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LTV Steel Co. v. Workers' Compensation Appeal Board8/30/2000
SUBMITTED: July 7, 2000
LTV Steel Company, Inc. (Employer) petitions for review of an order of the Workers' Compensation Appeal Board (Board) that affirmed the order of a workers' compensation judge (WCJ) granting Frederick Bleigh's (Claimant) claim petition for binaural hearing loss benefits. We affirm.
On May 12, 1995, Claimant filed a claim petition alleging that he sustained a binaural hearing loss caused by exposure to noise during the course of his employment. Employer filed an answer denying the allegations and the case was assigned to a WCJ.
Claimant testified on his own behalf, indicating that he began working for J&L;Steel at its Aliquippa plant in 1956 and has continued to work at the same facility, which is presently known as LTV Steel Company. Claimant identified the positions that he held over the years and described the types of noise exposure he experienced during his forty years of employment. Claimant also testified about his limited military and hunting experience, which he claimed did not affect his hearing. He also denied that he suffered any injury or disease or had a family history that would cause a hearing loss.
In further support of his claim petition, Claimant presented the deposition testimony of Stephen Froman, M.D., a board-certified otolaryngologist, who examined Claimant on February 7, 1995. Dr. Froman testified that Claimant's exposure to cumulative loud noise at work caused Claimant's 15% binaural hearing loss as measured under the American Medical Association's Guide to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment (AMA Guides). Dr. Froman noted that a 1956 screening audiogram revealed an abnormality of the left ear, but that Claimant's hearing impairment at that time measured 0%, thus, eliminating Claimant military experience as a cause of Claimant's loss. The doctor also stated that Claimant's recreational hunting was not a substantial factor; nor was Claimant's age a factor because Claimant began noticing problems with his hearing twenty years earlier when he was thirty-seven years old.
In defending against the claim petition, Employer presented the deposition testimony of Mark Katz, Esquire, senior attorney for Employer. Mr. Katz testified about the corporate structure, history and organization of Employer. Janice Paul, R.N., also testified for Employer and discussed Employer's audiogram testing program and Claimant's results on audiograms administered in 1956, 1974 and 1984. Employer also presented the deposition testimony of Sidney Busis, M.D., a board-certified otolaryngologist, who evaluated Claimant on February 23, 1996. Dr. Busis found Claimant to have sustained a binaural hearing loss of 18.8% pursuant to the AMA Guides. However, Dr. Busis attributed 6.7% of the hearing loss to age and 11.7% to other causes. Additionally, Dr. Busis testified that after 1986, the year Claimant acknowledged that he began using hearing protection, Claimant's hearing loss after that date was not due to occupational noise exposure. The WCJ found Claimant and his medical expert credible. The WCJ also found Mr. Katz's testimony credible and formulated the following findings of fact in regard to that testimony:
(c) Based on the credible testimony of Mr. Katz, I find that LTV Corporation assumed all assets and liabilities of J&L;Steel when it acquired J&L;Steel in 1974. Furthermore, the testimony of Mr. Katz, specifically his testimony regarding LTV Corporation's decision making process, its assumption of fiduciary duties regarding the claimant's benefits, its administration of the claimant's pension plan and its issuance of paychecks to the claimant from its assets, supports a finding that J&L;Steel and LTV
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