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Norton v. Brown & Sharpe Mfg.10/31/2005
DECISION OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION
This matter is before the Appellate Division on the employee's appeal from a decision of the trial judge affirming the denial by the Department of Labor and Training of the employee's request for reinstatement. After reviewing the record and considering the arguments of the parties, we affirm the denial of the request for reinstatement, but on other grounds.
Ms. Norton began working for Brown and Sharpe in 1982. In 1999, she was employed full-time as a stock clerk in the electrical stockroom which supplied the electrical assembly area and the board area. Material would be delivered to the stockroom on pallets and she would have to unload the pallets and store the material on shelves in the stockroom which were up to seven (7) feet high. She would retrieve parts and materials from the shelves as needed, at times using a ladder to reach the higher shelves. The job involved lifting over twenty-five (25) pounds at times and repetitive overhead work.
On June 9, 1999, Ms. Norton injured herself when she walked into a rack at work. She continued to work with restrictions until July 27, 1999, when she stopped working apparently on her doctor's recommendation. She filed an original petition with the court, W.C.C. No. 99- 05420, alleging that she sustained injuries to her head, neck, and back on June 9, 1999 resulting in disability beginning July 28, 1999. At the pretrial conference, the petition was granted and the employee was awarded weekly benefits for partial incapacity from July 28, 1999 to September 13, 1999 as a result of a contusion to her forehead and a neck strain. Ms. Norton refused an offer of a light duty job in September and was then terminated by the company. The employee claimed a trial from the pretrial order.
The trial concluded on July 7, 2000 and the decree was entered on July 26, 2000. The trial judge found that the employee sustained neck and back strains and a forehead contusion on June 9, 1999 and that she did not refuse an offer of suitable alternative employment in September 1999. He ordered the respondent to pay weekly benefits for partial incapacity from July 27, 1999 to June 9, 2000.
The employee had treated with Dr. Mark A. Palumbo for her injuries. She last saw him on March 22, 2000 when he told her that she should avoid lifting over twenty-five (25) pounds and repetitive overhead lifting. On June 5, 2000, prior to the conclusion of the trial on her original petition, Ms. Norton went to Brown and Sharpe and met with Robert A. Richer and asked to return to her job as a stock clerk. Ms. Norton acknowledged that she did not present to Mr. Richer any documentation from a doctor either releasing her to her regular job or describing her restrictions. On June 9, 2000, the employee was examined by Dr. William S. Buonanno at the request of the employer. Dr. Buonanno concluded that Ms. Norton could return to her former job duties at Brown and Sharpe without restriction. The employer submitted the opinion of Dr. Buonanno to the trial judge in the employee's workers' compensation case to support its contention that her disability had ended. Sometime thereafter, the employee was advised that the company was refusing her request for reinstatement.
The employee then filed a request to review the reinstatement denial with the Department of Labor and Training (hereinafter "the Department") pursuant to the version of R.I.G.L. ยง 28-33-47(d)(1) in effect in 1999. In 2000, the statute was amended to provide that after September 1, 2000, any request to determine a reinstatement dispute shall be filed and heard at the Workers' Compensation Court in the first instance, rather than at the Department. Ms. No
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