Summary
The Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia affirmed a Workers’ Compensation Board of Review decision awarding Ronald E. Williams 2% permanent partial disability for bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome. The court held that the Board properly relied on the impairment rating supported by the medical evidence and rejected the Office of Judges’ independently adjusted 12% rating.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether the Workers’ Compensation Board of Review erred in awarding 2% rather than 12% permanent partial disability for bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome.
- Whether the Office of Judges could independently adjust physicians’ impairment ratings to conform to West Virginia Code of State Rules § 85-20-65.5 when no physician recommended the resulting 12% rating.
Holdings
- The Board of Review’s decision awarding Williams a 2% permanent partial disability award was not clearly wrong, legally erroneous, or based on a material misstatement or mischaracterization of the evidence, and therefore was affirmed.
- The Board of Review’s decision must be affirmed where it does not violate a constitutional or statutory provision, result from an erroneous conclusion of law, or rest on a material misstatement or mischaracterization of the evidentiary record.
Key quotations
“For the foregoing reasons, we find that the decision of the Board of Review is not in clear violation of any constitutional or statutory provision, nor is it clearly the result of erroneous conclusions of law, nor is it based upon a material misstatement or mischaracterization of the evidentiary record.” (3)
Factual background
Ronald E. Williams, an electrician and miner, alleged that repetitive work activities caused bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome. His claim was ultimately held compensable, and he underwent carpal tunnel release surgery. Medical evaluators assigned impairment ratings ranging from 0% to 14%, with Dr. Mukkamala assigning 2% after apportioning impairment for noncompensable factors such as obesity. The Board of Review awarded 2% permanent partial disability, rejecting the Office of Judges’ adjusted 12% award.
Procedural history
The claims administrator initially denied compensability and later awarded 0% permanent partial disability. The Office of Judges found the condition compensable and later increased the award to 12%. The Board of Review reversed and awarded 2%, relying on the impairment evaluation of Dr. Mukkamala. The Supreme Court of Appeals affirmed the Board’s final order.