WORKPLACE SAFETY AND INSURANCE BOARD
APPEALS RESOLUTION OFFICER DECISION
DECISION NUMBER: 20190100
OBJECTING PARTY: Worker
REPRESENTED by: Worker Representative
RESPONDENT: Employer
REPRESENTED by: Employer Representative
HEARING: Hearing in Writing
HEARD by: C. Cirinna, Appeals Resolution Officer
DATED: August 26, 2019
ISSUES
The worker objects to the case manager decision dated July 3, 2018. This decision denies loss of earnings (LOE) benefits in this claim as of June 7, 2018.
The worker objects to the case manager decision dated January 3, 2019. This decision finds the worker made a full recovery from the workplace injury with no evidence of a permanent impairment.
BACKGROUND
The worker was employed as a property director with this employer, starting in January 2017 performing mainly administrative and clerical duties. This claim was established with an accident date of July 17, 2017, when the worker reported a gradual onset of bilateral wrist and arm pain that she attributed to the repetitive nature of her job duties.
Entitlement in this claim was allowed for a right wrist repetitive strain injury, however entitlement for the left side was denied. There is no indication the worker ever objected to the denial of entitlement for the left wrist.
After reporting the injury, an ergonomic assessment was done by the employer, and the workstation was accommodated. The worker was able to continue working with the employer and apparently did not miss any time from work due to the injury. She continued to perform the essential duties of her pre injury job duties until June 7, 2018, when her employment was terminated without cause.
The worker subsequently requested entitlement to LOE benefits from the WSIB starting on the date of her termination. The request for LOE benefits was denied in a decision dated July 3, 2018
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Due to the worker’s ongoing complaints of right wrist pain, arrangements were made for an assessment at a WSIB hand and wrist specialty clinic. The worker was scheduled to attend appointments at the specialty clinic on September 14, 2018 and again on October 19, 2018. On both occasions the worker canceled these appointments. Further unsuccessful attempts were made to contact the worker to re-schedule the assessment.
In a decision dated January 3, 2019, the case manager determined that due to a lack of updated medical information that supported ongoing right wrist difficulties, the worker had achieved maximum medical recovery (MMR) with no permanent impairment from the date of the last clinical note on file, which was June 13, 2018.
AUTHORITY
11-01-05 Determining Permanent Impairment,
18-03-02 Payment and Review of LOE Benefits
11-02-02 Lost Time Claims
ANALYSIS
In arriving at my decision, I had regard for all the information contained in the file, as well as the applicable policies. The worker representative did not provide any additional written submissions to accompany the appeals readiness form (ARF)
The employer representative provided a written submission dated July 3, 2019. The submission provided information to support its position that the worker should not receive any LOE benefits subsequent to the date of her termination. The employer representative noted the worker did not miss any time from work as a result of the workplace injury and performed her pre-injury job duties for approximately one year following the workplace injury with no difficulties. The employer representative noted that the worker was terminated for reasons that had nothing to do with the workplace injury and there was no medical information to support an ongoing right wrist problem.
Decision
The worker is not entitled to any loss of earnings benefits following the date of her termination on June 7, 2018.
There is no objective medical evidence to support the worker continued to experience an ongoing work-related right wrist impairment subsequent to the date of her termination.
Reasons for the Decision
Operational policy 11-02-02 states in part that a worker may be entitled to benefits if the worker suffers a work-related injury and the worker loses time from work, has a loss of earnings, or has a permanent impairment.
Operational policy 18-02-02 states in part that a worker who has a loss of earnings as a result
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of a work-related injury is entitled to payment of LOE benefits beginning when the loss of earnings begins. Benefits continue until the day on which the worker’s loss of earnings ceases, or the day on which the worker is no longer impaired as a result of the injury.
Entitlement in this claim was allowed for a repetitive strain type injury to the right wrist due to the repetitive nature of the worker’s job duties involving keyboarding and mousing activity. However, there were limited objective medical findings to account for the worker’s right wrist symptoms.
The medical report from Neurologist Dr Zaitlen August 17, 2017 noted that overall the neurological examination was normal, reflexes were intact, and electro diagnostic testing done on both hands showed results that were well within normal limits with no evidence of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS).
A further report from Dr Zaitlen dated March 12, 2018 indicates neurological testing was repeated and no abnormal findings were noted. Also repeat electro diagnostic studies remained normal.
There is no evidence that following the workplace injury this worker ever lost time from work that was attributable to the workplace injury. By all accounts the employer accommodated the workstation and the worker continued to perform her pre injury job duties for almost a full year following the date of injury.
The worker’s loss of earnings starting on June 7, 2018 when she was terminated/laid off by the employer for reasons that are not specified but listed as “not for just cause”. There is no objective medical information on file to suggest that this loss of earnings that began on June 8, 2018 was in any way attributable to the workplace injury.
Following her termination, the worker complained of ongoing right wrist difficulties. In an effort to determine the extent of any ongoing work related right wrist impairment, the WSIB did attempt to refer the worker to a hand and wrist specialty clinic in September 2018. The worker missed/cancelled two scheduled appointments and could not be reached in order to reschedule these appointment dates.
In addition to not attending the scheduled specialty clinic assessments, the worker did not provide any updated medical documentation from her treating doctor despite several attempts to obtain such information from both the worker and from the family physician.
The most recent medical documentation on file from the family doctor is a brief clinical note dated June 13, 2018. This medical documentation does not provide any objective information that would support an ongoing right wrist impairment or inability to work as a result of the right wrist injury.
In terms of any ongoing permanent impairment that may exist as a result of this workplace injury, the applicable policy states in part that a work-related impairment is considered permanent when it continues to exist after MMR has been reached. A recovery from the work-related injury is considered to have been made if there is no evidence of an ongoing work-related impairment at the time MMR is reached.
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- In order to establish the presence of a permanent impairment, there must be objective medical information that confirms continued symptoms. There are virtually no objective medical findings on file to support ongoing right wrist problems following the workplace injury, and nothing at all subsequent to the worker’s termination on June 7, 2018. Clearly, the worker has elected not to pursue additional medical treatment relating to this condition subsequent to June 2018. Based on this lack of medical documentation relating to the right wrist condition, I can only surmise that she made a full recovery from any work related right wrist difficulties.
CONCLUSION
The worker is not entitled to any loss of earnings benefits following the date of her termination on June 7, 2018.
There is no objective medical evidence to support the worker continued to experience an ongoing work-related right wrist impairment subsequent to the date of her termination. The request for a permanent impairment is denied.
The worker’s objection is denied.
DATED: August 26, 2019
Corrado Cirinna
Appeals Resolution Officer
Appeals Services Division