Brooks v. Dockside Seafood12/2/1999
This case comes before us on a petition for certiorari filed by Irene Brooks (Brooks), a former employee of Dockside Seafood (Dockside), following a final decree by the Appellate Division of the Workers' Compensation Court (Appellate Division), denying and dismissing two petitions for benefits. Brooks challenges the Appellate Division's finding that the provisions of G.L. 1956 § 28-35-61 govern her petitions, and that the six-month period allowed for the amendment or the modification of decrees of the Workers' Compensation Court bars her claim for benefits.
Facts and Procedural History
Beginning in 1986 Brooks was employed as a meat wrapper at Dockside, a retail fish and meat market. Because of pain in her wrists, Brooks left work in November 1994 and consulted Arnold-Peter Weiss, M.D., who diagnosed her condition as bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome. Brooks has not returned to work at Dockside since that time. Doctor Weiss performed carpal tunnel release on Brooks's left wrist on March 3, 1995, and on her right wrist on March 31, 1995. When Brooks petitioned the Workers' Compensation Court (WCC) for disability benefits, the court issued a pretrial order, WCC No. 95-0978, on March 29, 1995, finding that Brooks suffered a loss of earning capacity as a result of bilateral carpal tunnel arising out of and in the course of her employment on November 28, 1994, and awarded Brooks partial benefits from November 28, 1994, through March 2, 1995, and total benefits from March 3, 1995, and continuing. On September 22, 1995, in another pretrial order, WCC No. 95-6567, the court found that Brooks's incapacity for work had ended, and her benefits were discontinued as of that date.
Six months later, in March 1996, Brooks was examined by Andrew Green, M.D., for pain in her left elbow and left shoulder. On March 13, 1996, Dr. Green found Brooks to have "ulnar nerve compression * * * causally related to her previous work activities as a meat wrapper." In June 1996 Brooks saw Danny Humbyrd, M.D., an orthopedic surgeon, who diagnosed her with "ulnar neuropathy, left side, and tendinitis, left shoulder," which in his opinion were causally related to Brooks's work activities as a meat wrapper at Dockside. Doctor Humbyrd recommended surgery on both the left elbow and left shoulder. Relying on these diagnoses, Brooks filed a petition to review the prior decree of the WCC, alleging a return of incapacity as of June 14, 1996. On October 7, 1996, pretrial order WCC No. 96-5373 was issued, which denied her petition to review. Brooks immediately appealed, requesting a trial. That same day Brooks filed a second petition, an original petition claiming benefits for injuries to her left elbow and shoulder that were caused by her job duties at Dockside. The two petitions, WCC No. 96-5373 and WCC No. 96-6582, were consolidated for trial.
A trial Judge rendered a decision in WCC No. 96-5373 (the petition to review) and WCC No. 96-6582 (the original petition) on July 18, 1997, denying and dismissing both petitions. Regarding the petition to review, the trial Judge found that Brooks had "failed to prove that she sustained a return of incapacity [on June 14, 1996] as a result of or flowing from the effects of her injury sustained on November 28, 1994." Regarding the original petition, the trial Judge found that "the allegation as to an injury to her right shoulder and left elbow were known to the employee during the pendency of W.C.C. No. 95-0978" and that Brooks had "not conformed to the requirements of § 28-35-61, that is to amend the decree under review within a six-month period of it becoming final."
On July 21, 1997, Brooks filed a claim of appeal to the Appellate Division, argui
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