Hoegger v. Industrial Commission

512 N.E.2d 110, 158 Ill. App. 3d 1025, 111 Ill. Dec. 206, 1987 Ill. App. LEXIS 2929
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedAugust 11, 1987
Docket4-86-0877WC
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 512 N.E.2d 110 (Hoegger 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
Hoegger v. Industrial Commission, 512 N.E.2d 110, 158 Ill. App. 3d 1025, 111 Ill. Dec. 206, 1987 Ill. App. LEXIS 2929 (Ill. Ct. App. 1987).

Opinion

JUSTICE WOODWARD

delivered the opinion of the court:

Claimant, James Hoegger, appeals from an order of the circuit court of Livingston County confirming the decision of the Industrial Commission denying compensation to the claimant.

At the hearing before the arbitrator, the claimant testified as follows. Claimant was employed by Interlake, Inc. He worked the 4 p.m. to 12 p.m. shift, usually with Rick Smith, another employee. They worked on an automatic beam-welder. Claimant’s job required him to take material off as it was welded, stack it on a skid, and load the machine as well. The weight of the beams varied from 8 to 40 pounds. He had worked on that particular type of machine for four years.

On March 4, 1981, he reported for work at 4 p.m. Sometime between 6 p.m. and 12 p.m., his foreman told him to work on another machine stacking columns. While stacking the columns, he pulled a muscle in his back. He first noticed the problem with his back about 11 p.m., but he finished his shift and went home without mentioning the incident to anyone. The next morning when he got up, he had pain in his right leg. He went to see his family doctor, Dr. Deterding, who prescribed pain pills and a hot pad for his back. He also referred claimant to Dr. John Wright. After seeing Dr. Deterding, claimant called his foreman, Michael Lockrin. Lockrin told him to call personnel and let them know that he would not be in to work.

Claimant then saw Dr. Wright, who placed him in St. Joseph’s Hospital in Bloomington. On April 3, 1981, he had surgery on his lower back. He did not return to work until November 9,1981.

Claimant had had some problems . with his back in the early 1960s which had required hospitalization but no surgery. He was also treated for back problems in 1966. He had no problems with his back during the 1970s.

On cross-examination, claimant denied that his back hurt when he began work at the new station. He was bending over and reaching for the columns when he hurt his back, but he could not pinpoint what motion caused his injury. He did not report the accident to his foreman or anyone else on March 4, 1981. However, in his telephone conversation with Lockrin the next day, he told him that he had pulled a muscle in his back the previous night at work, and that he had seen a doctor and was told to take off work for a few days. Claimant was not sure whether he told Dr. Deterding that he injured himself at work. He also did not recall telling a doctor at the hospital that he really did not know what he was doing when he developed the pain.

Claimant admitted seeing Dr. Deterding on February 16, 1981, when he was suffering from the flu. He admitted that it was possible that he told the doctor at that time that he had a pain in his chest which radiated into his back.

Claimant also testified that he had a second job, operating his own business as a backhoe operator, in which he did general excavating work. He did very little hand shoveling, but he did do some bending and twisting getting in and out of the cab of the backhoe.

Claimant also admitted that he signed forms requesting group benefits for his injury. In answer to question number five on the forms, “Is claim due to an accident,” the box indicating “No” was checked. Claimant explained that his wife had filled out the forms for him.

Rick Smith testified that he had worked with claimant for close to three years prior to March 4, 1981. On that day, around the 10 p.m. break time, he observed claimant all slouched over. Prior to that time, claimant had seemed alright to him.

Charles Airhardt, co-worker of the claimant’s, testified that on the night of March 4, 1981, claimant and he stacked columns together after claimant had been transferred from his usual work area. At the 10 p.m. break time, claimant did not go into the break area with the others, but just sat down. At the end of the evening, claimant did not take part in the cleanup but just continued to sit.

Glen Verdón, another co-worker of claimant’s, testified that on March 4, 1981, claimant began working with him. Verdón would run the form, and Airhard and the claimant would take the material off and put it on a skid. He noticed nothing unusual about the claimant when he arrived in the area at about 6 p.m. At 10 p.m., he noticed that claimant’s movements were slow.

Michael J. Lockrin testified that on March 4, 1981, he was a foreman at Interlake, Inc. On that date, one of the employees he supervised was the claimant. Claimant did not report any kind of accident or injury to him on March 4, 1981. On March 5, 1981, he received a call from the claimant, who told him he would not be in to work that afternoon because his back hurt. Claimant never told him that he had hurt his back the previous evening.

In his evidence deposition, Dr. Wright testified that he is a medical doctor, specializing in orthopedic surgery since 1957, and is board certified. He first saw the claimant in 1966 and did not see him again until March 20, 1981. At that time, claimant was suffering from low back and right leg pain. Dr. Wright then testified as to claimant’s hospitalization and the follow-up treatment. He has not seen claimant since January 8,1982.

According to Dr. Wright, there would be a significant change from working on the machine claimant normally worked on to the one he was working on on the evening of March 4, 1981, and that back injuries occurred more often in work which requires moving in a twisted motion with heavy weights.

On cross-examination, Dr. Wright testified that in 1966 he suggested that claimant might have a disc problem. When he saw claimant on March 20, 1981, he asked him what had caused the onset of his back problems, and claimant told him he first noticed it when he had a cold, about three weeks prior to his visit to the doctor. When Dr. Wright asked how it happened, claimant did not know.

On March 27, 1981, Dr. Wright took another history from the claimant. Dr. Wright again asked what had caused the onset of the pain. Claimant replied that he did not know. He had had some back trouble, and when he caught a cold, it hurt to cough.

The arbitrator found that claimant was temporarily totally disabled for 354/7 weeks under section 8(b) of the Workers’ Compensation Act (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1985, ch. 48, par. 138.8(b)) and was permanently disabled to the extent of 20% under section 8(d)(2) of the Act (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1985, ch. 48, par. 138.8(d)(2)) and was entitled to $168 for necessary medical expenses as a result' of an accidental injury arising out of and in the course of his employment.

On review, the Industrial Commission found that the claimant had failed to prove that he had sustained accidental injuries arising out of and in the course of his employment and denied his claim for compensation. The claimant appealed to the circuit court of Livingston County, which confirmed the Industrial Commission. This appeal followed.

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Bluebook (online)
512 N.E.2d 110, 158 Ill. App. 3d 1025, 111 Ill. Dec. 206, 1987 Ill. App. LEXIS 2929, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hoegger-v-industrial-commission-illappct-1987.