Lamy v. Stahl Speciality Co.

Citation649 S.W.3d 330
Decision Date26 July 2022
Docket NumberWD 85163
Parties Ronald LAMY, Appellant, v. STAHL SPECIALITY COMPANY, Respondent.
CourtCourt of Appeal of Missouri (US)

Jerrold Kenter, Independence, MO, for appellant.

Joseph R. Ebbert, Kansas City, MO, for respondent.

Before Division Three: Cynthia L. Martin, Presiding Judge, Lisa White Hardwick, Judge, W. Douglas Thomson, Judge

Cynthia L. Martin, Judge

Ronald Lamy ("Lamy") appeals from the Labor and Industrial Relations Commission's ("Commission") final award denying his claim for workers’ compensation benefits relating to an injury suffered to his left wrist. Lamy argues on appeal that the Commission erred in concluding that an earlier compromise settlement between Lamy and his employer covered the injury to Lamy's left wrist. Finding no error, we affirm.

Factual and Procedural History1

Lamy began working for Stahl Specialty Company ("Employer"), a company that manufactures automotive and marine parts, in 1987. In June 2017, Lamy filed a claim for compensation with the Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations Division of Workers’ Compensation ("Division of Workers’ Compensation") for an injury related to his "[l]eft upper extremity" suffered on August 26, 2016 ("August 2016 claim"). The August 2016 claim alleged a repetitive injury as follows:

[Lamy], while in the course and scope of his employment suffered an accident, series of accidents or occupational disease while performing foundry processes of repetitive lifting and throwing aluminum which were the prevailing factors in his resultant injuries and disabilities. [Lamy] is entitled to receive and makes demand for such medical care and treatment as will cure and relieve him from the effects of the injuries .... [Lamy] is further entitled to receive and makes demand for temporary total/partial disability benefits ....

Employer referred Lamy to Dr. Gerald McNamara ("Dr. McNamara"). Dr. McNamara examined Lamy on August 31, 2016, five days after the date of the alleged injury to Lamy's upper left extremity. During that visit, Lamy complained of left shoulder pain, and numbness and tingling in his left hand.

After ruling out more conservative treatment options, Dr. McNamara performed surgery on Lamy's left shoulder on October 11, 2016. On October 24, 2016, Dr. McNamara released Lamy to return to right-handed work only, but limited Lamy to lifting no more than ten pounds with his right hand. Dr. McNamara also prescribed physical therapy for Lamy on that date. Lamy had additional follow-up appointments with Dr. McNamara on January 16, 2017, and on February 13, 2017. Following the February 13, 2017 appointment, Dr. McNamara determined that Lamy was ready for work conditioning to prepare him for a full return to work, and released Lamy to work with restrictions that limited lifting with his left arm to five pounds and no higher than shoulder height. In the notes from the February 13, 2017 appointment, Dr. McNamara indicated that Lamy still had carpal tunnel syndrome

in the left wrist that might require future attention.

Following additional outpatient physical therapy and work conditioning, Dr. McNamara released Lamy to work without restrictions on March 13, 2017. Lamy had a follow-up appointment with Dr. McNamara on April 10, 2017, after which Dr. McNamara concluded that Lamy "ha[d] reached maximum medical improvement" and released Lamy from care. Dr. McNamara concluded that Lamy had a 4 percent permanent partial disability to his "left upper extremity" that would not benefit from future medical or prescriptive care.

Lamy's attorney referred Lamy to Dr. James Stuckmeyer ("Dr. Stuckmeyer") for a medical evaluation. Lamy was evaluated by Dr. Stuckmeyer on November 9, 2017. Lamy reported that, while he had returned to regular work, he continued to have ongoing symptoms in his left shoulder. Lamy also reported to Dr. Stuckmeyer that he was experiencing "symptoms of numbness and tingling in [his] left hand, nocturnal awakeness, as well as decreased grip strength." Dr. Stuckmeyer concluded that Lamy required additional treatment, including physical therapy and a repeat arthroscopic procedure

, for his left shoulder. Dr. Stuckmeyer concluded that, without additional treatment, Lamy had a 35 percent permanent partial disability to his left shoulder. Dr. Stuckmeyer also opined that Lamy still had evidence of left carpal tunnel syndrome that was related to Lamy's work activities and that might require future surgical intervention.

