Kacey C. Wiedt

We secured a decision denying a claimant wage loss benefits for an accepted work injury. The claimant sustained a left wrist contusion and extensor carpi ulnaris (ECU) peri-tendonitis injury when a 50-pound lid crushed his left arm in the course and scope of his employment. The claimant alleged that as a result of the injury, he was unable to perform light-duty work as a system operator. Through medical evidence, we were able to establish that the claimant had medical issues unrelated to the accepted work injury that were the cause of his inability to work.

We prevailed on termination, suspension and review petitions, where the workers’ compensation judge found that the claimant was fully recovered as of the date of our medical expert’s examination. The judge found our witnesses more credible than the claimant’s and denied the claimant’s review petition to expand the accepted injury. We successfully recovered $33,508 from the Supersedeas Fund for our client.

We presented medical evidence, including a record review of all diagnostic study films and medical records from a Board-certified physiatrist, to establish that the claimant’s physiological complaints were unrelated to a work injury. The judge accepted our evidence as fully competent, persuasive and credible, and, as a result, terminated the claimant's benefits.

The claimant was hit by a forklift while operating a forklift, and alleged the accident caused a back injury. Through employer witness testimony and medical testimony, we showed that the claimant did not sustain a back injury, and that her medical issues were pre-existing and unrelated to the accident. The judge found that the evidentiary evidence presented by the employer established that, even though the claimant was involved in a forklift incident, the claimant did not sustain a work injury, and her ongoing medical issues are unrelated to the forklift accident. 

We prevailed on a lengthy case on behalf of a trash collection company. The case involved testimony from seven employer witnesses, in addition to medical expert testimony. We successfully defended all petitions pertaining to the claim, including review and penalty petitions. This high-exposure case—the claimant had an average weekly wage of $2,846 with a maximum compensation rate—was the result of the claimant being terminated for failure to timely report a work-related injury as per company policy.