Elgin Board of Education School District U-46 v. Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission

949 N.E.2d 198, 409 Ill. App. 3d 943, 350 Ill. Dec. 710, 2011 Ill. App. LEXIS 370
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedApril 25, 2011
Docket1-09-3446 WC
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 949 N.E.2d 198 (Elgin Board of Education School District U-46 v. Illinois Workers' Compensation 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
Elgin Board of Education School District U-46 v. Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission, 949 N.E.2d 198, 409 Ill. App. 3d 943, 350 Ill. Dec. 710, 2011 Ill. App. LEXIS 370 (Ill. Ct. App. 2011).

Opinions

JUSTICE HUDSON

delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion.

Presiding Justice McCullough and Justice Hoffman concurred in the judgment and opinion.

Justice Holdridge concurred in part and dissented in part, with opinion, joined by Justice Stewart.

OPINION

Respondent, Elgin Board of Education School District U-46, appeals an order of the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission (Commission) awarding benefits to claimant, Linda Weiler. Respondent raises three issues on appeal. First, it argues that the Commission’s finding that claimant’s current condition of ill-being is causally related to an accident at work is against the manifest weight of the evidence. Second, it argues that the Commission erred in calculating claimant’s average weekly wage under section 10 of the Workers’ Compensation Act (Act) (820 ILCS 305/10 (West 2002)). Third, it contends that the Commission erred in denying it credit under section 8(j) of the Act (820 ILCS 305/8(j) (West 2002)) for wages paid to claimant in lieu of temporary total disability (TTD) benefits. We agree with respondent’s third contention and remand the cause to the Commission for a calculation of the credit. We otherwise affirm.

I. BACKGROUND

Claimant was employed by respondent as a teacher. In 1996, claimant suffered a stroke. To prevent similar episodes, claimant was prescribed Coumadin, a blood-thinning agent. On November 7, 2002, Dr. Richard Rosseau performed an arthroscopic procedure on claimant’s right knee, which was unrelated to her work duties. To improve clotting in preparation for the surgery, Dr. Rosseau instructed claimant to stop taking the Coumadin five days prior to the procedure. Per Dr. Rosseau’s instructions, a day or two following the surgery claimant resumed taking Coumadin.

Claimant returned to work full duty on November 12, 2002. At that time, claimant did not note any swelling of her right knee. On November 13, 2002, claimant struck her right knee against a metal desk as she arose from her seat to assist a student. As a result, the surgical incisions on her knee opened and began to bleed to the point that her skirt became soiled with blood. The knee also began to swell. The following day, claimant contacted Dr. Rosseau. Dr. Rosseau examined claimant on November 15, 2002, and diagnosed hemarthro-sis, which he defined as “blood in a joint creating some inflammation.” Thereafter, claimant treated with Dr. Rosseau for several months. During that time, Dr. Rosseau aspirated the knee, prescribed pain medication, and instructed claimant to remain off her feet. Claimant also attended physical therapy. Dr. Rosseau released claimant to return to work with no restrictions on March 31, 2003. Claimant retired in June 2003, at the end of the 2002-03 academic year.

At the arbitration hearing, claimant testified that she had been employed by respondent for 20 years. During the year preceding her injury, claimant was required to work 40 weeks (a regular school year) and the parties stipulated that she was paid an annual salary of $61,459 for this work. Claimant had two options for receiving her salary. She could be paid twice a month during each month of the calendar year (resulting in 24 payments) or she could be paid twice a month during each month of the academic year (resulting in 20 payments). Claimant chose the former option and received paychecks year round. Claimant testified that during the period of time she was off work (November 14, 2002, through March 30, 2003), she was paid her regular salary through the use of accumulated sick pay. Claimant stated that the sick pay she used has not been reinstated and that the use of the sick pay reduced her retirement benefit.

During respondent’s cross-examination of claimant, it referred to a “sample letter” labeled as its exhibit No. 3. A copy of the letter has not been included in the record on appeal. However, respondent’s attorney represented that the letter informed school district employees that they have the option of using earned sick leave in order to receive full pay for an absence resulting from a work-related injury, that respondent’s human resources department would automatically charge sick leave when an employee is absent because of a work-related injury unless the employee directs respondent otherwise in writing, and that once accumulated sick leave is exhausted, respondent would contact the injured employee and place him or her on TTD benefits. Claimant denied ever having personally received a similar letter and stated that she never informed respondent that she preferred to receive TTD benefits instead of her full salary. The arbitrator sustained claimant’s objection to the admission of respondent’s exhibit No. 3 on foundational grounds.

In correspondence to claimant’s attorney dated January 18, 2006, Dr. Rosseau opined that claimant’s postsurgical hemarthrosis was the result of the blow to the right knee which occurred at work on November 13, 2002. Dr. Rosseau acknowledged that claimant was “significantly more prone” to hemarthrosis because she was taking Coumadin. However, he noted that the Coumadin was medically required because of claimant’s vascular history, which, in addition to a stroke, was significant for mitral valve prolapse.

Dr. Rosseau provided additional evidence by deposition. Dr. Ros-seau testified that the most common cause of hemarthrosis is trauma and that the condition is seen postsurgically as surgery is a form of trauma. He added, however, that hemarthrosis can occur independent of surgery as a result of an impact to a joint. With respect to the role of Coumadin in hemarthrosis, Dr. Rosseau testified that clotting is a “very important element of wound healing” and that Coumadin would make one’s blood more difficult to clot. Nevertheless, he stated that it is unusual for hemarthrosis to occur purely as a result of anticoagulation.

Dr. Rosseau indicated that claimant’s hemarthrosis resulted from a form of trauma, and he identified three possible sources: (1) a tourniquet that was placed on claimant’s upper thigh during the arthroscopic surgery; (2) the surgery itself; and (3) the incident at work on November 13, 2002, when claimant struck her knee on the desk. Dr. Rosseau ruled out the tourniquet as the source of claimant’s hemarthrosis, noting that although some bruising is seen in the area where the device was applied, the bruising was “different and separate than the hemarthrosis.” Dr. Rosseau also noted that a majority of claimant’s symptoms were suggestive of hemarthrosis. For instance, he pointed out that the tourniquet effects will frequently manifest in the lower leg following the muscle plains whereas claimant’s swelling was isolated to the knee. Dr. Rosseau explained that swelling limited to the knee and above would indicate that it is a more contained form of irritation or swelling which would be more related to hemarthrosis.

Dr. Rosseau acknowledged that claimant’s use of Coumadin “would make her more prone to a hemarthrosis.” Nevertheless, he did not believe that claimant’s Coumadin levels were too high following surgery. He explained that an International Normalized Ratio (INR) of 1.0 is considered normal coagulation. The higher the INR, the slower an individual’s blood coagulates. According to Dr.

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Bluebook (online)
949 N.E.2d 198, 409 Ill. App. 3d 943, 350 Ill. Dec. 710, 2011 Ill. App. LEXIS 370, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/elgin-board-of-education-school-district-u-46-v-illinois-workers-illappct-2011.