Case Name: Charles P. BROWN, Petitioner, v. WORKMEN'S COMPENSATION APPEAL BOARD (COOPER JARRETT, INC.), Respondent
Court: Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania
Jurisdiction: Pennsylvania
Decision Date: 1992-09-24
Citations: 150 Pa. Commw. 614
Docket Number: No. 2537 C.D. 1991
Parties: Charles P. BROWN, Petitioner, v. WORKMEN’S COMPENSATION APPEAL BOARD (COOPER JARRETT, INC.), Respondent.
Judges: Before McGINLEY and FRIEDMAN, JJ., and SILVESTRI, Senior Judge.
Reporter: Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court Reports
Volume: 150
Pages: 614–628

Head Matter:
616 A.2d 121
Charles P. BROWN, Petitioner, v. WORKMEN’S COMPENSATION APPEAL BOARD (COOPER JARRETT, INC.), Respondent.
Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania.
Submitted on Briefs May 1, 1992.
Decided Sept. 24, 1992.
Petition for Allowance of Appeal Denied Jan. 27, 1993.
Thomas F. McDevitt, for petitioner.
Stephen J. Harlen, for respondent.
Before McGINLEY and FRIEDMAN, JJ., and SILVESTRI, Senior Judge.

Opinion:
McGINLEY, Judge.
Charles P. Brown (Claimant) petitions for review of an order of the Workmen's Compensation Appeal Board (Board) which affirmed a referee's decision that modified Claimant's temporary total disability benefits of $262.00 per week to partial disability benefits in the amount of $250.67 per week. We reverse.
Claimant was employed as a platform worker by Cooper Garrett, Inc. (Employer) when, on December 31, 1981, he sustained an injury to his left leg, which led to surgical complications resulting in injuries in the nature of phlebitis and reflex sympathetic dystrophy. Claimant filed a claim petition and, after litigation, was awarded total disability benefits in the amount of $262.00 per week based on an average weekly wage of $576.00. In June of 1987, Employer filed a termination petition alleging that Claimant's disability had ceased and that he was able to return to work without loss of earnings or earning power. The referee granted a supersedeas for partial disability based upon earning power in the amount of $134.00 thereby bringing Claimant's loss of earnings down to $442.00 per week.
During the referee's hearing on Employer's termination petition Employer presented the deposition testimony of Richard I. Katz, M.D. (Dr. Katz), a physician board-certified in neurology. Dr. Katz examined Claimant and found no objective neurologic findings, no evidence of causalgia, reflex sympathetic dystrophy, phlebitis or any other organic reason why Claimant is unable to return to his platform worker position. Consequently, Dr. Katz opined, based upon a reasonable degree of medical certainty, that Claimant is able to return to his platform worker job without limitation.
Employer also presented the deposition testimony of Thomas L. Yohe (Mr. Yohe), a rehabilitation counselor. Mr. Yohe testified that he looked for sedentary jobs for Claimant within the restrictions as set forth by Dr. Edward B. Polin, M.D. (Dr. Polin), Claimant's treating physician and a specialist in internal medicine. Mr. Yohe provided Claimant and his attorney with six available positions. Dr. Katz, Employer's doctor, approved all six positions. Dr. Polin approved four of the positions, but did not approve an assembler position at TriCon or a factory help position at A & B Wiper.
Claimant testified on his own behalf and introduced the deposition testimony of Dr. Polin and Napoleon N. Vaughn (Dr. Vaughn), a licensed psychologist. Dr. Polin diagnosed Claimant as suffering from post-phlebitic syndrome in his left leg and continuing pain known as reflex sympathetic dystrophy or causalgia. Dr. Polin opined that Claimant could not resume his former employment. Dr. Vaughn also examined Claimant and opined that, although he is intelligent and showed no pathological signs, he could not return to work.
The referee accepted the testimony of Dr. Katz and Mr. Yohe and found that Claimant is only partially disabled and is capable of performing light and sedentary work. The referee further found that Claimant could perform a sedentary job with Strawbridge & Clothier, which would pay him wages of $200.00 a week as of March 3, 1989. The referee was not persuaded by the testimony that Claimant is totally disabled and unable to perform gainful employment of any kind. As a result, the referee reduced Claimant's benefits from temporary total disability to partial disability benefits in the amount of $250.67 effective March 3, 1989. The Board affirmed and Claimant appeals.
Claimant contends that the referee's finding that Claimant's disability is partial was not supported by medical evidence, and that Employer did not meet its burden of establishing the availability of alternative employment, because its vocational expert did not inform prospective employers of the extent of Claimant's disabling condition. Our scope of review is limited to determining whether constitutional rights have been violated, whether an error of law was committed or whether the necessary findings of fact are supported by substantial evidence. Russell v. Workmen's Compensation Appeal Board (Volkswagen of America), 121 Pa.Commonwealth Ct. 436, 550 A.2d 1364 (1988).
Claimant's first contention is that the referee's conclusion that Employer met its burden of proving a change in Claimant's condition such that Claimant is capable of returning to sedentary employment is not supported by substantial evidence because Employer presented no evidence that Claimant's medical condition improved. The referee' found Dr. Katz's testimony to be persuasive to the extent of concluding that Claimant is only partially disabled and that Claimant was capable of performing a job with Strawbridge and Clothier that paid $200.00 per week beginning March 3, 1989. Finding of Fact (F.F.) No. 20(b); Reproduced Record (R.R.) at 226a.
