Oscar Mayer Foods Corp. v. Tasler

• Citation: 483 N.W.2d 824
• Decision Date: 15 April 1992
• Docket Number: No. 90-1650,90-1650
• Parties: OSCAR MAYER FOODS CORPORATION, Appellant, v. Debbie TASLER, Appellee.
• Court: United States State Supreme Court of Iowa

Page 824

483 N.W.2d 824

OSCAR MAYER FOODS CORPORATION, Appellant, v. Debbie TASLER, Appellee.

No. 90-1650.

Supreme Court of Iowa.

April 15, 1992.

Harry W. Dahl, Des Moines, for appellant.

Wayne H. McKinney, Jr. of McKinney Law Offices, P.C., Waukee, for appellee.

Considered by HARRIS, P.J., and LARSON, LAVORATO, NEUMAN, and SNELL, JJ.

SNELL, Justice.

Appellee, Debbie Tasler, seeks review of a court of appeals decision that reversed an award of workers' compensation pursuant to Iowa Code chapter 85. Tasler filed five separate petitions with the Industrial Commissioner, each seeking compensation for injuries allegedly sustained during the course of her employment with appellant, Oscar Mayer Foods Corporation. The five petitions were consolidated and considered in an arbitration hearing wherein the Commissioner concluded that, although none of the five injuries constituted a compensable disability when considered separately, together the five injuries constituted a "cumulative, repetitive, overuse type of injury," for which workers' compensation was due. Accordingly, the Industrial Commissioner found that Tasler had sustained a fifteen percent permanent-partial industrial disability entitling her to seventy-five weeks of disability benefits at the rate of $271.76 per week for a total amount of $20,382. Oscar Mayer appealed this decision to the district court, which affirmed the Commissioner's final order. The court of appeals reversed the decision of the district court. We granted review and now vacate the decision of the court of appeals and reinstate the district court's affirmance of the Commissioner's decision.

Our review is under the provisions of chapter 17A Administrative Procedure Act, section 17A.19(8)(e) and (f).

The facts are in all material respects undisputed. Tasler began work for Oscar Mayer on September 3, 1983, and lost her employment on February 3, 1989, when the plant was permanently closed. Her pre-employment physical examination was normal and, consequently, Tasler began work on Oscar Mayer's production line under no restrictions. Tasler's initial position was that of ham boner, which lasted approximately one year; in September of 1984, she became a bandsaw operator, which involved dismembering hogs at the rate of approximately 700 to 900 animals per hour.

Oscar Mayer plant medical records indicate that Tasler was treated several times in 1983 and 1984 for persistent discomfort in her fingers, thumbs, hands, wrists, elbows, shoulders, and arms as well as back pain. However, Tasler alleges her first injury occurred on April 30, 1985, while working on the bandsaw. Because of an apparently improper servicing of her bandsaw, Tasler, in the course of reaching for a piece of meat, lost her footing and dropped about two feet until her right arm struck a metal bar. She reported hearing a "snap-crackling sound" in her right shoulder and notified her superiors of the incident. As a consequence of this mishap, Tasler consulted two physicians, one of whom was an orthopedic surgeon. She was then permanently restricted from operating the bandsaw as of April 30, 1985.

After the bandsaw incident, Tasler continued under the care of Dr. Arnis Grundberg, the orthopedic surgeon whom she had consulted immediately after the injury. Tasler reported to Grundberg that she was and had been experiencing discomfort and numbness in her upper extremities and back region even prior to the incident on April 30, 1985. Dr. Grundberg diagnosed Tasler as having "thoracic outlet syndrome" and "ulnar nerve irritation with gradual onset." Dr. Grundberg made no mention of any permanent injury and gave no impairment rating.

Tasler's second alleged injury occurred on August 24, 1986, after she had been transferred to a new position that required her to skin hams at the rate of 500 to 700 per hour. During the course of skinning the hams, which weigh between seventeen and thirty-five pounds each, she testified that an "unbearable pain" developed in her neck, shoulders, arms, and right hand. Tasler indicated that the pain was so intense that she was literally "working in tears" and had to be relieved periodically by coworkers. As a consequence, Oscar Mayer sent her to see Kurt J. Klise, M.D. Tasler saw Dr. Klise several times over the next two months, and he ultimately diagnosed her as suffering from "muscle strain injury" and "right trapezius muscle spasm." In a later visit, Tasler complained to Dr. Klise of paresthesia in her hands and wrists, and as a result, she was referred to Dr. Douglas W. Brenton, M.D., a neurologist, for a neurologic assessment. Dr. Brenton issued a consistent diagnosis of "musculoskeletal pain syndrome secondary to hard manual labor." Dr. Brenton recommended that Tasler be reassigned to a different job that would not require such "repetitive and vigorous upper extremity work." Neither Dr. Klise nor Dr. Brenton mentioned permanent impairment or gave an impairment rating.

