Opinion ID: 2175419
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Employee's Other Contentions

Text: The last portion of employee's appeal is devoted to certain rulings made by the trial commissioner which were upheld by the full commission. As the hearing before the trial commissioner was about to begin, employee made a motion that employer be prohibited from going forward on its petition for review because it had failed to reimburse him for the costs of a hard mattress and box spring allegedly purchased on the recommendation of Dr. Pike. This motion was denied, and employee now alleges that the denial was incorrect. There is no question that pursuant to the provisions of G.L. 1956, § 28-33-5, as amended by P.L. 1968, chap. 131, sec. 1, an employer is required to provide apparatus that is necessary for the cure, rehabilitation or relief of an injured employee. We have ruled that, under this section, an employer is required to supply a certain type of mattress if it is recommended by the attending physician. Izzi v. Royal Electric Corp., 100 R.I. 380, 216 A.2d 363. However, before an employer's liability attaches, he is entitled to a hearing before the commission on whether the cost of a purchased article is reasonable and whether such item is necessary for the cure, rehabilitation or relief of his employee. Here employee had never filed a petition for payment of the mattress and box spring. Accordingly, no order had been entered by the commission directing employer to pay for these items. There was no default by employer, and it was entitled to proceed with its petition. The employee should have filed a petition for payment. His attempt to raise issues relative to the procurement of the box spring and mattress was tardy and the commission properly refused to consider this phase of employee's appeal. The employee also complains about the language in the trial commissioner's decree which was affirmed by the full commission. The decree orders the suspension of all payment of benefits to the respondent-employee. The employee interprets this portion of the decree to mean that any payment for future necessary medical services is also placed in a state of suspension. While the language in the decree may be imprecise, the employee's fear as to this phase of his appeal is completely unfounded. When the word benefits was used in the decree, it is obvious that reference was being made to the weekly compensation benefits paid to disabled employees under the provisions of § 28-33-17 and § 28-33-18, as amended by P.L. 1968, chap. 92, sec. 1. As noted by the full commission, §§ 28-33-5 and 28-33-8 provide that reasonable and necessary medical services be furnished at the employer's expense even though he is no longer liable for the payments of weekly benefits. Finally, there is no merit to employee's contention that he should have been allowed to show that he had never been offered work with Geigy at a job of lighter work than the one he had at the time he was injured. Even though employer alleged in its petition that its employee could return to light selected work, the complete thrust of the hearing before the trial commissioner was to show that employee was physically able to return to his former occupation. There was no evidence that the employer offered employee anything but his former job as a chemical operator. Any attempt by employee to show that he had not been offered a different type of work was, therefore, completely immaterial. The employee's appeal, insofar as it relates to the commission's finding that he has recovered from the effects of his injuries to the extent that he is able to return and perform all the duties of his work as a chemical operator is sustained, and the cause is remanded to the Workmen's Compensation Commission for a modification of its decree in accordance with this opinion. The appeal is otherwise denied and dismissed, and the final decree, when modified, is affirmed.