Sims v. Illinois Workers Compensation Comm'n

2019 IL App (1st) 190643WC
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedDecember 27, 2019
Docket1-19-0643WC
StatusUnpublished

This text of 2019 IL App (1st) 190643WC (Sims v. Illinois Workers Compensation Comm'n) 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
Sims v. Illinois Workers Compensation Comm'n, 2019 IL App (1st) 190643WC (Ill. Ct. App. 2019).

Opinion

2019 IL App (1st) 190643WC-U

Workers’ Compensation Commission Division Order Filed: December 27, 2019

No. 1-19-0643WC

NOTICE: This order was filed under Supreme Court Rule 23 and may not be cited as precedent by any party except in the limited circumstances allowed under Rule 23(e)(1). ______________________________________________________________________________

IN THE

APPELLATE COURT OF ILLINOIS

FIRST DISTRICT ______________________________________________________________________________

JOANNE SIMS, ) Appeal from the ) Circuit Court of Appellant, ) Cook County ) v. ) No. 18 L 50043 ) ) THE ILLINOIS WORKERS’ COMPENSATION ) COMMISSION et al., ) Honorable ) Michael F. Otto, (University of Illinois at Chicago, Appellee). ) Judge, Presiding.

______________________________________________________________________________

JUSTICE HOFFMAN delivered the judgment of the court. Presiding Justice Holdridge and Justices Hudson, Cavanagh, and Barberis concurred in the judgment.

ORDER

¶1 Held: We affirmed the circuit court’s judgment confirming the Workers’ Compensation Commission’s decision finding that the claimant’s current condition of shoulder and spine ill-being are not causally related to her work injury and denying her request for an award of attorney fees and penalties.

¶2 The claimant, Joanne Sims, appeals from an order of the circuit court of Cook County that

confirmed a decision of the Workers’ Compensation Commission (Commission) which, inter alia, No. 1-19-0643WC

found that her current condition of shoulder and spine ill-being are not causally related to her work

injury of January 4, 2011, and denied her request for an award of attorney fees and penalties

pursuant to sections 16, 19(k), and 19(l) of the Workers’ Compensation Act (Act) (820 ILCS

305/16, 19(k), 19(l) (West 2014)). For the reasons that follow, we affirm the judgment of the circuit

court.

¶3 The following factual recitation is taken from the evidence adduced at the arbitration

hearing held on December 9, 2015.

¶4 The claimant testified to the following set of facts. On January 4, 2011, she was employed

by the University as a fiscal administrator in the College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs.

On that date, she caught an intruder in her office going through her purse. She told the intruder to

stop and the intruder “charged towards” her, pushing her into the door frame of her office. Her left

arm and hand struck the corner of the door frame and she felt “excruciating pain” in her fingers.

When her left arm struck the door frame, the claimant’s left hand was above her head and her arm

was bent at the elbow, similar to the hand signal for a right turn. With her right hand, the claimant

grabbed the intruder’s hooded sweatshirt, as a co-worker fought with the intruder. In the ensuing

altercation, all three of them fell to the ground. The altercation proceeded down the hallway, with

the trio falling to the ground at least two more times along the way. Eventually, the intruder

escaped. In total, the ordeal lasted “well over five minutes.”

¶5 According to medical records, the claimant visited the University of Illinois Medical Center

at Chicago emergency room that same day and was released with instructions to keep her fingers

in a splint. The claimant was diagnosed with a small closed nondisplaced intraarticular fracture of

-2- No. 1-19-0643WC

the left ring finger and a soft tissue injury to the middle finger. The claimant reported “no other

injuries sustained.”

¶6 Also on January 4, 2011, the claimant filled out a “First Report of Injury” form. The

claimant listed her only injuries as a fracture to her left ring finger and an injury to her left middle

finger. The claimant also filled out an “Employee’s Injury Report” where she listed only that she

fractured her left ring finger.

¶7 On January 5, 2011, the claimant visited the University of Illinois Health Services. The

records of that visit establish that she reported only injuries to her two left fingers and that her

diagnosis was the same. She was permitted to return to work with “limited use of the left hand.”

A follow-up visit was scheduled for January 24, 2011.

