STATE OF WEST VIRGINIA 

SUPREME COURT OF APPEALS 

FILED 

December 17, 2013 

RORY L. PERRY II, CLERK 

DONALD L. STEWART, 

Claimant Below, Petitioner SUPREME COURT OF APPEALS 

OF WEST VIRGINIA 

vs.) No. 12-0556 (BOR Appeal No. 2046433) 

(Claim No. 2002038826) 

THE HOMER LAUGHLIN CHINA COMPANY, 

Employer Below, Respondent 

MEMORANDUM DECISION 

Petitioner Donald L. Stewart, by Patrick Kevin Maroney, his attorney, appeals the 

decision of the West Virginia Workers’ Compensation Board of Review. The Homer Laughlin 

China Company, by Lucinda L. Fluharty, its attorney, filed a timely response. 

This appeal arises from the Board of Review’s Final Order dated April 2, 2012, in which 

the Board affirmed a September 1, 2011, Order of the Workers’ Compensation Office of Judges. 

In its Order, the Office of Judges affirmed the claims administrator’s November 3, 2010, 

decision denying Mr. Stewart’s request for a greater trochanter injection. The Court has carefully 

reviewed the records, written arguments, and appendices contained in the briefs, and the case is 

mature for consideration. 

This Court has considered the parties’ briefs and the record on appeal. The facts and legal 

arguments are adequately presented, and the decisional process would not be significantly aided 

by oral argument. Upon consideration of the standard of review, the briefs, and the record 

presented, the Court finds no substantial question of law and no prejudicial error. For these 

reasons, a memorandum decision is appropriate under Rule 21 of the Rules of Appellate 

Procedure. 

Mr. Stewart worked as a die maker for Homer Laughlin China Company. On January 12, 

2002, Mr. Stewart reported thoracic and lumbar pain after he suffered an injury when picking up 

and setting down a 130 pound die. The claim was held compensable for lumbago. Dr. Hennessey 

concluded that Mr. Stewart had reached maximum medical improvement on January 28, 2005, 

and that he had fully recovered from his lumbosacral strain. On October 20, 2010, Ms. Ahlgren 

requested authorization for a greater trochanter injection for Mr. Stewart’s diagnosis of lumbar 

spinal pain with radiculopathy. Dr. Lamperski opined that Mr. Stewart’s conditions are causally 

related to his work and that several tests and treatments should be authorized, but he did not 

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mention an injection to Mr. Stewart’s greater trochanter. The claims administrator denied Mr. 

Stewart’s request for a greater trochanter injection. 

The Office of Judges affirmed the claims administrator’s decision and held that Mr. 

Stewart was not entitled to authorization for a greater trochanter injection in relation to his 

compensable injury. Mr. Stewart disagrees and asserts that Dr. Lamperski found his low back 

pain and radicular pain were related to his compensable injury, and that he would benefit from an 

injection to his greater trochanter. Dr. Hennessey found Mr. Stewart to have reached maximum 

medical improvement in his report dated January 28, 2005. In a report dated January 1, 2011, Dr. 

Lamperski did not mention the need for a greater trochanter injection. The Office of Judges 

determined that the request for the greater trochanter injection was for treatment of conditions 

not compensable in this claim. The Office of Judges held that Mr. Stewart was not entitled to 

authorization for a greater trochanter injection in relation to the compensable injury of January 

12, 2002. The Board of Review reached the same reasoned conclusions in its decision of April 2, 

2012. We agree with the reasoning and conclusions of the Board of Review. 

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. Therefore, the decision of the Board of Review is affirmed. 

Affirmed. 

ISSUED: December 17, 2013 

CONCURRED IN BY: 

Chief Justice Brent D. Benjamin 

Justice Robin J. Davis 

Justice Allen H. Loughry II 

DISSENTING: 

Justice Margaret L. Workman 

Justice Menis E. Ketchum 

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