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Harper Collins Publishers v. Workers' Compensation Appeal Board2/1/2002
Submitted: October 5, 2001
OPINION NOT REPORTED
Harper Collins Publishers (Employer) appeals from an order of the Workers' Compensation Appeal Board (Board) that affirmed, as modified, the decision of the workers' compensation judge (WCJ) on remand granting Siegfried Stolz (Claimant) total disability benefits for a closed period, suspending his benefits thereafter, and then reinstating his benefits at a subsequent date.
On July 20, 1995, Claimant filed a claim petition, alleging that he suffered a myocardial infarction on February 16, 1993 in the course of his employment with Employer and was disabled from returning to work. To support the claim petition, Claimant testified as follows regarding the events leading to his heart attack on February 16, 1993. Claimant was employed by Employer as a packer/warehouse worker. Claimant's job duties included determining the amount of packing foams needed to fill boxes containing books, filling the boxes with the foams using the Instra-pak machine, and pushing the boxes weighing five to ninety pounds through a taping machine. When he began working for Employer in August 1986, Claimant had a pre-existing heart condition. Claimant suffered a heart attack and underwent a triple bypass surgery in 1980. He also underwent an angioplasty in 1992.
Over the weekend preceding February 16, 1993, Claimant experienced chest discomfort and pain after shoveling snow and walking around Lake Scranton. Claimant arrived at work on February 16, 1993 at 6:30 a.m. and got upset when he saw the conveyor congested with boxes to be packed. He then experienced chest discomfort and pain. After taking Nitroglycerin, he began working at 7:00 a.m. After working ten to fifteen minutes packing twenty to twenty-five boxes, he began to experience dizziness and lightheadedness. He took Nitroglycerin again and turned to his co-worker to ask for help. He then collapsed and was taken to the hospital. His co-workers corroborated his testimony regarding the events that occurred after he arrived at work on February 16, 1993.
Claimant was thereafter treated by Lawrence J. Howard, M.D., who is board-certified in family medicine, and Dr. Sun-tak Han, a cardiologist. In July 1993, Dr. Han and Employer's doctor, Dr. Musselman, released Claimant to return to work with a thirty-pound weight restriction. Employer subsequently sent Claimant a letter, directing him to return to work on August 30, 1993. Employer further stated in the letter that his employment would be terminated if he could not perform the duties of his job without restrictions within three months. Claimant returned to work on August 30, 1993, as directed by Employer.
Employer subsequently terminated Claimant's employment. Claimant then filed a grievance challenging Employer's action. When the arbitrator later reinstated his employment with back pay, Claimant returned to work on January 9, 1995 with the thirty-pound weight restriction. In April and May 1995, Claimant began to experience lightheadedness, angina and fatigue at work. On May 27, 1995, Claimant stopped working on Dr. Howard's advice. Claimant thereafter received accident and sickness benefits provided by Employer from May 1995 to April 1996.
Claimant also presented the deposition testimony of Dr. Howard. Dr. Howard opined that Claimant suffered from progressive narrowing of a vessel, that his physical exertion at work was the immediate precipitating factor for the heart attack, and that Claimant was totally disabled and could not return to work.
In opposition to the claim petition, Employer presented the deposition testimony of Joel Morganroth, M.D., who is board-certified in internal medicin
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