Sunny Hill of Will County v. The Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission

2014 IL App (4th) 130028WC
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedJune 26, 2014
Docket3-13-0028WC
StatusUnpublished

This text of 2014 IL App (4th) 130028WC (Sunny Hill of Will County v. The 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
Sunny Hill of Will County v. The Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission, 2014 IL App (4th) 130028WC (Ill. Ct. App. 2014).

Opinion

2014 IL App (3d) 130028WC NO. 3-13-0028WC Opinion filed June 26, 2014 ____________________________________________________________________________

IN THE APPELLATE COURT

OF ILLINOIS

THIRD DISTRICT

WORKERS' COMPENSATION COMMISSION DIVISION ____________________________________________________________________________

SUNNY HILL OF WILL COUNTY d/b/a ) Appeal from ) Circuit Court of SUNNY HILL NURSING HOME, ) Will County Appellant, ) No. 12MR328 v. ) ) THE ILLINOIS WORKERS' COMPENSATION ) Honorable COMMISSION et al. (Dalia Mahoney-Tapella, ) Barbara Petrungaro, Appellee). ) Judge Presiding. ____________________________________________________________________________

JUSTICE HARRIS delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion. Presiding Justice Holdridge and Justices Hoffman, Hudson, and Stewart concurred in the judgment and opinion.

OPINION

¶1 On July 31, 2009, claimant, Dalia Mahoney-Tapella, filed an application for

adjustment of claim pursuant to the Illinois Workers' Compensation Act (Act) (820 ILCS 305/1

to 30 (West 2008)), seeking benefits from the employer, Sunny Hill of Will County d/b/a Sunny

Hill Nursing Home (Sunny Hill). She alleged a work-related injury that occurred while she was

assisting a patient on December 5, 2008, causing injury to her right shoulder and lower back.

Following a hearing, the arbitrator determined claimant's condition of ill-being was causally

related to the accident that arose out of and in the course of her employment, and claimant's

presence at a flower shop she co-owned did not constitute a "return to work" or absolve Sunny Hill of its liability to pay temporary total disability (TTD) benefits. The arbitrator awarded

claimant TTD benefits of $596.00 per week for the periods of December 6, 2008, through June 9,

2009; July 23, 2009, through August 27, 2009; and September 22, 2009, through June 15, 2011.

¶2 On review, the Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission (Commission)

affirmed and adopted the arbitrator's decision. On judicial review, the circuit court of Will

County confirmed the Commission's decision.

¶3 Sunny Hill appeals, arguing (1) the Commission erred in awarding claimant TTD

benefits and (2) the Commission's finding that claimant's present condition of ill-being is

causally related to the December 5, 2008, work accident is against the manifest weight of the

evidence. We affirm.

¶4 I. BACKGROUND

¶5 The following factual recitation is taken from the evidence presented at the

arbitration hearing on June 15, 2011.

¶6 Claimant testified she first began working for Sunny Hill in November 2004 as a

licensed practical nurse. Her duties included taking care of 25 to 50 patients, including lifting

them as necessary. In 1996, prior to working at Sunny Hill, claimant suffered an injury to her

neck and underwent a cervical fusion procedure. In September 2007, while working at Sunny

Hill, claimant suffered an injury to her right shoulder. On February 15, 2008, Dr. Paul Trksak

performed an arthroscopic debridement of claimant's right rotator cuff and subacromial

decompression. On October 31, 2008, Dr. Trksak noted claimant had reached maximum medical

improvement (MMI). Dr. Trksak released her to return to full-duty work at Sunny Hill effective

November 2, 2008.

¶7 On December 5, 2008, claimant was working at Sunny Hill, assisting two

-2- certified nurse assistants who were manually lowering an obese patient from a hoyer lift that was

stuck "a good 10 feet up in the air." As they brought the patient down, claimant felt "something

just like snap and pain down my shoulder and arm." She also felt pain in her neck and lower

back. Claimant immediately sought treatment from Advanced Physicians, complaining of "pain

in [her] right shoulder, neck, mid back and low back." An MR arthrogram of claimant's right

shoulder was performed on December 22, 2008. It revealed a full thickness perforation of the

rotator cuff. On January 6, 2009, an MRI of claimant's lower back was performed. It revealed

severe facet arthritis with lateral stenosis in the lower lumbar area. Advanced Physicians

referred claimant to Dr. Gregory Markarian, an orthopedic surgeon.

¶8 Claimant first saw Dr. Markarian on January 15, 2009, at which time he

diagnosed a recurrent tear of the right rotator cuff (he was unsure whether the MR arthrogram

demonstrated a partial tear or a full thickness tear), AC joint arthritis and bicipital tendonitis.

Based on her presentation and the fact she was asymptomatic prior to the accident at issue, Dr.

Markarian opined claimant's injuries were causally connected to the December 5, 2008, work

accident.

¶9 On January 28, 2009, Dr. Markarian performed an arthroscopic debridement of

the partially torn rotator cuff and subpectoral biceps tenodesis. On February 5, 2009, claimant

underwent an EMG of her lower back which revealed an acute S1 radiculopathy. She underwent

an EMG of her neck on March 12, 2009, which revealed an acute C7 radiculopathy. On March

24, 2009, claimant received a lumbar epidural steroid injection by Advanced Physicians. On

April 14, 2009, claimant received a cortisone injection in her right shoulder by Dr. Markarian.

On April 16, 2009, Dr. Markarian released claimant to return to light-duty work.

¶ 10 On June 9, 2009, Dr. Kevin F. Walsh, performed an independent medical

-3- evaluation of claimant. Dr. Walsh's report is not included in the record and was not admitted

into evidence at arbitration. The only reference to Dr. Walsh's findings are in Dr. Markarian's

evidence deposition and Dr. Anthony Romeo's (who began treating claimant in 2010) initial

report recounting claimant's medical history. According to Dr. Markarian's evidence deposition

and Dr. Romeo's initial report, Dr. Walsh concluded claimant's injuries were not related to the

December 5, 2008, work accident and returned her to full-duty work on June 10, 2009.

¶ 11 On July 23, 2009, claimant reported to Dr. Markarian she aggravated her right

shoulder (she felt swelling and pain) apparently as a result of returning to full-duty work too

soon. Dr. Markarian restricted claimant from work again and ordered an MRI of her right

shoulder, which was performed on August 18, 2009. The MRI revealed tendinosis, moderate

bursitis and minimal subacromial encroachment due to degenerative and inflammatory changes.

Dr. Markarian testified these injuries were part of the "injury spectrum" and were related to the

December 5, 2008, work accident. Claimant was released to return to light-duty work effective

August 28, 2009.

¶ 12 On September 22, 2009, Dr. Markarian gave claimant a cortisone injection in her

right shoulder and took her off work. He ordered an MR arthrogram which was performed on

October 8, 2009. It revealed partial tearing of the rotator cuff. Dr. Markarian explained the

partial tear of the rotator cuff would not have been evident in the August 2009 MRI results.

According to Dr. Markarian, an MRI would reveal "obvious defects where [the tissue is] pulled

away off the bone and it's retracted" but tears that are not retracted "can be difficult to interpret."

The MR arthrogram reveals more because a dye is injected into the joint. Dr. Markarian

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Sunny Hill of Will County v. Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission
2014 IL App (3d) 130028WC (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2014)

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