| Date: | 11/24/2008 |
|---|---|
| Organization: | Department of Industrial Accidents |
| Docket Number: | DIA Board Nos. 053009-00, 032432-01 |
| Location: | Boston |
- Employee: Gerald Sourdiffe
- Employer: University of Massachusetts/Amherst
- Self Insurer: Commonwealth of Massachusetts
COSTIGAN, J. The parties cross-appeal from a decision in which the administrative judge denied the employee's claim for § 34A permanent and total incapacity benefits but awarded him ongoing § 35 partial incapacity benefits for two distinct industrial injuries. At the time of the hearing, the employee was receiving partial incapacity benefits for a December 2000 work-related aggravation of a 1989 compensable respiratory injury. He also alleged a right knee injury at work in June 2001. The self-insurer challenges the judge's finding that the statutory maximum periods of incapacity for each injury ran consecutively rather than concurrently. The employee cites internal inconsistencies in the judge's adoption of medical evidence, and also argues the judge erred in assigning a higher earning capacity as of the date of the § 11A impartial medical examination. For the reasons that follow, we affirm the decision as to the self-insurer's appeal and the employee's earning capacity argument, but we recommit the case for further findings on the expert medical evidence.