COURT OF APPEALS DECISION DATED AND FILED September 15, 2009 David
R. Schanker Clerk of Court of Appeals |
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NOTICE |
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This opinion is subject to further editing. If published, the official version will appear in the bound volume of the Official Reports. A party may file with the Supreme Court a petition to review an adverse decision by the Court of Appeals. See Wis. Stat. § 808.10 and Rule 809.62. |
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APPEAL
from an order of the circuit court for
Before Curley, P.J., Fine and Kessler, JJ.
¶1 Kessler, J. Aurora Health Care Metro,
Inc., and Sentry Insurance A Mutual Co. (collectively, “Aurora”) appeal from a
circuit court order affirming a decision of the Labor and Industry Review
Commission (“LIRC”) that awarded worker’s compensation benefits to Bernadette
Morgan.
BACKGROUND
¶2 Morgan worked as a nursing assistant for fourteen years, the
final seven years at
¶3
¶4
The applicant testified that her left shoulder symptoms and pain came on insidiously while she was in the hospital for a nonwork-related incident…. [H]er treating physicians were not interested in her shoulder symptoms at that time since they were concentrating on her stroke-like event…. The applicant’s left shoulder symptoms continued and worsened subsequent to her release from the hospital … and she sought treatment with … her family physician.
Ultimately, Morgan had surgery to repair her shoulder.
¶5 LIRC also noted that Morgan in her testimony denied that “there was any occurrence at work which injured her left shoulder on February 4, 2005.” LIRC acknowledged that Morgan had previously filled out an incident report in March 2005 concerning her work on February 4, 2005. In that incident report, Morgan said she injured her left shoulder and indicated in the narrative description that “she was moving a patient and the patient pulled back from her, and was not cooperative in helping her.” LIRC acknowledged Morgan’s explanation for filling out the incident report: “[W]hen she went to report her left shoulder symptoms to the employer’s health department they insisted that she describe her last day of work which she did in the work incident report.”
¶6 On April 28, 2005, Morgan underwent repair surgery for her left rotator cuff tear with Dr. William Pennington, an orthopedic surgeon. Dr. Pennington offered written opinions concerning the cause of Morgan’s injury, both in correspondence and in the medical records. LIRC said that in Dr. Pennington’s most recent opinion, the doctor noted that there had been confusion concerning the cause of Morgan’s injury. LIRC explained:
Dr. Pennington noted the applicant was a young individual who did not participate in any physical activities other than work and she had a full thickness tear which was significant for a person of her age. Dr. Pennington noted the onset of the applicant’s shoulder pain while she was in the hospital for a nonrelated issue. Dr. Pennington stated that she had previously offered a letter stating it was difficult to ascertain a direct cause of her shoulder pain due to the fact that she just immediately started complaining of this pain while she was in the hospital. Dr. Pennington said that in reviewing the applicant’s history that she has provided in the past, as well as reviewing her previous notes, the applicant by history states that she told her physicians that there was pain in her shoulder but she never had anyone pay any attention to it.
Dr. Pennington stated the applicant did not have any trauma to cause her left shoulder pain. She did not participate in any physical activities other than her employment and she was responsible for lifting multiple patients and this happened over a period of time. Dr. Pennington stated that at the applicant’s young age to have a full-thickness rotator cuff tear it was certainly medically probable that an injury had to have occurred in the absence of any other real trauma, and it would be his medical opinion [that] certainly the rotator cuff tear likely occurred due to the repetitive type of injuries she was being exposed to during the course of her occupation.
¶7 The evidence LIRC summarized also included a report from Dr. Hardeep S. Ahuja, another of Morgan’s physicians. Dr. Ahuja “indicated the applicant suffers from limited use of the left shoulder which limits her daily activities, and the disability was due to an aggravation, acceleration and precipitation of her preexisting condition beyond its normal progression with a date of injury of February 7, 2005.”
