Opinion ID: 2160512
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Minner v. Board of Trustees, Police and Firemen's Retirement System

Text: Woodrow W. Minner began his employment as a patrolman with the Gloucester Township Police Department in 1973, and was enrolled in the Police and Firemen's Retirement System in that same year. On May 25, 1980, Minner, on a one-man patrol, was dispatched to close a fire hydrant that had been opened by area children. In the past he had been called to this very same hydrant. Arriving at the fire hydrant, the patrolman found that it was open and the water was flowing with full force. Using a steel wrench with a 16-inch handle, Minner attempted to turn the screw part at the top of the hydrant, which controlled the flow of water. He carried the wrench in his patrol car specifically for that purpose. Minner began striking the handle of the wrench with the palm of his right hand to exert additional force behind each attempted turn of the screw part, despite which the part would not move. Finally, using his shoulder and back to put the weight of his body behind each blow, Minner struck the handle three or four more times and eventually closed the hydrant. About thirty minutes after the incident, Minner's right wrist allegedly began to swell and, in his words, started to hurt like a toothache. After soaking his wrist in ice at home, Minner returned to patrol duty. Because his hand was still throbbing, Minner went to the emergency room at the West Jersey Hospital to have the hand examined by a doctor. The x-rays that were taken failed to reveal any evidence of fracture or dislocation, and the hospital report itself did not disclose any finding of swelling. The patrolman's injury was diagnosed as a sprain. The doctor in the emergency room wrapped Minner's wrist in a bandage and told him to soak it in warm water. He also told the patrolman that he could return to work. Minner thereafter went to his own physician who concurred in the earlier diagnosis of a sprain. Yet, according to Minner, his fingers were starting to stiffen up and he still had pain in the wrist. On June 27, 1980, with his hand still tender, Minner was called to subdue an irate husband in a domestic squabble. Minner placed the husband under arrest, after which the husband tried to strike him. To control the suspect and to remove him from the room, Minner reached over the suspect's chest with his right hand, the same hand injured in the mishap involving the fire hydrant. Resisting arrest, the husband pulled himself toward a nearby metal door frame, thereby jamming the officer's hand between the frame and the suspect's body. Minner's hand at the time of this incident was lying flat across the husband's chest. Minner stated that his hand was badly swollen as a result of this second incident. The Township's doctor diagnosed a sprain and applied a splint to the officer's wrist. The wrist remained splinted for approximately a month. Thereafter, the Township's doctor referred Minner to Dr. Mark Nissenbaum, an orthopedist, who specialized in injuries of the hand and arm. Minner stated that he was still experiencing a sharp pain in the wrist at this time. Dr. Nissenbaum diagnosed the problem as a tear in the scapho-lunate ligament, which holds the scaphoid bone in place. Specifically, the scaphoid bone spans and stabilizes the two rows of bones that constitute the wrist joint. Dr. Nissenbaum recommended a limited form of exploratory surgery to confirm his diagnosis. The surgery, performed on November 7, 1980, suggested to the doctor that his tentative diagnosis had been correct. Once he was able to observe the wrist joint in the operating room, the doctor proceeded to complete a limited fusion of the scaphoid bone. This procedure was designed to permit the ligament to heal. Although from an objective, physical standpoint the surgery was successful, Minner's complaints increased. The officer lost virtually all movement in his wrist to the point that he could no longer move his hand. Minner timely filed for an accidental disability pension on September 15, 1981. The Board denied the patrolman's application and a hearing was thereafter held before an ALJ. The Board stipulated at the hearing that the incident on June 27, 1980, constituted a traumatic event. The Board's position, however, was that this second event was not the direct cause of Minner's disability. It also argued that the incident involving the fire hydrant on May 25, 1980, was not a traumatic event, so that under no circumstances could Minner satisfy the statutory requirements for an accidental disability pension. The ALJ found in favor of the Board, which issued its final denial of Minner's application on August 23, 1982. We directly certified the Board's decision, 99 N.J. 199 (1984).