Ranbar Technology, Inc. v. Workers' Compensation Appeal Board

831 A.2d 751, 2003 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 541
CourtCommonwealth Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedAugust 6, 2003
StatusPublished

This text of 831 A.2d 751 (Ranbar Technology, Inc. v. Workers' Compensation Appeal Board) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ranbar Technology, Inc. v. Workers' Compensation Appeal Board, 831 A.2d 751, 2003 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 541 (Pa. Ct. App. 2003).

Opinion

COLINS, President Judge.

Ranbar Technology, Inc. (Employer) appeals from the October 29, 2002 order of the Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board (Board), which affirmed the decision of the Workers’ Compensation Judge (WCJ) on remand that granted a claim petition filed by Thomas Riley (Claimant) and denied Employer’s appeal.

Claimant was employed as a kettle operator, and on February 1, 1995, he filed a claim petition alleging that on June 16, 1994 and prior thereto, he sustained an organic brain syndrome and depression as a result of his exposure to chemicals while working for Employer. The WCJ denied the claim after finding that Claimant had not met his burden of establishing that he incurred a work-related injury on June 16, 1994. Specifically, the WCJ drew a negative inference from Claimant’s failure to submit a hospital admission record supporting his claim of chemical exposure on the job.

Claimant appealed, alleging that the WCJ’s decision was not based on substantial competent evidence. Claimant also filed a petition for rehearing, requesting a remand for the purpose of presenting, for the WCJ’s consideration, records he subsequently received from the Veteran’s Administration for medical treatment from January 7, 1996 through April 7,1998. By an opinion and order dated October 5, 1999, the Board vacated the WCJ’s decision and remanded the matter to allow Claimant the “opportunity to enter these [753]*753records as well as any necessary medical testimony in support thereof, especially considering the negative inference made by the WCJ as a result of [Claimant’s] failure to produce such records.” In its order, the Board also directed that Employer be given the opportunity to submit medical testimony in opposition to Claimant’s additional evidence.

After additional hearings on remand, the WCJ on September 6, 2001, granted Claimant’s claim petition after concluding that Claimant had established that he suffered from pre-existing dementia and hallucinations that were aggravated by chemical exposure in the workplace, along with decreased mental awareness as a result of said exposure. Employer appealed, and by a decision circulated October 29, 2002, the Board affirmed the WCJ’s remand decision. This appeal followed.1

On appeal, Employer argues that the Board erred in admitting medical records and reports of Claimant beyond the scope of the remand order, thereby resulting in inappropriate expansion of issues before the WCJ and resultant confusion. Specifically, Employer points to the confusion arising as to Claimant’s alleged injury date, which was amended twice on remand, once by Claimant at the final remand hearing to June 3, 1994, and thereafter by the WCJ in his remand decision to June 16, 1994. It is Employer’s position that the records submitted by Claimant do not support a June 16, 1994 injury date, but rather support a June 3, 1994 injury date. Employer additionally contends that the records submitted by Claimant pursuant to the remand order relate to a different incident, a different mode of injury, different complaints, and different alleged chemical “exposure” than previously averred on Claimant’s initial claim petition. Therefore, avers Employer, the WCJ’s amendment of Claimant’s injury date to June 16, 1994 is erroneous. Finally, Employer maintains that the WCJ’s decision is unsupported by substantial evidence and cannot be considered a “reasoned decision.” In support of this assertion, Employer refers to the fact that the WCJ’s remand decision contained credibility determinations in favor of Claimant, which determinations were directly contrary to the credibility determinations in Employer’s favor found in the WCJ’s initial decision.

Upon review, we concur with the Board’s affirmance of the WCJ’s decision except with regard to the WCJ’s amendment of Claimant’s injury date from June 3, 1994 to June 16, 1994. With respect to Employer’s challenge to the Board’s vacating the WCJ’s initial determination and to the subsequent admission of additional records submitted by Claimant on remand, our Supreme Court in Cudo v. Hallstead Foundry, Inc., 517 Pa. 553, 557, 539 A.2d 792, 794 (1988), stated:

The Board has broad powers to grant a rehearing....
One of the purposes of the workmen’s compensation laws is to give a claimant full opportunity to present whatever competent evidence he desires to reach the merits of the case. In harmony with this liberal tendency, the courts have held that the board has broad powers to grant a rehearing when justice requires
When the Board grants a petition for rehearing, the Board is unrestrict[754]*754ed in receiving additional, competent testimony.

(Citations and footnotes omitted.)

In Finding of Fact No. 8 of the WCJ’s initial decision, the WCJ drew a negative inference from the fact that Claimant failed to submit any records substantiating a hospital admission on June 16, 1994, as was stated in the claim petition prior to Claimant’s amendment of the date to June 3, 1994. At the remand hearing on April 19, 2001, Claimant’s counsel amended the work injury date to June 3, 1994, and Claimant was permitted, “in the interests of justice,” to submit medical records and evidence received by Claimant after the WCJ’s initial decision had circulated. We note that the Board, in granting Claimant’s remand request “in the interests of justice” to allow Claimant’s submission of medical evidence received after the WCJ’s decision was circulated, specifically directed that Employer be afforded an opportunity to present medical testimony in opposition to Claimant’s additional testimony and records. Moreover, it is well established that credibility determinations and evaluations of the weight of the evidence are within the province of the WCJ as the finder of fact, and the WCJ may accept or reject the testimony of any witness, including a medical witness, in whole or in part. Continental Baking Co. v. Workmen’s Compensation Appeal Board (Hunt), 688 A.2d 740 (Pa.Cmwlth.1997). Our appellate role is not to reweigh the evidence or review the credibility of witnesses, but rather to determine whether the WCJ’s findings are supported by the record as a whole. Bethenergy Mines, Inc. v. Workmen’s Compensation Appeal Board (Skirpan), 531 Pa. 287, 612 A.2d 434 (1992). Here, the WCJ found the medical testimony submitted on Claimant’s behalf on the remand petition, specifically hospital records substantiating both the fact of Claimant’s June 3, 1994 work injury, and the testimony of Claimant’s treating physician Millard Trott, M.D., more credible and persuasive than Employer’s rebuttal evidence.

We concur with Employer’s contention that the WCJ erred in re-amending the onset date of Claimant’s work injury to June 16, 1994, when the record indicates that Claimant was treated on June 3, 1994 for work-related chemical exposure. Both the Mercy Hospital records and the Shaler Area Emergency Medical Service Incorporated records reflect that on June 3, 1994, Claimant was treated for chemical burns he sustained at the workplace from an ammonia hydroxide solution.

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Related

Daniels v. Workers' Compensation Appeal Board
828 A.2d 1043 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 2003)
Bethenergy Mines, Inc. v. Workmen's Compensation Appeal Board
612 A.2d 434 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1992)
Urban v. Workers' Compensation Appeal Board
763 A.2d 564 (Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, 2000)
Cudo v. Hallstead Foundry, Inc.
539 A.2d 792 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1988)
Continental Baking Co. v. Workmen's Compensation Appeal Board
688 A.2d 740 (Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, 1997)

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