| Date: | 12/01/2000 |
|---|---|
| Organization: | Department of Industrial Accidents |
| Docket Number: | DIA Board Nos. 070248-89, 009765-95 |
| Location: | Boston |
- Employee: Halina Sawicka
- Employer: Archdiocese of Boston and Nazareth, Inc.
- Insurer: Cigna Companies and Archdiocese of Boston S.I.G C/O Managedcomp. (self insurer)
MAZE-ROTHSTEIN, J. Halina Sawicka, a 53 year old Polish immigrant, twice injured her back lifting and catching toddlers in her work as a preschool teacher at her employer, Nazareth, Inc. (Dec. 4-5.) The self-insurer, the second insurer in this successive insurer case, appeals a decision that concluded that it was liable for the payment of the employee’s partial incapacity benefits stemming from a 1995 aggravation of her 1989 work injury. Contrary to the self-insurer’s assertion, the judge properly credited the employee’s testimony and adopted the G.L. c. 152, §11A, physician’s opinion, based on a history consistent with the judge’s findings, that the employee’s incapacity was causally related to the 1995 aggravation. (Dec. 8-9.) We therefore affirm the decision. In so doing, however, it is appropriate to address an arguable change in the law governing causal relationship in §11A cases effected by the Appeals Court opinion in Patterson v. Liberty Mutual Insurance Co., 48 Mass. App. Ct. 586 (2000).