Kerns v. Midwest Conveyor2/10/2004
respondent and appellant presented evidence; however, only the respondent presented live testimony. The respondent, along with his wife and son, testified at the hearing. Mary Titterington, a vocational rehabilitation consultant, also testified. In addition, the respondent introduced deposition testimony from Drs. Nora Clark, P. Brent Koprivica, Nicola Y. Katf, and Eric G. Sollars, along with a significant amount of documentary evidence. The appellant offered the deposition testimony of Drs. Stanton L. Rosenberg and Terrence Pratt, along with other documentary evidence. The SIF did not present any evidence.
The respondent testified that since the accident, he had suffered from severe pain in his back and hips and had significant difficulty remembering things and that as a result, he had become depressed. He also testified that these conditions were nonexistent before the accident. In addition, he testified that his previous injuries and conditions had not prohibited him from performing his duties as an ironworker. The respondent's wife and son testified to changes they had seen in the respondent's condition since the accident and to specific examples of forgetfulness and physical limitation they had witnessed.
Titterington testified that on June 3, 1998, she evaluated the respondent to determine his employability. As part of her evaluation, she employed the Slosson Intelligence Test-Revised, Wide Range Achievement Test-Revision 3, Minnesota Rate of Manipulation Tests, Adult Basic Learning Examination, and the Box and Blocks Test. Based on the test results, she found that the respondent academically functioned at a fourth-grade level and that as a result he was unable to perform even the most basic of unskilled sedentary work and, therefore, was unemployable.
In her deposition, Dr. Clark, a licensed clinical psychologist, testified concerning her neuropsychological evaluation of the respondent on August 28, 1996, and September 11, 1996, the purpose of which was to assess the respondent's intellectual and cognitive capacities. As part of her evaluation, she administered the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Test, the Halstead Reitan Neuropsychological Test Battery for Adults, the Reitan Indiana Aphasia Screening Test, as well as a series of sensory, perceptual, and motor tests. Based on her evaluation, Dr. Clark concluded that the respondent had low average intellectual abilities, poor academic skills, and a mild level of impairment in brain-related functioning.
Dr. Koprivica, an occupational medicine physician, testified in his deposition that he evaluated the respondent on January 22, 1998, at the request of the respondent to determine the level of disability, if any, suffered by the respondent, and the nature and extent of any injuries sustained by him in the accident. Based on his evaluation, Dr. Koprivica found that the respondent suffered from pre-existent industrial disability caused by carpal tunnel syndrome and had a history of medical and lateral tibial plateau fractures along with medical meniscus tears. He also found, however, that the respondent, as a direct result of the accident, sustained multiple traumatic injuries, including a closed head injury resulting in vestibular dysfunction, tinnitus, and mild brain dysfunction, and aggravation to the respondent's pre-existent, but asymptomatic, spinal stenosis, degenerative hip disease, and lumbar spondylosis. He also diagnosed the respondent as having chronic pain syndrome, which caused him to suffer from sleep disturbance. Ultimately, Dr. Koprivica's medical opinion was that the respondent was permanently and totally disabled due to the combined effect of the injuries suffered in the accident and his pre-existing disab
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