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Parish v. Aeroquip Corp.9/20/2000
NOT DESIGNATED FOR PUBLICATION
AFFIRMED
Lanis Parish appeals a decision by the Workers' Compensation Commission denying him an award of total disability. On appeal, he argues there was no substantial evidence to support the finding of the Commission that he was not totally disabled pursuant to the odd-lot doctrine. Appellee Aeroquip Corporation ("Aeroquip") cross-appeals from the Commission's award of wage-loss benefits of forty percent in addition to Parish's forty percent permanent anatomical impairment, contending that there is no substantial evidence to support the wage-loss award. We affirm the Commission's decision on both direct and cross-appeal
Parish, a machine operator with Aeroquip, injured his back while attempting to lift a box of parts on May 8, 1989. Parish was subsequently seen by a number of specialists, including neurosurgeon Dr. Ron Williams, and orthopedic surgeons Dr. David N. Arnold and Dr. Richard E. McCarthy. Parish had surgery on four occasions, including a diskectomy in July 1989 and a lumbar spinal fusion in 1992. Parish had additional surgical procedures for re-fusion, hardware removal, and debridement of the surgical wound necessitated by a staph infection. On September 9, 1995, his permanent impairment was rated at forty percent to the body as a whole after an independent medical evaluation by neurosurgeon Dr. Jim J. Moore. Aeroquip accepted the impairment rating but contended that Parish was not entitled to permanent disability in excess of his anatomical rating.
At the time of the hearing before the ALJ, Parish was fifty-five years of age. He testified that he has a fifth-grade education and cannot read or write except for his name, and that his mathematical skills are limited to counting money and basic addition. He further testified that his first wife, a special education teacher, had attempted to teach him to read but was unsuccessful. After the injury, Parish was given rehabilitation diagnosis and assessment tests, including an intelligence test on which he scored 64, which falls within the mildly retarded intellectual range. However, the reports stated that his adaptive behavior skills were too high to justify this designation. In a test designed to measure academic achievement, Parish performed very poor in reading, spelling, and math. A functional capacity assessment was also performed on Parish in 1998 by a physical therapist, reflecting a weight-carry tolerance of twenty pounds, and other functional limitations.
Parish's work experience consists of employment as a rock mason and factory work. At the time of his injury, his wage was $8.00 per hour. Parish testified that his condition has not improved significantly since 1995, but no further surgeries are scheduled due to his staph infection. He stated that he is in significant pain daily and must take pain medication every three to four hours, that the medication makes him drowsy and sleepy, that the pain prevents him from standing or sitting for long periods, that he could stand and sit in combination for no more than three and a half hours without having excruciating pain, and that he cannot sleep without pain medicine. He testified that a typical day for him consists of rising at seven a.m, taking his medication, showering and dressing, feeding his dogs, and sometimes doing laundry and the dishes. He hunts and fishes. Parish has not been employed since his injury in 1989, and his only income is his social security check, which was $749 a month at the time of the hearing. Parish testified that he wants to return to work, but he is concerned that an employer could not meet his required accommodations, and he stated that there are not many employment opportunitie
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