Illinois Workers Compensation Lawyer Blog

The Illinois Workers' Compensation Commisison held that a worker's injuries sustained when she fell while wlaking down a hallway did not arise out of her employment. The worker failed to prove that her fall was caused by a substance on the floor, a defect, or any other possible explanation.

Case name: Goolsbey v. Rockford Memorial Hosptial, 17 ILWCLB 224 (Ill.W.C.Comm.2009)

Goolsby, a hospital employee, testified that she was walking down a hallway shen she suddenly fell. Two visitors were walking in front of her at the time and came back to assist her. Goolsby testified that it felt like her foot caught on something. She does not know which foot got sutck. She testified that she was not rushing at the time of the incident, she did not know what caused her to fall, and she did not notice anything that would have caused her to fall.

A couple of weeks after the incident she went back to look at the area to determine what could have caused the incident. She testified that there appeared to be dimpling of the tile in the area where she fell and believed this could have caused her accident. The hallway was open to the general public. A nurse testifed that she came to assist Goolsby immediately after the fall and did not see any subtance on the floor or defect in the surface of the floor.

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Posted by Donald W. Fohrman | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

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The Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission held that a claimant sustained repetitive trauma injuries in the form of carpal tunnel syndrome arising out of and in the course of his employment and found the claimant entitled to prospective medical treatment pursuant to Section 8(a) of the WCA.

A laborer’s carpal tunnel syndrome injury, caused by constant heavy lifting, may warrant benefits as a compensable repetitive injury.

The claimant asserted he sustained carpal tunnel syndrome due to his 10 years of work for the city as a sanitation laborer. His duties included picking up garbage carts and dumping the carts into a truck. The claimant also lifted loose material including couches, refrigerators, and stoves in the garbage truck for removal. He had a previous neck problem requiring surgery and has controlled non-insulin-dependent diabetes. He began to notice numbness in the thumb, index and middle fingers and pain the wrist of his right hand. His symptoms were most prevalent at work. His neck surgeon opined that the numbness in the hand was “more likely related to his carpal tunnel syndrome than his neck.” The Commission awarded benefits, finding that work-related repetitive trauma in the form of bilateral carpal tunnel, right worse than left, was fully supported by the claimant’s testimony and the medical records.

The Commission noted that the claimant’s job required heavy lifting and the use of both hands on a constant basis. He testified to performing these repetitive forceful activities every day for 10 years. The employer presented no evidence to the contrary on the issue of forceful repetitive work duties

Posted by Donald W. Fohrman | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

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