At the time of Tasler's third alleged injury on April 11, 1987, she was again skinning hams. As was the case in the second alleged injury, Tasler reported an "unbearably intense pain in her neck, shoulder, right arm, hand, and fingers." Again, she sought the care of Dr. Klise. Dr. Klise diagnosed her as suffering from "trigger finger" and restricted her to "light duty" for the next six days.

Tasler's fourth alleged injury occurred on February 16, 1988, while she was working on the "bellyline." Tasler testified that as she reached across the line to remove a bone from a section of meat, a muscle in her left lower back "tightened up." After this incident, Tasler consulted Dr. Steven Sohn who diagnosed her as having "muscle strain of the left lumbar region." As was the case with each of the three prior alleged injuries, Tasler did not lose any time from work on account of the February 16 incident.

During the course of Tasler's tenure at Oscar Mayer, she also repeatedly sought the counsel of her personal physician, Dr. Dennis Rolek, D.O., Ph.D. On July 11, 1988, Dr. Rolek attributed Tasler's multiple complaints of pain and numbness as being due to "occupational injury or illness." His formal diagnosis was: "Bilateral thoracic outlet syndrome, cervical spine strain, lumbar spine strain and tension cephalgia." At that time, he also assigned an impairment rating of twenty-eight percent, twelve percent being attributable to her low back problems and sixteen percent associated with her upper extremities and neck.

Dr. Rolek referred Tasler to S. Randy Winston, M.D., a neurosurgeon, for an evaluation. Dr. Winston diagnosed Tasler as suffering from "myofascitis and probably bilateral thoracic outlet syndrome." Dr. Winston urged Tasler to consider some type of change in her job since her employment "obviously [was] aggravating [her] condition."

Tasler was also examined on two occasions by Peter D. Wirtz, M.D., at the request of Oscar Mayer. Dr. Wirtz diagnosed Tasler as having various muscle strains, bilateral vascular thoracic outlet syndrome, and Achilles tendinitis. Dr. Wirtz indicated that none of her conditions were permanent in nature but stated that "if she continues to work beyond her physiologic capabilities, she will continue to exhibit these symptoms."

Finally, it should be noted that Tasler's plant medical records reveal a voluminous history of complaints dating back to November 23, 1983, just over two months after the inception of her employment. More specifically, the record contains over 125 entries made during the course of Tasler's five-and-one-half-year employment with Oscar Mayer. The company records also indicate that Tasler was placed on "fifty percent duty" on multiple occasions. At the time of the plant closing on February 3, 1989, Tasler was restricted by Dr. Sohn to a fifteen-minute break every hour and limited to lifting no more than fifteen pounds.

At the arbitration hearing, Tasler testified that since the plant closing, she has continued to experience back, neck, arm, hand and finger pain as well as numbness. She indicated that the pain has become progressively worse and now precludes her from engaging in various routine tasks, including driving, food preparation, and personal grooming activities.

Based on the foregoing evidence, the Industrial Commissioner found that, although Tasler failed to demonstrate a compensable injury on any one of the four dates alleged in her petitions, Tasler had demonstrated by a preponderance of the evidence that she had sustained a "cumulative, repetitive, overuse type of injury to her neck, shoulders, arms, elbows, wrists, hands, fingers, and back" in the course of performing her duties for Oscar Mayer. See McKeever Custom Cabinets v. Smith, 379 N.W.2d 368, 374 (Iowa 1985) (recognizing cumulative injury as a viable theory of recovery under the workers' compensation code). The Commissioner's opinion noted that Tasler's complaints and the company medical record were corroborated by the various physicians involved who generally concurred in a diagnosis of muscle strain injuries to the neck, back and upper extremities as well as bilateral thoracic outlet syndrome.

The Commissioner further found that Tasler's cumulative injury constituted an "industrial disability," which the Commissioner acknowledged as involving a "loss of earning capacity and not a mere functional disability." Diederich v. Tri-City Ry., 219 Iowa 587, 593, 258 N.W. 899, 902 (1935). The Commissioner reasoned as follows:

The direct and immediate conclusion to be drawn from the reports of Dr. Rolek, Dr. Winston, Dr. Brenton, and Dr. Wirtz, is that claimant should no longer continue to perform production line work in the meat packing industry. Therefore, the work she has performed for the five and one-half years with employer is foreclosed to her as a practical matter even though the physicians did not formally state that claimant is permanently restricted from this kind of work. Continuing to work would...