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Davenport v. City and County of Honolulu12/30/2002
system. A clinical psychologist, Joseph P. Rogers, evaluated Davenport in February 1995 and explained that " contributing factor to the build up of perceived stress over the years has been his dogged persistence in pursuing these [promotion and grievance] issues without compromise." Id. at 7. Dr. Trockman filed a physician's report for this injury describing it as " orn Achilles tendon physically[.] Depressed, frustrated, and upset emotionally due to additional stress, etc. ." Id. (brackets in original).
On April 10, 1995, while still on leave and receiving TTD benefits for the Achilles tendon injury , Davenport saw Dr. John Hall, the Department's physician, for the purpose of evaluating his ability to return to work. During this examination, Davenport was diagnosed with elevated blood pressure and was alerted to the fact that he would face medical disqualification if he did not submit a medical report and treatment plan for the hypertension by May 27, 1995. Davenport filed a worker's compensation claim for the treatment of the hypertension and referenced April 10, 1995 as the date of injury, which he described as "stress--cumulative trauma and pain from industrial injuries." The Department denied liability for this claim.
C. Board's Decision
The Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, Disability Compensation Division ("DCD") held a hearing to examine Davenport's claims on October 15, 1996. At the hearing, Davenport alleged that his injuries resulted from: (1) harassment and threats from his superiors and other co-workers; (2) the alleged illegal activities committed by the Department during the promotion process; and (3) the depression he suffered from his Achilles tendon injury . The DCD held that
[Davenport] did not suffer compensable injuries. It is the opinions of Drs. Stitham, Ponce, Rogers and Trockman that [Davenport's] psychiatric problems were caused not by his duties as a fireman, but from the stress of dealing with the administrative process associated with his promotion as a fireman. Even though there is a causal relationship between his injuries and the work environment, [the Board] has held psychiatric injuries arising out of personnel actions at work are non-compensable. See Mitchell and subsequent related cases. . . . Therefore, [the Department] is not responsible for benefits relating to the January 14, 1994 and April 10, 1995 injuries. The claims are hereby denied. Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, Findings of Fact, November 21, 1996 (emphasis added).
Davenport appealed to the Board and appeared pro se at a hearing on November 2, 1998. The Board agreed that Davenport's January 1994 and April 1995 psychological injuries did not arise out of and in the course of employment, but found that Davenport had sustained a psychological injury as a compensable consequence of his Achilles tendon injury.
On October 27, 1999 Davenport filed a motion for reconsideration and requested that the Board reconsider its conclusion that the injuries did not arise out of and in the course of employment with the Department. Davenport argued that the Board misconstrued his claim as to the cause of the January 1994 injury . It was Davenport's position that the injury arose out of the Department's failure to reinstate his promotion when promised, not from the Civil Service appeals process.
On January 5, 2000, the Board rendered an amended decision and order, finding that
[Davenport's] January 14, 1994 psychological condition resulted from his involvement in the Civil Service administrative appeals process and not from the new fire chief's failure to honor the alleged promise of the chief's predecessor. .
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