at least as much, if not more, than she did
when she was seen last August. She indicates that most
of the pain is over the metacarpals, particularly the second
and third. This is made worse when she dorsiflexes or
flexes her wrists, or grasps anything very heavy. She
occasionally has a shooting pain up her forearm. She
describes that pain as sharp type pain that comes and goes,
but may last for up to half an hour at a time.
Dr.
Heath indicated that he would discuss the employee's
situation with his partners, Dr. Smith, who had seen the
employee in the summer of 1993, and Dr. Paul W.
Schultz. Thereafter the employee was scheduled for a
bone scan and an EMG, both of which were accomplished on May
6, 1994...
