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Washington Hospital Center v. District of Columbia Dept. of Employment Services12/30/1999
Petition for Review of a Decision of the District of Columbia Department of Employment Services
Argued October 12, 1999
A Hearing Examiner (Examiner) for the Department of Employment Services (DOES), pursuant to D.C. Code §§ 36-301 et seq. (1981), awarded petitioner Bertha Carter Anderson worker's compensation benefits for medical expenses relating to a foot injury she claimed to have suffered during her employment by Washington Hospital Center (Washington Hospital). Washington Hospital appealed the decision of the Examiner to the Director of DOES on September 19, 1997. The Director affirmed the Examiner's compensation order on January 7, 1998. Washington Hospital timely submitted a petition for review asking this court to vacate the decision of the Director because: 1) Anderson's condition was an occupational disease as opposed to an accidental injury; and 2) the testimony of Washington Hospital's expert witness, Dr. Abend, was sufficient to rebut the presumption that Anderson's injury was causally related to her job. We discern no error in the Director's ruling that Anderson's condition was an accidental injury, but reverse the Director's decision because, in our view, Dr. Abend's testimony was sufficient to rebut the presumption.
I. FACTUAL SUMMARY
Anderson was employed by Washington Hospital as a laundry helper from 1968 until July 1993. She was hired and worked in the District of Columbia from 1968 until May12, 1992. She was then transferred to work in Washington Hospital's facility in Forestville, Maryland, where she worked until July 1993. Part of Anderson's job requirements included walking on a concrete floor and pulling a laundry cart.
In 1985, Anderson began experiencing pain in the left heel of her foot. In 1986, she began experiencing pain in the right heel of her foot. Anderson sought medical assistance in September of 1986 from her primary care provider, Kaiser Permanente, where she was diagnosed with chronic plantar fasciitis. In July of 1992, Anderson applied for worker's compensation benefits, claiming that her foot injury was work related because she was required to stand and walk on concrete floors eight hours a day to fulfill her job obligations.
At an evidentiary hearing, Anderson testified as to her foot injury and job requirements. In support of her case, she also included medical records of her treating physicians at Kaiser Permanente, Harvey M. Cohen, M.D. and Maurice Cates, M.D., as well as the medical records of Major P. Gladden, M.D. and Stephen L. Shapiro, M.D. In opposition to Anderson's claim that her foot injury was work related, Washington Hospital submitted testimonial evidence and an evaluation report by Jeffrey A. Abend, M.D. Dr. Abend testified that there was no causal relationship between Anderson's job and her foot injury.
After reviewing the evidence, the Examiner found that Washington Hospital had failed to rebut the presumption that there was a causal connection between Anderson's injuries and her job, and thus awarded Anderson medical expenses for her injury. On internal appeal, the Director found that, based on the medical records of Drs. Shapiro and Cohen, there was substantial evidence in the record to support the Examiner's conclusion that Anderson's injury was job related.
II. STANDARD OF REVIEW
Like the Director, this court must affirm the compensation order if the findings of fact contained therein are supported by substantial evidence in the record as a whole and the law has been properly applied. See D.C. Code § 36-301. "We examine whether the findings are detailed enough to allow a reviewing court to conclude that the decision followed rati
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