After receiving the rating from Dr. McNamara for disability to the left upper extremity and the rating from Dr. Stuckmeyer for disability to the left shoulder, Lamy and Employer entered into a stipulation for compromise settlement ("compromise settlement") of Lamy's August 2016 claim. The compromise settlement provided that Employer would pay Lamy a lump sum of $14,000, representing a 12.5 percent disability rating for Lamy's left shoulder. The compromise settlement expressly provided that it "settle[d] all issues between the parties." The compromise settlement further provided:

THE EMPLOYEE UNDERSTANDS: by entering into this settlement, except as provided by Section 287.140.8, RSMo, the EMPLOYEE is forever closing out this claim under the Missouri Workers’ Compensation Law; that EMPLOYEE will receive no further compensation or medical aid by reason of this accident/disease; that EMPLOYEE has the right to a hearing of the EMPLOYEE'S claim, which may result in EMPLOYEE receiving more money or less money than is provided by this settlement; that EMPLOYER/INSURER and/or SECOND INJURY FUND is/are released from all liability for this accident/disease upon approval by the Administrative Law Judge .... The PARTIES by their signatures below agree to the settlement, and the PARTIES request and recommend that this settlement be approved and that the settlement is in accordance with the rights of the parties. The EMPLOYER and EMPLOYEE indicate that the settlement is not the result of undue influence or fraud; the EMPLOYEE fully understands his/her rights and benefits; and the EMPLOYEE voluntarily agrees to accept the terms of the agreement.

Lamy initialed to indicate that he had "full awareness of the consequences of this settlement as set out above." Lamy, his counsel, and Employer's counsel signed the compromise settlement, and an administrative law judge ("ALJ") approved the compromise settlement on May 2, 2018.

Lamy filed a second workers’ compensation claim on June 26, 2018, alleging that on February 13, 2017, Lamy suffered an injury to his left wrist ("February 2017 claim"). February 13, 2017, was the date on which Dr. McNamara noted that Lamy still suffered from left carpal tunnel syndrome

that might require future attention. As had been the case with the August 2016 claim, the February 2017 claim alleged a repetitive workplace injury as follows:

[Lamy], while in the course and scope of his employment suffered an accident, series of accidents or occupational disease while performing foundry processes of repetitive lifting and throwing aluminum which were the prevailing factors in his resultant injuries and disabilities. [Lamy] is entitled to receive and makes demand for such medical care and treatment as will cure and relieve him from the effects of the injuries .... [Lamy] is further entitled to receive and makes demand for temporary total/partial disability benefits ....

In response to the February 2017 claim, Employer again referred Lamy to Dr. McNamara. Lamy was then scheduled for surgery on the left wrist. On August 19, 2019, a few days prior to the scheduled surgery, Dr. McNamara wrote a letter to the Employer's adjuster. In the letter, Dr. McNamara noted that Lamy had complained of numbness and tingling in his left-hand in August 2016, and that treatment for Lamy's left hand "was put on hold while he recovered from shoulder surgery." Dr. McNamara opined that Lamy's current complaints about his left hand were related to the repetitive work injury that had been the subject of the August 2016 claim. Lamy's scheduled surgery was cancelled.

Lamy retained Dr. Anne Rosenthal ("Dr. Rosenthal") to conduct a medical evaluation and to review his medical records in July 2020. Dr. Rosenthal concluded that Lamy sustained a work-related injury on February 13, 2017, that was the prevailing factor in causing left carpal tunnel syndrome

. Dr. Rosenthal's report did note that Lamy had first reported numbness and tingling in the left hand when he was seen by Dr. McNamara in August of 2016. Dr. Rosenthal was not aware that Lamy was not using his left hand from October 2016 (when he had left shoulder surgery) until he was released to work without restrictions in March 2017. Dr. Rosenthal relied on Dr. McNamara's February 13, 2017 medical notes acknowledging that Lamy had left carpal tunnel syndrome to conclude that Lamy sustained a work-related injury on February 13, 2017.

On May 4, 2021, an ALJ heard Lamy's February 2017 claim. Among the issues before the ALJ was whether Lamy's "request for medical benefits and compensation [was] barred by the prior settlement of the August 26, 2016 ... injury." Lamy testified at the hearing, and the ALJ received Lamy's medical records, Lamy's August 2016 claim, and the compromise settlement as exhibits.

The ALJ issued a written decision on July 8, 2021, denying Lamy's claim ("ALJ Award"). The ALJ Award made multiple findings of fact, including a finding that Dr. McNamara's opinions were more credible than Dr. Rosenthal's opinions. The ALJ Award thus credited Dr. McNamara's opinion that the prevailing factor for Lamy's left carpal tunnel syndrome

was the same as the prevailing factor for his left shoulder injury: the repetitive work activities that gave rise to the August 2016 claim. The ALJ Award noted that Lamy voluntarily elected to settle his August 2016 claim with the knowledge that both Dr. McNamara and Dr. Stuckmeyer had diagnosed him with left carpal tunnel syndrome

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