In a case involving an employee at a mental institution, who was injured as a result of continually performing multiple tasks with her right hand while at work, both the arbitrator and the Commission rendered decisions in the employee’s favor. See Claimant’s hand-intensive job duties cause repetitive stress injury. Illinois Workers’ Compensation Law Bulletin, Volume 29, Issue 7, June 11, 2021, pp. 3-4.[1] The case discussed in the article, Wilkins-Simmons v. Illinois, State of/Elgin Mental Health Center, 29 ILWCLB 70 (Ill. W.C. Comm. 2021), involved the aforesaid claimant, who was employed as an aide and/or assistant at a mental health facility, and whose daily job duties required her to make use of her right hand to repeatedly perform a variety of tasks, such as using a clipboard to check off whether patients were asleep or awake at certain times of the day, and also pushing patients around in wheelchairs, as well as taking out the facility’s trash, passing trays of food to patients in the institution’s cafeteria, bathing the patients, and changing their clothes. One day, while the claimant was handing out food trays to patients, she felt a sharp pain in her right thumb.[2] She sought immediate medical assistance and was diagnosed with CMC joint arthritis and De Quervain’s disease. At hearing, the arbitrator found that the claimant had no prior history of any finger or hand-related issues, and further took note of the fact that the claimant routinely performed a variety of tasks and duties as part of her job at the mental institution.[3] In awarding benefits to the claimant, the arbitrator also relied on recent Illinois appellate court precedent (City of Springfield v. IWCC), in which it was held that an employee’s varied activities at work do not nullify, or render as non-compensable, those injuries arising from and/or caused by said repetitive and varied employment activity. Additionally, the arbitrator afforded great relevance to medical evidence and testimony regarding the combined effect of the claimant’s continuous and repetitive work activities, specifically that they were strenuous to the point of causing injury and accumulated trauma.[4] Based on the foregoing, the arbitrator held that the claimant suffered a work-related injury to her right thumb that arose out of her employment, and on review, the Commission fully affirmed and adopted the arbitrator’s decision. This case is a prime example of how a claimant’s employment-related injuries can arise from or be caused by multiple and repetitive work activities, with the traumatic effects accumulating over time.[5]
[1]Claimant’s hand-intensive job duties cause repetitive stress injury. Illinois Workers’ Compensation Law Bulletin, Volume 29, Issue 7, June 11, 2021, pp. 3-4.
[2]See Id.at 4.
[3]See Id.at 4.
[4]See Id.at 4.
[5]See Id.at 4.