 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
WIETHARN v. SAFEWAY STORES11/8/1991
Appellant Gerald Wietharn appeals the trial court's finding that a second injury suffered by him while at work is not compensable due to his failure to report it to his employer.
Mr. Wietharn was the manager of a Safeway Store and was Safeway's authorized agent to receive employee accident reports at his store. Part of his job was to forward those reports to the district manager. On December 31, 1983, Gerald Wietharn was injured in an accident while at work. His knee was broken and he did not return to work until May 21, 1984. Mr. Wietharn forwarded a report of the accident in which his knee was broken on the day of the accident.
On June 20, 1984, Gerald Wietharn alleges he was again injured while at work when his previously injured knee gave way as he was lifting a 60-pound case of vegetables, causing him to fall backwards against a pallet where other cases of vegetables were stacked. He alleges that his back was injured in that accident. While Mr. Wietharn told his assistant about the accident, he did not file an accident report until Safeway requested that he do so in October 1985.
On June 29, 1984, Mr. Wietharn visited Dr. Payne, the orthopedic doctor treating his knee, but the doctor's notes do not record him as mentioning the accident or injury to his back. When Mr. Wietharn visited Dr. Payne on July 20, 1984, the clinical notes do indicate that he mentioned straining his back while lifting something at the store and having had some discomfort in his low back for a time.
Mr. Wietharn continued to visit Dr. Payne for both his knee and his back until August 1985 when he was released from treatment. The bills and clinical notes were always sent to Safeway's workers compensation administrator and they were always paid. In July of 1985, Dr. Payne received a letter from Safeway's attorney telling him payment would no longer be made for treatment to Mr. Wietharn's back, as the clinical notes indicated:
"Unrelated to his knee, the patient continues to have some soreness in his low back." The attorney did agree that Safeway would pay Dr. Payne's fees for treatment of the knee injury up to the date of claimant's last visit. Despite that, payment for Mr. Wietharn's subsequent visit to Dr. Payne in August 1985, which concerned only his back, was authorized by Safeway's workers compensation administrator. Mr. Wietharn was released in August 1985 from Dr. Payne's care. Mr. Wietharn continues to work for the grocery store as store manager.
In response to a request by Safeway, Mr. Wietharn filed an accident report for the June 20, 1984, accident in October 1985. A written claim for compensation was mailed on December 17, 1985. This litigation ensued. There is no dispute regarding claimant's December 31, 1983, accident in which his knee was broken.
Safeway and the Kansas Workers Compensation Fund do contest the June 20, 1984, accident. The administrative law judge awarded claimant a 7.5% permanent partial disability to the body as a whole resulting from the June 20, 1984, accident. The Workers Compensation Director found that the injury to claimant's back was not a natural result of his knee injury and that it was a separate and distinct injury, unrelated to his knee injury. The Workers Compensation Director also found (1) that claimant did not provide timely notice of the accident within 10 days pursuant to K.S.A. 44-520, (2) that respondents Safeway and Kansas Workers Compensation Fund were prejudiced by the lack of timely notice, (3) that claimant did not serve respondent with a timely written claim for compensation, and (4) that the administrative law judge's award of 7.5 percent permanent partial disability should be modified
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 Kansas Personal Injury Attorneys
Personal Injury Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|