Amoco Oil Co. v. Industrial Commission

578 N.E.2d 1043, 218 Ill. App. 3d 737, 161 Ill. Dec. 397, 1991 Ill. App. LEXIS 1392
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedAugust 16, 1991
Docket1-90-3437 WC
StatusPublished
Cited by18 cases

This text of 578 N.E.2d 1043 (Amoco Oil Co. v. Industrial Commission) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Amoco Oil Co. v. Industrial Commission, 578 N.E.2d 1043, 218 Ill. App. 3d 737, 161 Ill. Dec. 397, 1991 Ill. App. LEXIS 1392 (Ill. Ct. App. 1991).

Opinion

JUSTICE LEWIS

delivered the opinion of the court:

Claimant, Robert J. Kampert, filed an application for adjustment of claim pursuant to the Workers’ Compensation Act (HI. Rev. Stat. 1981, ch. 48, par. 138.1 et seq.) (the Act) for an injury to his lower back and for psychological injury resulting from a work-related accident on March 4, 1981, while in the course of his employment with the respondent, Amoco Oil Company. After a hearing before an arbitrator, the claimant was awarded benefits for permanent and total disability and medical benefits of $25. On review, the arbitrator’s decision was affirmed by the Industrial Commission (Commission) and confirmed by the circuit court. The respondent appeals.

On appeal, the respondent contends that the Commission’s decision that the claimant’s condition of ill-being was causally connected to his work accident of March 4, 1981, and the Commission’s award of permanent and total disability were against the manifest weight of the evidence. Alternatively, the respondent argues that the Commission’s decision of permanent and total disability was premature given the arbitrator’s finding, which was adopted by the Commission, that the claimant needed psychiatric treatment and vocational rehabilitation, and that this cause should be remanded to the Commission for proceedings on this finding. Before considering these issues, a statement of the facts is necessary.

The claimant testified that he had not graduated, but he had completed IV2 years of high school. His work history consisted of being a construction laborer, and for the last 17 years, he had driven a gasoline delivery truck for the respondent. At the time of his accident, he was 43 years of age.

The claimant stated that he had urological problems since 1974 for which he had extensively sought treatment. In August 1976, the claimant was involved in a car accident in which he was rear-ended by another car while stopped at a train crossing. As a result of the car accident, he injured his neck and back. Following the car accident, the claimant was off work from June 1978 through December 1980, at which time the respondent’s doctor released him to return to work.

When the claimant returned to work on January 5, 1981, he worked at his regular job for the next two months, until March 4, 1981. On that date, the claimant was delivering gasoline as his job required. While delivering gasoline at a new location, he had to move some 50-gallon barrels, which were filled with sand or gravel, that were in his way. When moving one of the barrels, the claimant slipped, and he immediately felt a sharp pain in his back, in his neck, and down his legs. The claimant finished his delivery, returned the truck to the respondent’s place of business, and went home. Approximately a week later, the claimant saw the respondent’s doctor, Dr. Massarik. Dr. Massarik sent him to an orthopedic doctor. Since his accident on March 4, 1981, the claimant had not returned to work for the respondent or sought other employment. However, he admitted he did tasks around his home, such as mowing the lawn, washing dishes, and painting the house. At the time of the arbitration hearing, the claimant continued to complain of pain in both legs, of numbness in his legs, and discomfort in his neck and back.

On cross-examination, the claimant testified that he had served only nine months in the Army. A month after he saw a psychiatrist or psychologist in the service, he was discharged. According to the claimant, he had initially seen the Army doctor for stomach complaints. In a history given by the claimant to Dr. Young at Northwest Community Hospital following his car accident in 1976, the claimant told of having suffered from depression and irritability for two years prior to the accident.

The claimant’s wife testified that prior to the claimant’s car accident of 1976, he worked at his job approximately 10 hours a day, five days a week. She described the claimant as hardworking and conscientious about his work. After the 1976 car accident, the claimant was in pain, which slowed the claimant down in doing the tasks he normally did. According to Mrs. Kampert, when the claimant returned to work in January 1981, he was almost completely “back to normal,” and the claimant again worked 8 to 10 hours a day, five days a week. Mrs. Kampert stated that after the work accident of March 4, 1981, the claimant became very agitated, short-tempered with people, and bitter. She testified that prior to 1976, the claimant had not been depressed.

Dr. Massarik, respondent’s company physician, testified in his evidence deposition that he first saw the claimant in the spring of 1977. At that time, the claimant complained of back problems, which prevented the claimant from returning to work. The next time Dr. Massarik saw the claimant was on December 23, 1980, to determine if the claimant was able to return to work. Dr. Massarik stated that he considers a person’s emotional state as part of his evaluation of a person. Dr. Massarik was aware that the claimant had seen other doctors between 1977 and 1980, and he had seen their reports. He was aware that the doctors had found the claimant physically normal but that the doctors had felt the claimant was depressed, nervous, anxious, angry, and hostile. At his December 1980 examination of the claimant, Dr. Massarik determined that the claimant was normal and that he was able to return to his regular duties.

Dr. Massarik saw the claimant again on March 10, 1981, following the claimant’s work-related accident. At that visit, the doctor found that the claimant walked with a stiff, halting gait and that he was unable to bend over and touch his toes. The claimant also complained of pain in his back. The doctor stated that the claimant’s gait was one of a person in pain. Dr. Massarik’s impression of the claimant’s condition was that the claimant had a questionable lumbar sprain, but he referred the claimant to an orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Proctor Anderson.

After March 10, 1981, Dr. Massarik talked to the claimant on the telephone from time to time. He next saw the claimant on July 21, 1981. Dr. Massarik found that the claimant’s back sprain had subsided but that the claimant still complained of back pain. In addition, the claimant was nervous and agitated. On each occasion that the doctor talked to the claimant following the March 1981 accident, either by telephone or in person, the claimant was very upset, angry, and hostile. The claimant could not understand why none of the doctors he had seen were able to relieve his pain. At the July 1981 visit, Dr. Massarik decided that the claimant could not safely return to work as a truck driver because of his emotional instability. However, Dr. Massarik testified that he believed the claimant was capable of working at a job which was not potentially hazardous to himself or others, such as physical work.

Dr. Massarik again saw the claimant on February 4, 1982, and in his opinion, the claimant continued to be unable to work due to his emotional instability. Dr. Massarik had no opinion as to whether the claimant’s psychological condition was causally related to his work-related accident of March 4, 1981; however, Dr. Massarik agreed that muscular aching can be a symptom of depression and that pain can precipitate or aggravate a depressive condition.

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Bluebook (online)
578 N.E.2d 1043, 218 Ill. App. 3d 737, 161 Ill. Dec. 397, 1991 Ill. App. LEXIS 1392, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/amoco-oil-co-v-industrial-commission-illappct-1991.