TTC Illinois, Inc. v. Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission

396 Ill. App. 3d 344
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedNovember 10, 2009
DocketNos. 5—08—0644WC, 5—08—0645WC cons.
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 396 Ill. App. 3d 344 (TTC Illinois, Inc. v. 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
TTC Illinois, Inc. v. Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission, 396 Ill. App. 3d 344 (Ill. Ct. App. 2009).

Opinion

JUSTICE HOFFMAN

delivered the opinion of the court:

TTC Illinois, Inc./Tom Via Trucking and the Illinois Insurance Guaranty Fund (hereinafter collectively referred to as the Employer/ Fund) filed the instant consolidated appeals from separate judgments of the circuit court of Williamson County which confirmed two decisions of the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission (Commission) awarding the claimant, Donald Keen, benefits under the Workers’ Compensation Act (Act) (820 ILCS 305/1 et seq. (West 1998)). For the reasons that follow, we affirm both judgments.

On September 11, 2000, the claimant filed two applications for adjustment of claim pursuant to the Act, seeking benefits for injuries he alleged that he received while in the employ of Tom Via on May 28, 1998 (docket No. 00 WC 050293), and January 6, 1999 (docket No. 00 WC 050294). On April 25, 2005, both cases were dismissed for want of prosecution by an arbitrator when the claimant failed to appear on a set hearing date.

The Commission’s official docket entries reflect that the claimant filed petitions to reinstate both cases on June 27, 2005. However, the petitions did not set forth a date on which the claimant would appear before the arbitrator and present his petitions, and there is no evidence of record that any notices of motion were filed along with the petitions. The record does contain copies of notices of motion dated October 31, 2006, setting the petitions for reinstatement for hearing before the arbitrator on that same date at 9 a.m. The record does not contain a transcript of the proceedings before the arbitrator on October 31, 2006. The transcript of the proceedings before the arbitrator on March 14, 2007, which is contained in the record, reflects that the petitions for reinstatement came before him on that date, having been continued from February 13, 2007. According to the transcript of the March 14, 2007, proceedings, the claimant’s attorney represented to the arbitrator that, in June of 2005, one of the attorneys representing Tom Via orally agreed to the reinstatement of both cases, and she subsequently issued a letter agreeing to their reinstatement. The claimant’s attorney went on to state the following:

“So I just want it clear on the record that the reason the Order to Reinstate was not signed shortly after the Petition to Reinstate is that both parties agreed to reinstate it, but it would be done at a convenient time for the parties when they were both in front of Judge Dibble [the arbitrator] on another case or another matter.”

Addressing the issue of reinstatement, the arbitrator stated:

“You thought it was by stipulation, and it was at one point, and now it’s not; is that correct?”

The attorney for Tom Via responded:

“Basically, but with respect to that, there never was a meeting before the judge to discuss the issue.”

Immediately thereafter, the arbitrator granted the petitions and reinstated both of the claimant’s cases. In further support of his assertion that the parties had agreed to reinstate the cases, the claimant’s attorney relies upon a letter he received dated October 31, 2006, from one of Tom Via’s attorneys in which she states:

“Pursuant to our conversation, please be advised that my client has no objection to reinstatement of Mr. Keen’s workers’ compensation claims: 00 WC 050293 and 00 WC 050294.”

Following their reinstatement, the claimant’s cases were tried simultaneously before the arbitrator. The following factual recitation is taken from the evidence presented at the arbitration hearing.

The claimant was employed by Tom Via as a diesel technician. On July 16, 1996, the claimant injured his back when he and a co-employee were lifting a truck radiator estimated to weigh 300 pounds. The claimant came under the care of Dr. Alan Froehling an orthopaedic surgeon. X-rays of the claimant’s back revealed no evidence of any fractures. Dr. Froehling diagnosed the claimant as suffering from a severe lumbar strain and prescribed pain medication.

Dr. Froehling treated the claimant conservatively, prescribing physical therapy and traction. In his notes of a visit on August 14, 1996, Dr. Froehling wrote that the claimant had a full range of motion and was without pain. Dr. Froehling released the claimant from treatment and authorized him to return to work on August 20, 1996.

The claimant’s wife, Tammy Keen, who by the time of the arbitration hearing had been appointed as the claimant’s guardian, testified that from the time the claimant returned to work in August of 1996 until May 28, 1998, the claimant did not suffer any further back injuries.

It is uncontested that, on May 28, 1998, the claimant injured his back at work while lifting the front-end spring assembly of a truck which weighed approximately 150 pounds. On June 1, 1998, the claimant sought treatment from Dr. Froehling. In a note of the claimant’s visit on that date, Dr. Froehling wrote that the claimant reported severe low-back pain and numbness in his upper right leg. On examination, the doctor observed spasms in the claimant’s low back and limited range of motion. X-rays of the claimant’s lumbar spine were “essentially negative.” As of that visit, Dr. Froehling diagnosed a severe back strain with some mild left sciatic symptoms. He prescribed pain medication and ordered an MRI scan.

The claimant next saw Dr. Froehling on June 15, 1998, after having an MRI as ordered. Dr. Froehling’s notes of that visit state that the MRI showed a central disc herniation at L4-L5 on the left, but the quality of the images was degraded by a motion artifact. The doctor also noted a “little central bulge at L5-S1 that might also be a small disc herniation.” He opined that the claimant was in need of a myelogram and CT scan and noted that he would consider administering lumbar epidural steroid injections.

On July 20, 1998, the claimant underwent a lumbar myelogram. The report of that procedure states that no apparent disc herniation was identified. A slight elevation of the thecal sac at L4-L5 and a very mild impression upon the anterior aspect of the thecal sac at L2-L3 and L3-L4 were noted. According to that report, the claimant’s nerve root sheaths appeared normal and the neural arches were intact. Immediately following the lumbar myelogram, the claimant had a CT scan of his lumbar spine. The report of that scan states that no apparent spinal stenosis or disc herniation was identified throughout the spine. Minimal diffuse disc impression upon the anterior aspect of the thecal sac at L4-L5 was noted. However, no significant impression on the thecal sac or traversing nerve roots was observed. A slight bilateral facet arthropathy at L4-L5 and L5-S1 was also noted.

The claimant continued to treat with Dr. Froehling. He received a series of lumbar epidural steroid injections and underwent physical therapy. Throughout his treatment, the claimant continued to complain of back pain and exhibited flexion intolerance. Dr. Froehling opined that the claimant had a small disc herniation on the left, although “Kit didn’t show too well on the myelogram or CT scan.”

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Bluebook (online)
396 Ill. App. 3d 344, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ttc-illinois-inc-v-illinois-workers-compensation-commission-illappct-2009.