 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Employee Leasing Services in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Igawa v. Koa House Restaurant2/2/2001
In this workers' compensation case, Claimant-Appellant Darryl S. Igawa (Igawa) appeals the March 30, 1999 Decision and Order (the Decision) of the Labor and Industrial Relations Appeals Board (the Board). The Decision reversed in part and modified in part the July 12, 1996 Supplemental Decision and Order (the Supplemental Decision) of the Director of Labor and Industrial Relations (the DLIR). The Decision reversed the DLIR's award of $44,990.40 in permanent partial disability (PPD) benefits to Igawa, and reduced his disfigurement award from $2,000.00 to $850.00.
On appeal, Igawa argues (1) that the Board erroneously concluded he did not sustain any permanent disability attributable to his October 3, 1991 work injury, and (2) that the Board erred as a matter of law in modifying his disfigurement award.
We reverse the Decision insofar as it denied PPD benefits to Igawa, but we affirm the Decision's modification of Igawa's disfigurement award.
I. Background.
On October 3, 1991, Igawa, who was employed as a cook by the Koa House Restaurant (the Employer), sustained a head injury when he reached for a pot on an overhead shelf and a "big soup pot" improperly stacked on top of the desired pot fell and struck him in the right forehead.
Igawa sustained a small laceration on his right forehead. He complained of swelling, dizziness and nausea. Several days later, he experienced severe headaches, loss of appetite, slight nausea, photophobia and sonophobia. He became forgetful and "fuzzy." His concentration and accuracy suffered. He would get lost easily. He became more distracted and irritable, and had trouble sleeping. He also complained of lightheadedness, blurred vision and dizziness. By June 1993, Igawa was complaining of pain and problems in his right upper extremity with numbness and tingling into the right half of his body, attributable to cervical strain from jerking his head back during the accident. He was also experiencing sudden blackouts. At the hearing before the Board, Igawa testified that these sequelae of his industrial accident have severely limited his capabilities and functioning, such that he was unable to return to work or obtain employment.
Igawa was thirty years old at the time of the 1991 accident. In August 1975, while he was a teenager, Igawa sustained a significant head injury when he fell into a drainage ditch onto his head. He was in a coma for six days. The fall caused a brain contusion and a small hematoma in the left temporal area. He thereafter experienced a number of physical, neurological, psychological and behavioral problems, which led to suicidal ideation and a number of psychiatric hospitalizations. A 1977 diagnosis listed temporal lobe seizures secondary to brain trauma. A secondary diagnosis listed depressive reaction, insomnia, headaches and behavioral problems. By 1981, these sequelae had resolved and Igawa no longer needed medication.
The overarching issue in this case is whether Igawa's permanent partial disability is attributable solely to the non-industrial accident in 1975, and is therefore not compensable. See, e.g., Akamine v. Hawaiian Packing & Crating Co., 53 Haw. 406, 495 P.2d 1164 (1972).
During the claims process, the Employer's insurer denied Igawa's request that it authorize surgery to excise a lesion in his right frontal lobe area. Igawa's physician, Dr. Yoshio Hosobuchi, opined that a pre-existing "small cavernous angioma" in his right frontal lobe may have hemorrhaged as a result of the 1991 industrial accident, causing Igawa's headaches and seizure problems. The insurer's medical examiners believed instead that Igawa's problems were solely a result
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Hawaii Employee Leasing Services
Employee Leasing Services
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Employee Leasing Services in your area.
|
|