Court Opinion

ID: 9861300
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 23:52:33.67152+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T11:28:04.720519
License: Public Domain

DONOVAN, J., dissenting: Because I believe the Commission’s decision with respect to the permanence of claimant’s condition based on his “odd lot” status is supported by the evidence in the record and is not against the manifest weight of that evidence, I must dissent. An employee is totally and permanently disabled when he or she is unable to make some contribution to the work force sufficient to justify the payment of wages. Ceco Corp. v. Industrial Comm’n, 95 Ill. 2d 278, 286, 447 N.E.2d 842, 845 (1983). While the employee need not be reduced to a state of total physical helplessness, he or she will be considered totally disabled when he or she cannot perform any services except those which are so limited in quantity, dependability or quality that there is no reasonably stable market for them. Max Shepard, Inc. v. Industrial Comm’n, 348 Ill. App. 3d 893, 901, 810 N.E.2d 54, 61 (2004). A claimant ordinarily satisfies the burden of proving he or she is not capable of obtaining gainful employment by showing that work was not available or that based upon his or her age, experience, training and education, he or she is unable to perform any but the most unproductive tasks for which no stable labor market exists. Valley Mould & Iron Co. v. Industrial Comm’n, 84 Ill. 2d 538, 547, 419 N.E.2d 1159, 1163 (1981); Illinois-Iowa Blacktop, Inc. v. Industrial Comm’n, 180 Ill. App. 3d 885, 888-89, 536 N.E.2d 1008, 1011 (1989). Here, claimant was 59 years old at the time of the arbitration hearing. He does not speak or write English and has had no formal education in the United States. In fact, even his education in his native Greece was limited, ending when he was just 12 years old. His only work in the United States has been as a painter for 30 years. Dr. Hill testified that claimant was totally disabled from his job as a painter and recommended permanent restrictions of no prolonged standing, walking, squatting, kneeling, bending, climbing or lifting anything heavier than 25 pounds. Clearly these restrictions precluded claimant from returning to his employment of painting. Dr. Coe, who has practiced occupational medicine for over 30 years, also testified that claimant was permanently disabled from gainful employment in any type of competitive labor market. He specifically noted claimant’s condition of ill-being of his back and legs, his limited English skills, his need to be retrained in another occupation, his absence from the labor market for several years, and his age, another factor detrimental to his employability and retraining. Employer offered no medical evidence to rebut the findings of Dr. Coe. Employer also presented no evidence that it offered claimant light-duty work or that a stable labor market existed for him in light of his permanent restrictions. I too, therefore, would conclude, given the totality of the medical evidence and claimant’s unrebutted testimony, that claimant met his burden of proving he fell within the “odd lot” category of permanent total disability. I see no reason, under these circumstances, to overturn the decision of the Commission. For these reasons, I must dissent.