Opinion ID: 1699565
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: sufficiency of the evidence

Text: Ruthenberg interprets the Board's decision as a determination that he is permanently and totally disabled but that the disability is not the natural result of a duty injury. He reaches this conclusion by arguing that the fact of permanent and total disability is no longer in issue because the Board found him so disabled in its original decision on November 21, 1974. He then points out that if the permanent and total disability is conceded the evidence naturally leads to the conclusion that the disability is a result of a duty injury. Nine doctors testified at the hearing before the Board in April and May, 1976. Dr. Joseph G. Halser, a member of the Police Medical Panel, was the first to see Ruthenberg. He examined him two days after Ruthenberg wrenched his back by slipping on the ice carrying a stretcher. He treated Ruthenberg for pain in the right lower lumbar area. He recommended that the officer return to light duty in May, 1972, following the February, 1972, injury. He saw Ruthenberg again in December when he complained of back pain and numbness in his right arm while shoveling snow at the police station. Halser said the back injury was an acute back strain which would ordinarily be temporary and resolve itself but that Ruthenberg had a fixation on it and it bothered him because he believed he had a bad back. The doctor did not believe the back problem was caused by degenerative spine changes, that a second back injury was experienced shoveling snow, and that the arm problem was not related to the back injury and was probably radial humoral bursitis which was aggravated by writing. Following the snow shoveling incident Dr. Halser referred Ruthenberg to Dr. Sean Keane, an orthopedic surgeon. Keane diagnosed an injury to the ulnar nerve at the right elbow as the cause of the numbness. He treated Ruthenberg and on December, 1973, he performed an operation designed to relieve tension on the ulnar nerve. He said Ruthenberg's condition improved after that but that he had not made a full recovery and did have a five to ten percent permanent disability, which to a reasonable medical certainty was caused by snow shoveling. He agreed that Ruthenberg did have a functional overlay which exacerbated the symptoms he suffered. Dr. Arthur Howell, a plastic surgeon, saw Ruthenberg following his surgery. He concluded on the basis of nerve conduction tests that Ruthenberg was suffering from a weakness of the right forearm and hand which was permanent in nature. He said he believed to a reasonable degree of medical certainty that this injury occurred while shoveling snow. Dr. Kenneth Hoelscher, a specialist in physical medicine and rehabilitation, also saw Ruthenberg following his surgery. He conducted electrical diagnostic tests which indicated that appellant was not suffering from a motor function deficit. He said he would not be able to tell if Ruthenberg had a sensory deficit. He testified Ruthenberg had a twenty percent hand impairment which was not likely to result from one episode of shoveling snow because it was the type of injury that resulted from little injuries over the years. Dr. Richard H. Strassburger testified that he saw Ruthenberg once. He concluded that the slip on the ice was not the type of injury that resulted in permanent disability and that Ruthenberg was not permanently disabled by it; and that it was impossible to get an ulnar nerve injury from shoveling snow. He said when he saw the officer in April, 1973, he didn't think he would be permanently disabled but that he couldn't predict the future. Dr. David Shapiro saw Ruthenberg once in November, 1975. He agreed that the ulnar nerve couldn't be injured shoveling snow. He also said there was no objective evidence of permanent disability regarding the back or ulnar nerve injury. Dr. Bernard Schaeffer, a psychiatrist, testified that he saw Ruthenberg twice. He said he concluded that Ruthenberg suffered from some involvement of the right ulnar nerve which was overshadowed by a conversion reaction. He said the officer's lower back pain was due to the same conversion reaction. He testified the back injury was the precipitating factor in the conversion reaction; that the reaction was related to his work; and that conversion reaction symptoms are real and resulted in a permanent disability in Ruthenberg's case. Dr. James Hurley, also a psychiatrist, testified that he too diagnosed a conversion reaction precipitated by back injury which resulted in a permanent disability. Dr. Clement L. Budney, a family practitioner, testified as chairman of the Medical Panel. He said the panel's recommendation was based on reports from Drs. Shapiro and Strassburger. In an attempt to understand how the panel arrives at its decision, Budney was asked to define duty disability. He initially said a duty disability was a condition under which there is some loss of normal body function manifested by inability to carry on ordinary duties. He said ordinary disability was the same thing except that it didn't prevent one from carrying on police duties. He said the panel recommended that Ruthenberg be placed on limited duty and that if he could not work they would recommend ordinary disability. Budney also said that they signed the report forms before they were filled out and never saw them after that so they might contain an erroneous recommendation. He said that the panel concluded Ruthenberg should be retired on ordinary disability because he was not capable of performing a police officer's duties. He said they didn't deny that he was injured on duty, only that the type of injury was sufficient for duty disability. A Board member asked Budney why his definitions didn't mention the origin of the injury. He replied that the origin of the injury could play a role in determining the type of injury. He explained that a police officer could be hurt and disabled on duty and not have a duty disability. He said the panel didn't feel that the injury Ruthenberg sustained was such that he would not be able to work on limited duty. He said the arm problem was the reason he was disabled and that this could not have resulted from shoveling snow. In response to another question from a Board member he said the extent of injury, not its origin, determines duty disability. [15] From the foregoing brief review of extensive medical testimony, it is obvious that the case presents conflicting medical opinions which must be resolved by the Board. The Board chose to do so by the simple and single motion stating only that . . . Herbert P. Ruthenberg's claim for Duty Disability be denied . . . Such being the case, there is no way in which Ruthenberg can be afforded an adequate judicial review of the Board's determination. It is the responsibility of the Board to resolve the contradictory medical opinions by assessing credibility and weight to the testimony of the respective witnesses and to make appropriate findings based upon such assessment and in support of its ultimate conclusion. In State ex rel. Markarian v. Cudahy, 45 Wis.2d 683, 173 N.W.2d 627 (1970), this court said that the tax board's failure to make the assessment on the statutory basis was an error of law to be corrected on certiorari. In State ex rel. Beierle v. Civil Service Comm., supra , the court said the issue on certiorari was whether the commission's interpretation of the city code was reasonable. In the case here under consideration the Board made no findings; therefore, there is no way this court can review its final determination or pass upon whether it reasonably applied the standard for duty disability retirement allowance as set forth in Milwaukee Charter Ordinance, sec. 36.05(3) (a). Therefore we conclude the order of the circuit court must be reversed and the cause remanded with directions that it be remanded to the Board and that the Board be directed to make appropriate findings to support its conclusion. The findings of the Board must clearly indicate that Ruthenberg was or was not injured at some definite time and place while in the actual performance of duty and, if so, that he did or did not become permanently and totally incapacitated for duty as a natural and proximate result of such injury. By the Court.  Order reversed and cause remanded.