Connell v. Industrial Commission

523 N.E.2d 1265, 170 Ill. App. 3d 49, 120 Ill. Dec. 354, 1988 Ill. App. LEXIS 684
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedMay 11, 1988
Docket1-87-1660WC
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 523 N.E.2d 1265 (Connell 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
Connell v. Industrial Commission, 523 N.E.2d 1265, 170 Ill. App. 3d 49, 120 Ill. Dec. 354, 1988 Ill. App. LEXIS 684 (Ill. Ct. App. 1988).

Opinion

PRESIDING JUSTICE BARRY

delivered the opinion of the court:

Following an emergency hearing, the arbitrator found that the respondent, Hoekstra Heating Company, was not obligated to pay the petitioner, James A. Connell, temporary total disability benefits (TTD) beyond the 1883/? weeks already paid. The arbitrator denied the petitioner’s request for a rehabilitation plan and his petition for penalties.

The Industrial Commission, with a partial dissent by one commissioner, found that the petitioner was entitled to TTD from August 18, 1981, through August 28, 1985, or 2102/? weeks. The Commission affirmed the remainder of the arbitrator’s findings, though excluding certain evidence introduced by the respondent.

The circuit court held that the Commission’s decisions on TTD, rehabilitation and penalties were against the manifest weight of the evidence. The court ordered the respondent to pay TTD through January 28, 1986, the last day of the arbitration hearing, and remanded the cause for determination of penalties and a rehabilitation plan. The respondent appeals.

The record shows that on August 17, 1981, while installing an air conditioner as part of his employment with the respondent, the petitioner tried to move the 2,500-pound unit using a board as a lever. The board snapped, resulting in back injuries to the petitioner. During the next four years, the petitioner saw a number of physicians and was operated on twice. In February of 1983, Dr. Sherman Gilreath and Dr. Arthur Connor performed on the petitioner a lumbar laminectomy with bone grafting and internal fixation. The petitioner reentered the hospital on May 2, 1984, for further surgery necessitated when four hooks on the Harrington rods in his back dislodged.

On July 15, 1985, Dr. Warren Clohisy examined the petitioner at the respondent’s request. Dr. Clohisy concluded that the petitioner could perform a full-time sedentary job with sitting, standing and walking, but no repeated bending, kneeling, climbing or pushing. Dr. Clohisy further restricted the petitioner to a 10-pound weight lifting limit.

On July 25, 1985, the respondent terminated its TTD payments. The respondent later admitted in a brief that it did not provide the petitioner with the results of Dr. Clohisy’s examination until December 10, 1985. On August 27, 1985, Dr. Connor released the petitioner to perform light-duty work requiring no more than 30 pounds lifting or two hours sitting, and no repeated bending, lifting or extended walking.

The petitioner sought work with the respondent on August 29, 1985, but was told none existed within his restrictions. He subsequently filed a section 19(b — 1) petition for an emergency hearing under the Workers’ Compensation Act (the Act) (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1985, ch. 48, par. 138.19(b — 1)).

The petitioner testified at the hearing that after graduating from high school he had spent three years in the Army, where he first repaired helicopters, then supervised incoming and outgoing shipments at a supply depot. After leaving the Army, he worked as a machine operator. He then got a job as an expediter, a position similar to a stock controller. The petitioner’s next employment was with the respondent, where he was trained and employed as an installer and repairer of heating and air conditioning equipment. At the time of the accident he was 31 years old.

The petitioner further testified that after August 29, 1985, he contacted 71 employers. Many were not hiring. Others were seeking skills he did not have. He had filled out some job applications, but did not yet have any offers.

Susan Entenberg, a vocational rehabilitation counselor who evaluated the petitioner, testified at the emergency hearing that the petitioner was an excellent candidate for on-the-job training. Entenberg testified that with proper guidance he could be placed in a job which would bring him back to his previous earning level. She stated that he had already proved his ability to work in a skilled occupation. He also had performed well on a battery of physical and mental skill tests. She further testified that the petitioner was not, however, interested in formal classroom training. Given these factors, Entenberg opined that the petitioner needed a rehabilitation program primarily consisting of counseling to help him accept the fact that he could never return to his prior work; testing to determine his vocational aptitudes; and guidance to direct him toward employers and employment which would return him to his preinjury earning level. Entenberg stated that she was trying to place the petitioner in a job training program connected with the Illinois Department of Rehabilitation Services.

Over the petitioner’s objection, the arbitrator let the respondent introduce into evidence the testimony of private investigator William Kizorek. While in the respondent’s employ, Kizorek had secretly filmed the petitioner on November 11, 1985. The film, which was shown at the arbitration hearing, showed the petitioner and two other men buying some duct work and leaving a heating and air conditioning supply house with a box marked “furnace.” It was not clear on the film, nor did Kizorek know, whether the petitioner helped carry the box or whether a furnace was actually in the box.

The arbitrator found that the petitioner was entitled to only the 188% weeks of TTD which the respondent had already paid. He calculated the TTD period to run from August 17, 1981, through August 11, 1985. The arbitrator further ruled that the petitioner did not need rehabilitation and was not entitled to penalties under sections 16, 19(k) or 19(1) of the Act. Ill. Rev. Stat. 1985, ch. 48, pars. 138.16, 138.19(k), 138.19(1).

On review, the Commission ruled that the petitioner was temporarily and totally disabled from August 18, 1981, through August 28, 1985, for a total of 210% weeks. The Commission agreed with the arbitrator’s findings on rehabilitation and penalties. It further ruled, however, that the arbitrator had erred in allowing the respondent to introduce Kizorek’s testimony and the film. The Commission based its ruling on the respondent’s failure to either disclose this evidence prior to the emergency hearing or show good cause for not doing so.

Commissioner Ted Black, Jr., filed a partial concurrence and dissent, stating that he found the petitioner was temporarily and totally disabled through the last day of arbitration, which was January 28, 1986. He also found that the petitioner was entitled to attorney fees under section 16 of the Act and additional compensation under sections 19(k) and 19(1).

On appeal, the circuit court held that the Commission’s decisions regarding TTD, rehabilitation and penalties were against the manifest weight of the evidence. The court awarded the petitioner TTD through January 28, 1986, and remanded the cause for calculation of attorney fees and additional compensation under sections 16, 19(k) and 19(1), as well as for development of a rehabilitation program. The court confirmed the Commission’s decision to bar admission of the investigator’s evidence.

The respondent first argues on appeal that the circuit court erred in holding that the Commission’s denial of rehabilitation was against the manifest weight of the evidence.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
523 N.E.2d 1265, 170 Ill. App. 3d 49, 120 Ill. Dec. 354, 1988 Ill. App. LEXIS 684, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/connell-v-industrial-commission-illappct-1988.