Dr. Katz testified that he found no signs of autonomic dysfunction of the nervous system that would indicate pain syndromes such as causalgia or reflex sympathetic dystrophy. F.F. No. 5(b); R.R. at 223a. Dr. Katz also found no x-ray evidence of bony absorption that would indicate causalgia or reflex sympathetic dystrophy. F.F. No. 5(d); R.R. at 223a. Consequently, Dr. Katz opined that Claimant no longer suffers from causalgia or reflex sympathetic dystrophy. F.F. No. 6; R.R. at 223a. Dr. Katz also found no evidence of phlebitis in Claimant's lower legs or any other organic reason why Claimant cannot return to work. Id. These findings are supported by Dr. Katz's testimony. See R.R. at 10a-19a. Accordingly, we conclude that the Dr. Katz's testimony is sufficient to support a finding that Claimant no longer suffers from reflex sympathetic dystrophy or phlebitis.
In Kachinski v. Workmen's Compensation Appeal Board (Vepco Construction Co.), 516 Pa. 240, 532 A.2d 374 (1987), the Supreme Court established guidelines for an employer seeking to modify a claimant's benefits based on the claimant's ability to return to work. The employer must first produce medical evidence of a change in the claimant's condition and then produce evidence of a referral to a then-open job that fits in the occupational category for which the claimant has been given clearance, e.g., sedentary work. Id. at 252, 532 A.2d at 380. The claimant must then demonstrate that he has in good faith followed through on the job referral. Id.
Having concluded that Employer produced sufficient evidence of a change in Claimant's condition, we now address Claimant's contention that Employer did not meet its burden of proving that alternative employment was available. Claim ant contends that Mr. Yohe did not reveal to any prospective employers (1) that when Claimant sits, he must keep his leg extended 90% of the time; (2) that Claimant's leg bothers him in bad weather; (3) that Claimant also suffers from back pain because of a degenerative disc disease; (4) that Claimant can walk only short distances; and (5) that Claimant's entire leg swells and becomes discolored at his foot.
In Young v. Workmen's Compensation Appeal Board (Weis Markets, Inc.), 113 Pa.Commonwealth Ct. 533, 537 A.2d 393 (1988), we interpreted the second prong of the Kachinski test to require an employer to prove that a job was "actually available" to the claimant by demonstrating that a prospective employer was willing to accept the claimant as an employee with his all current physical limitations. Id. at 539, 537 A.2d at 396.
In the present case, Mr. Yohe testified as follows:
Q. Now, when you spoke to these various people about Mr. Brown, what did you tell them?
A. I told them that we were dealing with a gentleman who needed a sit-down job. He was in his late 50's, who had a tenth-grade education and that we were looking for jobs that did not require skills of that sort and that would allow him to sit for a majority of the time.
Q. Did you tell him that he was disabled?
A. Yes.
Q. What disability did you relate about Mr. Brown?
A. That he had a problem -with his leg that had been diagnosed seriously as rumbo phlebitis or some sort of other nerve-type problem with the leg, that he could not walk or stand on it continuously for any length of time.
Q. Did you tell him how the leg was extended when he sat? A. No, I did not.
Q. Were you aware of that or not?
A. I think I had read that in his—
Q. In his testimony?
A. —testimony, but the doctors didn't seem to put much weight to that.
Q. Well, don't you think that would be pertinent to tell anybody that was going to hire him, that you were going to some of your old contacts and trying to place somebody? Don't you think that would be pertinent?
A. If that were required, it could be pertinent, yes.
Q. Did you tell anybody that Mr. Brown had testified that when the leg bothered him or if it's bad weather, he didn't go out of the house?
A. No, I didn't.
Q. Did you tell anybody that he had back pains?
A. No, I didn't.
Q. Did you tell anyone he could walk about two or three squares?
A. Yes. He — well, I mentioned that he was not to walk any excessive distances or any length of time, more than a block or so.
Q. Did you tell anyone that 90 percent of the time when he's sitting, he has the left leg fully extended?
A. No, I did not.
Q. Do you remember reading that in his testimony?
A. Yes — actually, I'm not sure if I remember it as much as noting your reference to it.
Q. Did you tell anyone that his whole leg would swells [sic] and gets discolored down at the foot?
A. No. I didn't go into that detail.
R.R. at 122a-124a.
In light of the foregoing testimony, it is evident that Mr. Yohe only informed prospective employer's about Claimant's inability to walk greater distances than approximately one block. This testimony also indicates that Mr. Yohe was aware of other limitations on Claimant, such as his inability to sit without his leg extended, his inability to work in bad weather, his inability to work without his leg's swelling and his experiencing back problems. Although Mr. Yohe admits that Claimant's inability to sit without extending his leg may be "pertinent" information for a prospective employer, he did not inform any of them of this or the other limitations. In accordance with Young, we must conclude that Mr. Yohe did not present a sufficiently accurate picture of Claimant to the prospective employers and find that these four positions, including the Strawbridge & Clothier job, were not actually available to Claimant.
Accordingly, we reverse the order of the Board.
ORDER
AND NOW, this 24th day of September, 1992, the order of the Workmen's Compensation Appeal Board in the above-captioned proceeding is reversed and Claimant's total disability benefits are reinstated.