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City of Philadelphia v. Workers' Compensation Appeal Board11/21/2005
The City of Philadelphia (Employer) and Howard Williams (Claimant) have both filed appeals from an order of the Workers' Compensation Appeal Board (Board) affirming the decision of the Workers' Compensation Judge (WCJ) as modified ordering Employer to pay Claimant's rent for handicapped housing and ordering Employer to pay the costs of modifying and adapting a van and subsequent replacement vans purchased by Claimant to meet his physical needs.
Claimant suffered a compensable work-related injury on November 2, 1980, while employed by Employer and became a quadriplegic. While the present case had a long procedural history, only two issues remained that were presented before the WCJ by way of a review petition filed by the Claimant: whether Employer was obligated to pay for 1) rental expenses incurred by Claimant for his wheelchair accessible apartment and 2) a specially adapted and equipped van. At several hearings before the WCJ, Claimant was the only party to present evidence.
At the October 23, 1996 hearing, Claimant testified regarding his physical disability and its limitations as well as his prior and current living arrangements. He explained that after his injury occurred and he left the hospital, he lived in a three-story row house on South 18th Street with a below-ground basement that essentially confined him to a front bedroom on the second floor because it required three strong people to carry him and his wheelchair up and down the stairs. The house was not adaptable for a wheelchair ramp and was owned in common with a next-door neighbor. He also could not use the kitchen while in a wheelchair because everything was at the wrong height. The bathroom, which was in the basement, was also not handicapped accessible and inconvenient to reach. As a result, he stated that he would be stuck in his bedroom for weeks at a time with make-shift accommodations. Claimant testified that he lived in the row house for seven years until he moved into the Ingles House, a specifically modified apartment building that was easily accessible and livable for handicapped persons in wheelchairs. However, his wife and three children could not come there to live and that had resulted in divorce, costing him his family.
Claimant explained that Ingles House was one of the facilities for the handicapped that were referred to him by Employer, and he chose that facility to live at because he could have a ground floor apartment with everything in it that was handicapped accessible. He also stated that he was told by James Wallace, an investigator employed by Employer, who was in charge of taking care of arrangements for Claimant, that Employer would be responsible for the rent at Ingles House, and that Employer would make an accessible house available to Claimant so that he and his family could move to that house eventually. That never occurred. Claimant stated that he paid his own rent there and had never been reimbursed by Employer for the rent he paid. Claimant admitted that Employer had authorized a grant of $50,000 for purposes of making alterations to his prior home, which money was in escrow, but that the money had not been used because three architects had looked at the row house and found that it was impossible to make the home handicapped accessible for a quadriplegic. Claimant submitted into evidence the architects' reports explaining in detail why the alterations were impossible. He also submitted medical reports from his treating physician, Yu The Chen, M.D. (Dr. Chen), board-certified in physical medicine and rehabilitation, stating in detail why it was safer for a wheelchair-bound quadriplegic to live in a one-story home rather than a two or three-story home. Finally, Claimant submi
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