¶8 On January 11, 2011, the claimant visited Dr. Michael Bednar, an orthopedic surgeon at

the Loyola University Medical Center. Records of that visit reflect that Dr. Bednar conducted a

physical examination of the claimant, revealing “full range of motion of the elbow, forearm, wrist,

and fingers with exception to the left ring finger.” An x-ray of the claimant’s left hand revealed a

fracture at the distal end of the middle phalanx into the region of the DIP joint of the left ring

finger.

¶9 On January 24, 2011, the claimant returned to the University of Illinois Health Services for

her follow-up visit. During the visit, she reported Dr. Bednar’s finding that she had a second

fracture. The claimant was ordered to remain on “modified duty” and not to use her left hand for

4-6 weeks.

¶ 10 On February 22, 2011, the claimant again treated with Dr. Bednar. Notes from that visit

indicate that the claimant reported “multiple complaints.” She reported to Dr. Bednar that the splint

-3- No. 1-19-0643WC

“helped to decrease the numbness of her hand.” She also reported that using her left hand caused

“more pain and numbness radiating from the wrist to the elbow.” Dr. Bednar conducted a physical

examination and noted “no regions of point tenderness.” He provided a note to the claimant stating

that she could return to work without restrictions.

¶ 11 On March 14, 2011, the claimant, based on her attorney’s recommendation, visited Dr.

Scott Rubinstein. Notes from that visit indicate that the claimant’s “main complaints” were of a

“stocking-glove type of distribution of numbness throughout her arm from about mid-upper arm

just above the elbow all the way down to the fingers.” Dr. Rubinstein conducted a physical

examination of the claimant and noted that she had full range of motion in her left arm. The

claimant did not report any pain or discomfort with any motion of the neck. Dr. Rubinstein stated

that his impression was that the claimant “may have some neurologic things going on, possibly a

stretch of the brachial plexus or one of the cervical nerve roots” and he ordered an EMG.

¶ 12 The claimant treated with Dr. Rubinstein again on April 27, 2011. Dr. Rubinstein’s notes

indicate that the claimant’s EMG “did not show much of anything.” Dr. Rubinstein further noted

that the claimant “still has this vague numbness in her upper extremity that appears to be coming

from [a] more central location.” He performed a physical examination of the claimant, revealing

that her shoulder had a full range of motion. He noted that “holding her arm abducted and extended

does not cause [the claimant] to have any increased symptoms, such as would be seen with a stretch

of the brachial plexus.” Dr. Rubinstein still believed that the claimant’s issue was “neurologic.”

¶ 13 On May 18, 2011, the claimant returned to Dr. Rubinstein. According to his notes of the

visit, the claimant reported that she was still experiencing “some numbness going down the arm.”

Dr. Rubinstein noted that the claimant “did wrench her neck at the time of the initial injury” and

-4- No. 1-19-0643WC

ordered an MRI of the claimant’s cervical spine. The MRI showed that the claimant had “some

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Mechanical Devices v. Industrial Commission
800 N.E.2d 819 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2003)
McMahan v. Industrial Commission
702 N.E.2d 545 (Illinois Supreme Court, 1998)
Certi-Serve, Inc. v. Industrial Commission
461 N.E.2d 954 (Illinois Supreme Court, 1984)
R.D. Masonry, Inc. v. Industrial Commission
830 N.E.2d 584 (Illinois Supreme Court, 2005)
Hosteny v. Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission
928 N.E.2d 474 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2009)
Avon Products, Inc. v. Industrial Commission
412 N.E.2d 468 (Illinois Supreme Court, 1980)
Westin Hotel v. INDUS. COM'N OF ILLINOIS
865 N.E.2d 342 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2007)
Docksteiner v. Industrial Commission
806 N.E.2d 230 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2004)
USF Holland, Inc. v. Industrial Commission
829 N.E.2d 810 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2005)
Jacobo v. WORKERS'COMPENSATION COM'N
2011 IL App (3d) 100807WC (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2011)
Dodaro v. Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission
950 N.E.2d 256 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2010)
Rosestone Investments, LLC v. Garner
2013 IL App (1st) 123422 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2014)
Lewis v. Heartland Food Corp.
2014 IL App (1st) 123303 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2014)
Hall v. Naper Gold Hospitality
2012 IL App (2d) 111151 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2012)
Walters v. Rodriguez
2011 IL App (1st) 103488 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2011)
United States Steel Corporation-South Works v. Industrial Commission
499 N.E.2d 60 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1986)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2019 IL App (1st) 190643WC, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sims-v-illinois-workers-compensation-commn-illappct-2019.