Wicker v. COMMUNITY MEDIA GROUP, 93A02-9904-EX-00296.
Decision Date | 12 October 1999 |
Docket Number | No. 93A02-9904-EX-00296.,93A02-9904-EX-00296. |
Citation | 717 N.E.2d 596 |
Parties | Carlos WICKER, Appellant-Plaintiff, v. COMMUNITY MEDIA GROUP d/b/a Rensselaer Republican, Appellee-Defendant. |
Court | Indiana Appellate Court |
Terry R. Boesch, Susan Kozlowski, David T. Szumski, Terry R. Boesch, Attorney, P.C., Valparaiso, Indiana, Attorneys for Appellant.
Julia Blackwell Gelinas, Bruce J. Alvarado, Locke Reynolds Boyd & Weisell, Indianapolis, Indiana, Attorneys for Appellee.
Appellant-plaintiff Carlos Wicker appeals from the Full Worker's Compensation Board's (the Board) reversal of the Single Hearing Member's award of temporary total disability payments and medical expenses against Wicker's employer, Community Media Group d/b/a Rensselaer Republican (Republican). Specifically, Wicker contends that the reversal is unsupported by substantial evidence. In the alternative, he argues that the Board erred as a matter of law when it reversed without presenting findings of fact.
The facts most favorable to the Board's decision reveal that although Wicker alleges that he was injured while moving a large roll of paper during his work at the newspaper's printing press on Friday, April 25, 1997, he did not report such injury to his supervisor until several days later after he went to the emergency room. Wicker did not go to the emergency room until approximately 2:00 a.m. on the following Monday. There, he reported no trauma and explained that when he went to sit on the bed earlier that evening, he had a sudden onset of pain in his left hip. R. at 84. The medical record from Wicker's visit to the emergency room further notes that he had a similar episode in December, which was resolved without medical attention, and has a history of Perthes' disease in his left hip. R. at 84. Further, the x-ray report explains that the x-ray findings "indicate chronic stage of Legg-Perthes' Disease with incomplete lateral subluxation of the left hip joint." R. at 75. In a letter to Dr. Ahler, dated April 29, 1997, Dr. Tom Gripe recounted Wicker's "long history of continuous pain" and his diagnosis of Perthes' disease nine years earlier which resulted in surgery. R. at 67. Dr. Gripe then opined that Wicker was now suffering from end stage left hip disease due to Perthes' nine years ago. R. at 67. Wicker's prior medical records indicate that he was diagnosed with Perthes' disease in 1987, and, in one report, his prognosis was described as dim. R. at 69-70, 77, 81.
Wicker filed an Application for Adjustment of Claim on September 22, 1997, alleging that he had injured his left hip at work on April 25, 1997. We note that on the application, Wicker stated that his employer was not notified of his alleged injury until April 28. R. at 4. Republican denied his claim for worker's compensation benefits on the ground that Wicker had a preexisting injury to his hip.
A hearing was held before a Single Hearing Member on March 17, 1998. The parties stipulated to the following facts: (1) Wicker was employed by Republican on November 25, 1996 through April 25, 1997; (2) Wicker was employed at an average weekly wage of $193.00; and, (3) Wicker is alleging injury on April 25, 1997.1 Record at 61. The parties further stipulated that the only issue was whether the injuries Wicker suffered arose out of the scope and course of his employment with Republican. R. at 61. Finally, the parties stipulated that the evidence included medical records of Dr. Kenneth J. Ahler. R. at 61, 64-92. Following the admission into evidence of these stipulations, including the medical records, the parties proceeded to introduce witness testimony. Wicker, his girlfriend and his mother testified on his behalf. Wicker's supervisor on the night in question and Republican's Regional Business Manager testified for Republican. Thereafter, the Single Hearing Member awarded medical expenses and temporary total disability payments to Wicker. Specifically, the Single Hearing Member made the following findings of fact and conclusions of law:
R. at 23-25 (emphasis added).
Thereafter, on May 7, 1998, Republican filed its Application for Review by Full Board. Republican subsequently filed a brief in anticipation of the hearing, challenging many of the Single Hearing Member's findings and arguing that the only medical evidence offered at the previous hearing contradicts the testimony of Wicker, his girlfriend and...
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