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Poe v. Raleigh/Durham Airport Authority12/19/1995
JOHNSON, Judge.
Plaintiff Dan Pope is a fifty-two (52) year old man with a fifth grade education and a learning disability. Because of his lack of education and cognitive problems, plaintiff has a severely restricted vocational status.
Plaintiff began working for defendant RDU in 1985, in defendant's janitorial and maintenance department. On 3 May 1988, plaintiff suffered an admittedly compensable injury to his lower back, by accident arising out of and in the course of his employment with defendant RDU. As a result of the May 1988 incident, plaintiff was not able to work from 5 May 1988 through 31 May 1988. During this time period, defendant RDU made temporary total disability compensation payments to plaintiff pursuant to an approved Industrial Commission Form (I.C. Form) 21 Agreement.
Plaintiff returned to work on 31 May 1988, but, in June 1988, fell into a hole while mowing grass during and in the course of employment with defendant RDU, and re-injured his lower back. Consequently, plaintiff was unable to work for approximately five weeks, beginning 22 June 1988. Defendant RDU paid plaintiff additional temporary total disability compensation pursuant to an I.C. Form 26 Agreement.
Again, plaintiff returned to work only to re-injure himself in a compensable on-the-job accident on 18 August 1988. On 31 August 1988, Dr. Stephen Boone performed surgery on plaintiff's lower back to repair a herniated disk at L4-5. Plaintiff received workers' compensation benefits pursuant to an I.C. Form 26 Agreement, until his return to work on 1 November 1988. Thereafter, plaintiff's condition failed to improve. Plaintiff continued to experience severe lower back pain and developed right leg pain and numbness-a symptom plaintiff had not experienced prior to surgery. Less than eight (8) months after the first operation, in April 1989, Dr. Boone again operated on plaintiff's back to remove a large recurrent herniated disk at L4-5. As a result of this second operation, plaintiff was once again disabled and was paid workers' compensation benefits for this temporary total disability pursuant to an approved I.C. Form 26 Agreement, from 24 April 1989 through 2 January 1990. On 2 June 1989, Dr. Boone assigned a permanent partial disability rating of fifteen percent (15%) to plaintiff's back.
After the second surgery was performed on plaintiff's back, his complaints of lower back and right leg pain and numbness persisted. Thereafter, plaintiff was examined by Dr. Robert Price, who placed plaintiff on a work hardening program. Though the program was supposed to enable plaintiff to return to normal activities, it did not. An MRI of plaintiff's spine, performed in October 1989, revealed formation of postoperative scar tissue, but no recurrent herniation or spinal stenosis. In December 1989, Dr. Price recommended two additional weeks of work hardening. After the two additional weeks of work hardening in January 1990, due to plaintiff's persistent complaints, Dr. Price scheduled plaintiff for a series of spinal epidural injections, after which plaintiff was told that he could return to work with the restriction that he not lift more than forty (40) pounds for two months.
Plaintiff and defendant RDU entered into a fourth approved I.C. Form 26 Agreement for the payment of additional temporary total disability compensation, beginning 17 January 1990 and continuing thereafter as necessary. Despite plaintiff's complaints of lower back and right leg pain, plaintiff returned to work at RDU in February 1990, where he performed light duty tasks until he was terminated, without explanation, in April 1990.
Plaintiff contends that he was forced to return to work in
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