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Severe Foot Pain Leads To $2M Federal Settlement
Connecticut Law Tribune
Monday, October 10, 2011
Copyright 2011, ALM Properties, Inc.
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Severe Foot Pain Leads To $2M Federal Settlement
Rigger at New London sub base slipped and fell on icy patch
By THOMAS B. SCHEFFEY
Joseph Morin Sr. v. United States of America: A worker at the Naval Submarine Base in southeastern Connecticut settled for about $2 million after injuring his ankle when he slipped on a set of stairs.
At 6 a.m. every workday, Joseph Morin had to report to Navy supervisors to find out where he would be working in his job as a union rigger at the Groton sub base. He climbed an exterior stairway to their office, and on March 19, 2007, the stairway had a patch of ice on it. Morin slipped, fell backwards and injured his foot.
He continued to work that day, preparing heavy loads, like torpedoes and equipment, to be lowered into submarines. But when he removed his boot, the foot was alarmingly swollen and he was taken by ambulance to William Backus Hospital in New London. He did not require surgery, but the pain in his foot, leg and back grew progressively worse.
Under the workers’ compensation coverage from his Middletown-based employer, the S.P. Marino Crane Co., Morin was treated for pain management by Dr. Robert J. Boolbol, of Connecticut Pain Care. The doctor began treating Morin six months after the injury with epidural steroid injections. He also tried physical therapy, aqua therapy and acupuncture, without significant improvement.
Morin often felt lightheaded and faint, and was treated with a variety of pain medications. An MRI revealed a lumbar disc tear, as well as mild degenerative disc disease, Dr. Boolbol reported.
Morin retained Eugene K. Swain of Hartford’s RisCassi & Davis and filed a federal suit against the Navy, under the Federal Tort Claims Act. In an Oct. 1, 2010 report to Swain, Dr. Boolbol diagnosed Morin with chronic lumbar pain and “complex regional pain syndrome.” This phenomenon causes unexpected pain at even a light touch. Morin had difficulty even wearing a sock on his damaged right foot, and wore a stretched-out hospital sock, if anything.
“If anybody touches it, he will jump in pain,” said Swain, characterizing the condition as “brutal.” The ankle “will be ice cold to him, or it will be very hot. It turns blue. He loses all the hair on that part of his body. It is like constantly having a toothache there.”
Morin gained mild, temporary improvement from epidural steroid injections targeting the spinal nerve roots. The doctor proposed eventual implantation of a spinal cord stimulator, an “aggressive” device that costs $40,000 to $60,000 to surgically install, plus an additional $20,000 for hospital and professional costs.
Dr. Boolbol assigned a 20 percent permanent impairment to the complex regional pain syndrome, plus an additional 6 percent disability for Morin’s back injury. That brought the whole person disability rating to 26 percent.
Attorney Swain said the injuries were deemed ongoing and permanent, and Morin’s employability outlook was modest. Post-accident, he had been working for 20 hours a week in his employer’s paint shop, with the prospect of operating some heavy equipment and machinery. That sort of work, however, would interfere with an implanted stimulator, possibly causing the wire leads to migrate and require additional surgery. For that reason, Dr. Boolbol did not recommend the surgical implant now. If Morin loses his current job, the doctor opined, it “would be very difficult for him to maintain or gain a position in any other firm.”
A more intensive eight-page study of Morin’s work prospects was prepared by Estelle R. Hutchinson, a vocational expert in Providence, R.I. Although the chronic pain on occasion causes Morin to break out into a sweat, vomit, or feel like he is going to pass out, he seems well-adjusted, with no “psychosocial barriers” to gainful employment, Hutchinson’s report said.
However, Morin’s walking is limited to about 100 feet at a time and he can only lift 10 to 15 pounds. He has difficulty kneeling, is unable to crouch, and bends only with difficulty. He no longer can engage in karate, football, beach trips, amusement park trips, or horseback riding, as he once did.
With a 10th-grade education and no GED, Morin’s annual income as a union rigger ranged from $46,921 to $59,650 between 2004 and 2007, but plummeted to $11,402 the year of his accident. Hutchinson concluded that Morin’s reduced mobility, inability to work more than four hours at a time, and pain put him at a competitive disadvantage seeking work, and agreed that if he lost his present job, he “is likely to be unemployable.”
The U.S. government was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Loren Nash, who did not return a call for comment. Plaintiff’s attorney Swain said the government quickly backed away from denying responsibility for Morin’s accident and in the end sought only to limit damages.
The expert who estimated Morin’s loss of earning capacity is Arthur W. Wright, who calculated that a total of $1,875,553 would have been earned between ages 36 and 78, based on a pension of $35,481 starting when Morin turns 65, in 2037. Wright calculated that at a minimum wage job, Morin would still be able to earn a total of $377,791 in the same time, making his net lifetime income loss $1,497,762 from the injury. The case was assigned for trial before U.S. District Judge Vanessa Bryant, and was mediated over a three-day period by U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas P. Smith, who Swain described as “tireless.”
Swain’s demand had been for a total of $3 million. On the eve of trial, the parties settled for $2 million, and the transaction became final Oct. 1. A workers’ compensation lien of $125,000 had accrued in favor of Liberty Mutual insurance, which was represented by William J. Shea, of Glastonbury’s Rosenbaum & Vollono. That amount was subtracted from the damages awarded to Morin.•
