Andrew Glick claimed injury to his left knee, lumbar spine, neurological system, and “ophthalmology/vision/eye,” while employed as a truck driver by Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings, Inc. when he was injured on November 26, 2018.
Glick was struck by a motor vehicle while crossing the street. The vehicle was traveling at approximately 30 miles per hour at the time of impact, and he was thrown approximately 10 feet, landing on the ground on his left side. Glick was knocked unconscious, and was transported by ambulance to Riverside Community Hospital, where he was diagnosed as having sustained a fractured left tibia, left fibula, left femur, right scapula, right clavicle, right and left temporal bones, L1 vertebrae, L2 vertebrae, L3 vertebrae, L4 vertebrae, and a left “brain bleed.”
On June 9, 2020 the Qualified Medical Evaluator (QME) in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation noted his “number one problem” was vision difficulty:” The report said that “He was told he has nerve damage behind the right eye, so if he drives or does activities requiring any kind of balance or proprioception, he closes the right eye and only uses the left.” Mr Glick remained temporarily totally disabled.
A QME in ophthalmology reported in August 2020 that he was “not yet permanent and stationary, and required a strabismus (eye muscle) surgery to address superior oblique palsy, because “[t]he function of the 4th nerve cannot be restored.”
After an Expedited Hearing on the issue of whether Mr. Glick was entitled to temporary disability continuing from the last date paid of approximately 11/24/20 and continuing, pursuant to the applicability of Labor Code § 4656 (c)(3)(F), the WCJ issued his F&A, finding that Glick sustained injury to the “ophthalmology/vision/eye,” caused by a “high velocity impact,” resulting in “temporary total disability for which defendant has paid 104 weeks and which said benefit is ongoing.” The WCJ found defendant liable for ongoing temporary total disability pursuant to Labor Code section 4656(c)(3)(F).
Reconsideration of this Award was denied in the panel decision of Glick v Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings, Inc – ADJ11799924 (November 2022).
The WCJ filed his Report, observing that the statutory requirements were met because applicant sustained a high velocity impact to his person, which was the direct cause of both a concussion and a resulting eye injury.
The employer contended that the “plain language or common meaning” of the term “high-velocity eye injuries,” as set forth in Labor Code section 4656(c)(3)(F) refers to “at least some impact of the eye.” And cites as authority Cruz v. Mercedes-Benz of San Francisco (2007) 72 Cal. Comp. Cases 1281 [2007 Cal. Wrk. Comp. LEXIS 247] (Appeals Bd. en banc), were the WCAB applied a “common sense and ordinary meaning” to the term “amputation,” and that a similar analysis of section 4656(c)(2)(F) requires there be “some impact to the eye.”
Andrew Glick cites Glover v. ACCU Construction (June 15, 2009, ADJ665716 (BAK 0154393) [2009 Cal. Wrk. Comp. P.D. LEXIS 301] Glover was operating a mulching mower when he was struck by a metal fragment that entered his nostril, lacerating the nose and fracturing the eye socket before traveling through the brain and lodging in the back of the skull. In Glover the panel concluded “We are not persuaded that “eye” should be defined so narrowly, yet we need not delineate the outer limits of our definition at this time. We have examined applicant’s medical records and find ample evidence of injury to and treatment of the right eye.”
Turning to the issues in the claim of Mr. Glick, the panel followed its reasoning in Glover and concluded “Here, the facts support a similar analysis.”