¶8 LIRC also reviewed the opinion of
¶9 LIRC affirmed the ALJ’s determination, noting that it agreed with the ALJ that Morgan was a credible witness. LIRC summarized its findings:
Given the applicant’s long history of strenuous work as a nursing assistant and given the applicant’s credible testimony of the nature and onset of her shoulder pain on February 7, 2005, and based on Dr. Ahuja’s report as well as Dr. Pennington’s reports[,] the evidence was sufficient to establish that the applicant suffered a work-related shoulder injury and is entitled to worker’s compensation benefits.
¶10 LIRC also addressed
Dr. Pennington opined ... [that] the applicant will need further treatment. Dr. Pennington indicated that the applicant will continue to be treated as needed … [and] seen as needed.
The applicant testified that she continues to have problems with her shoulder…. [S]he had been terminated by the employer in July 2006. The evidence does not indicate that the applicant has worked for any other employer since February 2005. The commission finds that the applicant is still convalescing[,] suffering from her work injury and submitting to treatment…. Based on the record presented the commission is unable to determine that the applicant has reached the healing plateau and is no longer eligible for temporary total disability benefits.
¶11
STANDARD OF REVIEW
¶12 On appeal, we review LIRC’s decision, rather than the circuit
court’s. See Stoughton Trailers, Inc. v. LIRC, 2007 WI 105, ¶26, 303
DISCUSSION
¶13
I. LIRC’s finding concerning the
cause of Morgan’s injury.
¶14
To be clear, this is not an argument that the court should reverse LIRC’s findings based on a determination that the great weight and clear preponderance of the evidence contradicts those findings, nor is it an argument that a reviewing court should weigh conflicting credible evidence to determine which evidence should be believed. Instead, the court should examine the evidence upon which LIRC relies for its findings, within the context of the entire record, and determine whether such evidence is credible, relevant, evidentiary in nature, and not merely conjecture or speculation.
¶15 With this in mind,
LIRC essentially bases its finding on three evidentiary factors, each of which are either obviously speculative or clearly in error. These are: the nature and onset of Morgan’s shoulder pain; Morgan’s history of strenuous work as a nursing assistant; and Dr. Ahuja’s and Dr. Pennington’s medical reports.
¶16 First,
¶17 LIRC disagrees. In its brief on appeal it reasons that “[a]lthough Morgan’s work duties over the years were causing damage and injury to her shoulder, she was not aware of that damage or injury until it manifested itself in the hospital when she simply rolled over in bed.” LIRC further explains:
[M]erely because Morgan did not exhibit symptomatology that was significant enough to warrant treatment, or failed to appreciate the condition of her shoulder, does not mean that there was nothing wrong with her shoulder. Many conditions develop and progress “insidiously” without any outward signs or indications of their existence. Simply because the onset of pain happened while away from work does not mean that Morgan’s work duties did not play a material contributory role in the condition’s onset or progression.
¶18 We agree with LIRC. An applicant can only testify to what she experiences. Whether her shoulder was actually injured, and the cause of that injury, are questions for the medical experts. Here, as LIRC aptly notes, Dr. Pennington clearly believed that the condition was present due to Morgan’s work duties.
¶19 Next,
¶20 Finally,
¶21
¶22 In summary, we reject
II. LIRC’s finding concerning Morgan’s ongoing temporary
total disability.
¶23
¶24 LIRC specifically found that all four of the factors outlined
above were met. However,
¶25 We conclude there is credible and substantial evidence in the record to sustain LIRC’s finding that Morgan “will need further treatment” and “will continue to be treated as needed.” First, Dr. Pennington explicitly offered those opinions and LIRC found his opinion credible. Second, although LIRC did not discuss it in its opinion, Morgan testified that she did follow up with Dr. Pennington by telephone sometime “between the fall and winter” of 2006. She said she called him “[b]ecause that’s my doctor and I needed to talk with him about the little ache[s] and pains that I’m still having. And they’re not severe but they’re noticeable.” Finally, the legal standard does not require that Morgan continue to see the same doctor; it requires only that she is submitting to treatment and convalescing. LIRC’s determination is adequately supported by the record.
¶26 For the foregoing reasons, we affirm the circuit court order affirming LIRC’s decision awarding Morgan worker’s compensation benefits.
By the Court.—Order affirmed.
Not recommended for publication in the official reports.