Kraft v. Flathead Valley Labor & Contractors

• Citation: 243 Mont. 363,792 P.2d 1094
• Decision Date: 24 May 1990
• Docket Number: No. 89-425,89-425
• Parties: Gregory KRAFT, Claimant and Appellant, v. FLATHEAD VALLEY LABOR & CONTRACTORS, Employer, and State Compensation Insurance Fund, Defendant and Respondent.
• Court: Montana Supreme Court

Page 1094

792 P.2d 1094

243 Mont. 363

Gregory KRAFT, Claimant and Appellant, v. FLATHEAD VALLEY LABOR & CONTRACTORS, Employer and State Compensation Insurance Fund, Defendant and Respondent.

No. 89-425.

Supreme Court of Montana.

Submitted on Briefs April 5, 1990.

Decided May 24, 1990.

John H. Bothe, Bothe & Lauridsen, Columbia Falls, for claimant and appellant.

Norman C. Peterson, Asst. Atty. Gen., Helena, for defendant and respondent.

McDONOUGH, Justice.

Claimant, Gregory Kraft, appeals the judgment of the Workers' Compensation Court which denied him benefits for carpal tunnel syndrome. The lower court found that claimant failed to carry his burden of proving that a compensable claim existed. We reverse and remand.

The sole issue is:

Whether the Hearing Examiner's finding that the claimant's carpal tunnel condition is not a compensable injury under the Workers' Compensation Act is supported by substantial evidence.

The claimant, Mr. Kraft, was 29 years old at the time of trial. He has spent a substantial portion of his career working in various lumber mills. In 1982, Mr. Kraft was employed by Lumber Enterprises in Bozeman, Montana. While in employment for that company, he suffered a carpal tunnel condition to his right wrist. This injury was incurred due to the repetitive nature of Mr. Kraft's work, which consisted of working on a machine called the green chain. In order to relieve the pressure on his right wrist, which resulted from the condition, Mr. Kraft underwent surgery. After approximately eight weeks he returned to work at Lumber Enterprises, and drove a forklift.

In 1985, Mr. Kraft began working at F.H. Stoltze Land and Lumber Company in Columbia Falls, Montana, as a contract laborer for Flathead Valley Labor Contractors. He was initially assigned to pull dry chain, which required that he pull approximately 1,500 boards an hour as they came through the trim saws. Mr. Kraft worked the dry chain constantly over an 8 to 9 hour shift five days a week.

By October of 1986, both of Mr. Kraft's wrists began to bother him. The pain in his wrists gradually increased until March of 1987. At that time, he was given the option of transferring to a clean up position. In order to bring some relief to his wrists, Mr. Kraft exercised that option. The job change reduced his wrist pain, however, the pain has remained basically the same since that change.

Although the clean up job brought relief to Mr. Kraft's wrists, it exacerbated a prior back injury. In June of 1987, he was offered a full time position with Stoltze. As a result, he underwent a physical examination. Mr. Kraft failed this examination because of back problems (congenital scoliosis) and, therefore, was not hired. He continued to work clean up crew as a contract laborer. However, as time went on his back condition worsened and he was finally forced to quit on July 23, 1987.

Following Mr. Kraft's termination of work he was treated by Dr. Paul Ruttle on July 28, 1987, for his complaints of low back and bilateral wrist pain. It was eventually determined that his wrist pain was caused by bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome.

Mr. Kraft filed a claim with the Division of Workers' Compensation on July 20, 1987 In that claim, he sought compensation for his wrists and his back. The Division disputed the claim, and the matter was heard by the Workers' Compensation Court on June 1, 1988. The Hearing Examiner found that as to the carpal tunnel condition, Mr. Kraft failed to carry his burden of proving that a compensable claim existed. He also found that although Mr. Kraft had suffered an injury in the form of microtraumas to his low back, the condition was not compensable under the Workers' Compensation Act, but was more properly brought under the Occupational Disease Act.

Mr. Kraft filed a motion for rehearing. The motion was denied. He filed a Notice of Appeal and appealed only that portion of the judgment dealing with the carpal tunnel condition.

Findings of the Workers' Compensation Court will not be overturned if there is substantial evidence to support them. Steffes v. 93 Leasing Co., Inc. (1978), 177 Mont 83, 580 P.2d 450. However, findings and conclusions of the lower court "may not stand where there is a clear preponderance of the evidence against such findings or conclusions when viewed in the light most favorable to the prevailing party." Hert v. J.J. Newberry (1978), 178 Mont. 355, 359, 584 P.2d 656, 658.

The facts of this case do not support the lower court's conclusion that Gregory Kraft's carpal tunnel condition was not a compensable injury under the Workers' Compensation Act. See Secs. 39-71-101, et seq. The Hearing Examiner found that when Kraft began working at the Stoltze mill in 1986, he was not experiencing any problems with his wrists. Following his assignment to the dry chain, Mr. Kraft began to experience pain in both wrists, however. Eventually, he switched to the clean up crew, because he felt that the job would be easier and would help him avoid repetitive grasping motions which aggravated his condition. Following this job change, Mr. Kraft experienced relief from the symptoms of his carpal tunnel condition.

These findings are bolstered by the testimony of Dr. John V. Stephens, who treated Mr. Kraft for both his back and his wrist injuries. Dr. Stephens testified that the carpal tunnel condition was probably caused by Mr. Kraft's job duties on the dry chain. He further testified that due to Mr Kraft's prior right carpal tunnel condition, he was predisposed to suffer the same condition in his left wrist. None of this evidence was effectively rebutted by the defense.

The defense maintains that Kraft failed to prove that his injuries were the...