Opinion ID: 3030609
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: castro’s employment, injury, and

Text: REHABILITATION PROGRAM Claimant Robert Castro worked as a carpenter and pile driver from 1973 until he was disabled due to his injury in 1998. He began work as a pile driver for General Construction in 1998. On November 20, 1998, Castro slipped and fell on a crane step, tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. After three surgeries, Castro was released to return to light duty work in August 2000. Castro attempted to return to work at General Construction, but the job he took, cutting metal plates with a torch while seated, was too strenuous, and his physician, Dr. Mandt, determined that it was beyond Castro’s ability. No other light duty work being available at General Construction, Mandt recommended vocational retraining. General Construction conducted labor market studies, which identified jobs the counselors believed Castro could perform, such as courier, cashier, and security officer. The starting wages for these jobs ranged between $8.00 and $10.00 per hour, or between $16,640 and $20,800 per year, but with experience, some could pay up to $25,000 per year. Castro testified that he investigated at least some of these jobs, but found that they were taken. Castro did not investigate other jobs because after commuting costs they would have paid around $2.00 per hour. OWCP referred Castro to vocational rehabilitation counselor Carol Williams to develop a rehabilitation plan. She and Castro decided on hotel management by a “process of elimination.” As part of his vocational rehabilitation plan, 2404 GENERAL CONSTRUCTION CO. v. CASTRO approved by OWCP sometime prior to August 1999 and initiated in August 1999, Castro enrolled in a hotel tourism program at a local college. He was scheduled to take classes from September 13, 2000, through June 7, 2002. Evidence suggested that after completing the program, Castro could expect to earn around $16,000 initially and to progress, with experience, to approximately $27,580 per year, or to as much as $40,000 per year as manager at a larger hotel.1 Williams disagreed with General Construction’s labormarket survey, claiming that the positions identified would be difficult for Castro because of his physical limitations, which included limits on his manual dexterity due to a previous hand surgery. Williams also took the position that Castro would have “a great deal of difficulty” going to school and working at the same time. Castro spent between forty-six and fifty-four hours per week on his vocational program. His commute to school took anywhere from one and one-half to two and onequarter hours. He spent fifteen to eighteen hours per week in class and another twenty-five hours per week in study and preparation for class. While in school, Castro worked briefly in a paid internship, but after working about eighty hours he had to resign due to his vocational program’s demands and requirements. When Williams retired at the end of 2000, Castro began to see a new vocational consultant, Stan Owings. Owings concluded that Castro was limited to sedentary jobs or those requiring only light physical exertion, and stated that some of the jobs General Construction identified are “reasonable examples of jobs and wages currently available to” Castro. Owings also recognized that Castro “may return to work with 1 In August 2000, sometime after it learned of Castro’s rehabilitation plan, General Construction sent a letter to the OWCP disputing the plan and requesting that the District Director transfer the dispute to an ALJ for a hearing. The record does not indicate that the OWCP responded to or acted on this letter. GENERAL CONSTRUCTION CO. v. CASTRO 2405 or without completing the education curriculum in which he is currently enrolled.” As of the dates of the hearing before the ALJ, June 20, 2001, and the ALJ’s decision, May 8, 2002, Castro had not completed his schooling. Castro earned $38,422.57 in 1995, $38,571.33 in 1996, $39,648.34 in 1997, and $39,717.62 in 1998, the year of his injury. General Construction initially paid compensation to Castro based on an average weekly wage of $988.62. On July 3, 2000, however, General Construction reduced this payment to one based on a $500 weekly wage, stating that Castro had not produced requested evidence, including earning statements from prior employment supplementing the $9886.18 he earned at General Construction in the year prior to his injury. On July 11, 2000, General Construction reinstated Castro’s compensation based on a recalculated average weekly wage of $756.65. Castro argued that his weekly wage should be $1006.60 and, in support of his motion for partial summary judgment, submitted a declaration stating that during the fiftytwo weeks before his accident, he worked a total of 201.35 days. The wage records Castro submitted indicate that in most of the weeks he worked, he worked for forty hours.