J.S. Masonry, Inc. v. Industrial Commission

861 N.E.2d 202, 308 Ill. Dec. 137, 369 Ill. App. 3d 591, 2006 Ill. App. LEXIS 1183
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedDecember 19, 2006
Docket1-06-0717 WC
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 861 N.E.2d 202 (J.S. Masonry, Inc. 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
J.S. Masonry, Inc. v. Industrial Commission, 861 N.E.2d 202, 308 Ill. Dec. 137, 369 Ill. App. 3d 591, 2006 Ill. App. LEXIS 1183 (Ill. Ct. App. 2006).

Opinion

JUSTICE HOFFMAN,

delivered the opinion of the court:

The claimant, Josef Piatek, filed an application for adjustment of claim pursuant to the Workers’ Compensation Act (Act) (820 ILCS 305/1 et seq. (West 2002)), seeking benefits for injuries he received while in the employ of J.S. Masonry, Inc. (the Company). The Industrial Commission 1 (Commission) awarded the claimant benefits under the Act and the circuit court of Cook County confirmed the Commission’s decision. The Company now appeals that judgment. For the reasons that follow, we affirm.

The following factual recitation is taken from the evidence presented at the arbitration hearing.

The 52-year-old claimant had worked for the Company as a bricklayer’s helper for approximately one year prior to his accident on June 10, 2002. His primary duty was to relay bricks, blocks and mortar to the bricklayers at the work site. He also assisted in constructing any scaffolding.

The claimant testified that, on June 10, 2002, he assisted other workers in the construction of a second-level scaffolding at a jobsite. According to the claimant, the horizontal rail on the scaffold, which was to serve as a safety gate, was tied with wire to the vertical rail because the horizontal rail was too long. Consequently, each time a load of bricks was delivered, the claimant was required to undo the wire so that the machine lift operator could place the load of bricks directly on the scaffold. The claimant was to receive each load and then refasten the horizontal rail with the wire.

The claimant stated that, as he began to work on the morning of June 10, 2002, the owner of the Company, Jan Staszael, passed by him and said: “If you can’t manage, you can go home.” The claimant testified that he did not understand the comment. Staszael testified that he reminded the claimant to pin the safety gate. According to Staszael, the claimant said that he would pin the gate, after which Staszael told him that if he did not pin the gate, he would be sent home. Staszael stated that, to his knowledge, all the safety gate fasteners were working on that day. He testified that it is the responsibility of the bricklayer’s helper to unfasten the gate when a load of bricks is delivered to the scaffold and refasten the bar after the load has been lifted into position. Staszael admitted that the Company has no written rules regarding scaffold construction or the use of a safety gate.

In the afternoon of June 10, 2002, at approximately 2 p.m., the claimant was on the scaffold, carrying a brick or block. He testified that he tripped over a brick and fell onto the horizontal rail which was acting as a safety gate. The barrier snapped off and the claimant fell approximately four meters to the ground below and landed on his left side.

The claimant was taken by ambulance to Christ Hospital and underwent surgery to repair a comminuted, open fracture of the distal radius of his left wrist. The claimant also suffered from a laceration with partial degloving of his mid left leg and a transverse contused laceration over the distal aspect of the volar area of his left foot.

Josef Gladowski testified that he was employed by the Company as a bricklayer. On the morning of the accident, he was assisted by the claimant on the scaffold and he heard Staszael remind the claimant to fasten the safety bar (horizontal rail) or he would be sent home. At the time of the claimant’s accident, Gladowski did not note if the safety gate was pinned or unpinned. He saw the claimant back up, “hit the railing,” and then fall. He did not believe that there were any foreign devices such as wire used to fasten the gate.

Pawel Sajdak testified that he was employed as a machine lift operator for the Company on June 10, 2002. Sajdak stated that he did not witness the claimant’s accident. However, he had reminded the claimant earlier that day to close the safety gate.

After his hospitalization, the claimant was treated by Dr. Viorel Raducan at the Parkview Musculoskeletal Clinic. When Dr. Raducan examined the claimant on October 3, 2002, he noted that his wrist fracture was healed, but his grasp and grip were weak. Aggressive occupational therapy was recommended. As to the claimant’s leg injury, Dr. Raducan noted evidence of sequela of the left ankle and prescribed physical therapy. He concluded that the claimant was unable to work.

On November 7, 2002, Dr. Raducan again noted that the claimant exhibited a weak grip and stiffness in his left wrist as well as short flexors of the fingers. He again recommended aggressive occupational therapy, and determined that the claimant was still unable to work.

On November 21, 2002, the claimant returned to Dr. Raducan with complaints of left shoulder pain and stiffness. Dr. Raducan observed that the claimant’s shoulder was tender anteriorly and it showed limitations in external rotation, internal rotation, and abduction. He opined that the claimant’s shoulder was injured at the same time he sustained the wrist injury, noting that “fractures of the wrist occur by falling hard or some kind of axial loading of the external upper extremity, which can very well propagate the shock from the wrist all the way into the shoulder.” Dr. Raducan recommended physical therapy for the claimant’s shoulder. The claimant testified that he had not complained of left shoulder pain prior to the November 21, 2002, examination because he had not attempted to lift his left arm until that time.

Dr. Raducan examined the claimant again on January 9, 2003, and found that the claimant’s left wrist range of motion was “almost functional,” with grip strength at 50% compared to the right side. The claimant’s glenohumeral joint was still very stiff, with “quite a bit” of deficit for internal rotation in the left shoulder. Dr. Raducan recommended physical and occupational therapy to improve range of motion of the glenohumeral joint, and opined that the claimant was unable to work.

When he examined the claimant at a follow-up exam on January 31, 2003, Dr. Raducan found less than 50% range of motion in the claimant’s left wrist, that his fingers were stiff, and that he could not make a fist. Range of motion in the claimant’s shoulder was functional, but was about 40% in the glenohumeral joint, and 60% in the scapular thoracic joint, with “quite a bit” of deficit of internal rotation. Dr. Raducan suggested a functional capacity evaluation (FCE).

The FCE was conducted on February 6, 2003, by Tom Kokocinski, a licensed physical therapist. Kokocinski found that the claimant demonstrated severe range of motion limitation, as well as weakness of his left shoulder, wrist, and fingers. Based upon objective tests, Kokocinski concluded that the claimant was able to lift 20 to 50 pounds occasionally, but could lift no more than 10 pounds over head level. Kokocinski opined that the claimant was unable to perform the essential functions of a bricklayer’s helper because the job required him to lift amounts in excess of 100 pounds. Kokocinski recommended that the claimant see an orthopedic surgeon for a consultation on his left shoulder range of motion restrictions.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
861 N.E.2d 202, 308 Ill. Dec. 137, 369 Ill. App. 3d 591, 2006 Ill. App. LEXIS 1183, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/js-masonry-inc-v-industrial-commission-illappct-2006.