Begue v. Crossover11/21/2003
In this workers' compensation dispute, plaintiff appeals the OWC judgment, denying him workers' compensation benefits on the basis that he did not suffer a work accident and that his medical condition did not constitute a compensable occupational disease. For the following reasons, we reverse and remand.
FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
On July 16, 2000, Andrew Begue was re-hired and began working for Crossover, Inc., a pipe manufacturer. Initially, he worked as a saw operator, but in October or November of 2000, he was transferred to the shipping and receiving department where his position changed to hydrostatic pipe tester. As a pipe tester, Begue's function was to prepare pipes for shipping, which included de-burring pipes, cleaning the threads, hydrostatic testing of the pipes, painting the pipes with a spray gun, manually fitting caps on the ends of the pipes involving a cranking motion, stacking and banding pipes for shipment and moving the pipes into the yard for further transport. Upon being transferred to this position, Begue initially did not experience any problems with performing these job duties.
However, at some point in March of 2001, while driving a forklift on the facility grounds, which were described as "rough," Begue began experiencing a tingling sensation in his fingers. Over time, the tingling sensation spread upwards, and Begue's arms started tiring very quickly when he painted. By the end of March, Begue was experiencing pain in both hands. In April, the pain grew worse and spread into his shoulders. By this time, he also had to trade off hands while painting due to-the fatigue in his arms. Begue was also experiencing pain moving down his legs into his feet. During this two-month period, Begue occasionally reported his discomfort to his supervisor, Harold Salisbury. Nonetheless, he continued to work.
Thereafter, on May 7, 2001, while preparing approximately 600 six-inch pipes for shipment, Begue developed an intense pain in his shoulders, which caused him to have difficulty lifting each pipe while working on it. According to Begue, the pain he experienced that day was different from the pain he had been experiencing since the day of the forklift incident in that it was noticeably more intense and constant. At that time, Begue reported to Salisbury that he was experiencing intense pain, and Salisbury responded that if the pain was not improved by the following day, he would refer Begue to a doctor.
When Begue returned to work the next day, he began working on the same six-inch pipes that he had worked on the previous day. However, his pain returned immediately, a pain which Begue described as "electricity going through my arm." Thus, Begue reported to Salisbury that he was experiencing shoulder, hand and elbow pain and a heaviness in his arms and that he needed to be seen by a doctor.
Begue then drove himself to North Oaks Rehabilitation Center, where he was examined by Dr. Mark Daunis. Dr. Daunis diagnosed bilateral shoulder strains and restricted Begue to light duty work. Begue returned to work on light duty status, but continued to experience pain. He returned to Dr. Daunis on May 15, 2001, at which time he underwent x-rays of the cervical spine. The x-rays indicated that Begue had relatively severe chronic degenerative disc disease at C4 through C7 and facet arthritis with moderate bilateral foraminal stenosis of the cervical spine. Dr. Daunis then referred Begue to Dr. B. J. Chiasson, an orthopedic surgeon.
Dr. Chiasson first examined Begue on May 22, 2001, at which time Begue was complaining of a significant amount of fatigue and pain in his neck and pain, numbness and tingling in both arms and leg
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