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Mattison v. Pontiac Osteopathic Hospital9/29/2000
As amended November 27, 2000
FOR PUBLICATION
9:00 a.m.
In these consolidated appeals, plaintiff Doris Mattison and defendant Pontiac Osteopathic Hospital each appeal by leave granted an order of the Worker 's Compensation Appellate Commission (WCAC) that reversed in part the magistrate's decision granting plaintiff an open award of benefits and denied defendant's claim for a credit for wages paid to plaintiff by another employer. We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand to the WCAC.
Plaintiff began working for defendant in 1992 as a nurse's assistant. Her jobs included bathing patients, passing bed trays, walking patients in the hallways, giving back rubs, and changing beds. Plaintiff testified that on June 16, 1992, she slipped going up the stairs at work, turning her left ankle. She was eventually diagnosed as suffering from a ganglion cyst that developed as a result of the trauma. Plaintiff returned to work in August 1992, although she testified that she continued to feel a lot of pain. Over the next few years, plaintiff complained of pain in both feet. Plaintiff was diagnosed as suffering from osteoarthritis, and x-rays show arthritic changes in both feet.
In January 1995, plaintiff began working a second job , with Operation Able, processing applications for Ford, Chrysler, and General Motors, and registering applicants for job services. Plaintiff worked four hours a day, from 10:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m., and then reported for her 3:00 p.m. shift at the defendant hospital. She testified that the work at Operation Able did not bother her feet because she sat all the time.
Plaintiff's last day of work at the hospital was July 4, 1995. She testified that she did not feel she could continue to work because of the pain. Plaintiff continued to work for Operation Able until November 1996. She left that job , not because of any problems with her feet, but to help her daughter-in-law in New Jersey.
Plaintiff filed a petition for benefits, claiming that she is disabled as a result of a specific event injury in June 1992 and a last day-of-work injury, i.e., plaintiff alleged that her work up through and including her last day of work aggravated or contributed to her disability.
In an opinion and order mailed September 30, 1997, the magistrate found no grounds for awarding benefits on the basis of any complaints regarding plaintiff's right foot. The magistrate did find that plaintiff continued to suffer from the effects of the June 16, 1992, left ankle twisting, specifically the ganglion cyst and the scar tissue resulting from injections she received in the area in an attempt to eliminate the cyst. The magistrate also found that plaintiff was entitled to benefits on the basis of an ongoing symptomatic aggravation of the osteoarthritis in her left ankle. The magistrate noted that pursuant to subsection 301(2) of the Worker's Disability Compensation Act (WDCA), MCL 418.301(2); MSA 17.237(301)(2), osteoarthritis as a condition of the aging process is compensable only if it is aggravated or accelerated by the employment in a significant manner. The magistrate found no evidence that the pathology of the left ankle was significantly aggravated by plaintiff's employment. However, citing McDonald v Meijer, Inc, 188 Mich App 210; 469 NW2d 27 (1991), the magistrate found that plaintiff was nevertheless entitled to benefits because "she has consistently exhibited greater and unabated symptomatology on the left since she last worked in July 1995." Finally, the magistrate denied defendant's request for a credit for wages earned by plaintiff at Operation Able after she left defendant's employ. The magistrate found that "plainti
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