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November 21, 2001; 10:00 a.m. NOT TO BE PUBLISHED

C ommonwealth O f K entucky C ourt O f A ppeals
NO. 2001-CA-001299-WC

CONCO, INC.

APPELLANT

v.

PETITION FOR REVIEW OF A DECISION OF THE WORKERS' COMPENSATION BOARD ACTION NO. WC-97-68072

DANETTA VARBLE; HON. W. BRUCE COWDEN, JR., ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGE; AND WORKERS' COMPENSATION BOARD

APPELLEES

OPINION AFFIRMING ** ** ** ** ** BEFORE: GUDGEL, CHIEF JUDGE; GUIDUGLI AND HUDDLESTON, JUDGES. Conco, Inc. (Conco) appeals from an opinion of

GUIDUGLI, JUDGE.

the Workers' Compensation Board entered May 16, 2001, which affirmed an opinion and award entered by Administrative Law Judge W. Bruce Cowden, Jr., (the ALJ) which awarded benefits to Danetta Varble (Varble) for physical and psychological injuries she sustained as a result of a work-related accident. We affirm.

Varble testified during her deposition and at the hearing before the ALJ that she has worked at Conco since 1981.

At the time of her injury, she was working as a press operator. Her supervisor in the pressroom was Tommy Hodge (Hodge). According to Varble, she went to see her family doctor, Dr. Robin Newstadt some six to nine months prior to the accident because she felt she was being sexually harassed by Hodge. Varble told Dr. Newstadt she was having problems at work and needed help to keep from losing her job. Dr. Newstadt sent her

to a counselor, and either she or the counselor prescribed Zoloft to help Varble stay calm at work. Varble started working in the

pressroom approximately four months prior to the accident in order to have less contact with Hodge. Varble reported Hodge's conduct to Conco. In a memo

dated December 12, 1996, from Robert Corcoran, Conco's Vice President of Human Resources and Contract Administration, to Varble, Corcoran indicated that he had discussed her allegations with Hodge. Although Corcoran concluded that Hodge's behavior

was inappropriate, he was not convinced that it rose to the level of sexual harassment. According to the memo, Hodge was told that Varble filed a complaint with the

his behavior was unacceptable.

EEOC in the fall of 1996 but did not pursue it because she was told that it would be Hodge's word against hers and that there would be little benefit in going forward with the complaint. did not miss any work due to the problems she had with Hodge. According to Varble, the only problem she had in regard to Hodge's behavior was that it made her angry. On May 9, 1997, the date Varble was injured, she and Hodge had an argument about her work prior to lunch. After She

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lunch, she noticed that the press was making a mark on the parts. She turned the press off to see if she could determine what was wrong, but could find nothing. After restarting the press, she

saw a metal shaving on one of the rollers and tried to brush it off with her glove. Her glove became caught in the roller and

her left hand was pulled into the press, resulting in a significant crush injury and a partial amputation of her left ring and pinky fingers. Varble testified that at the time of the accident Hodge was standing 30-35 feet away from the press. When her hand

became caught in the press she yelled and screamed for Hodge to help her. According to Varble, Hodge looked straight at her but While Varble acknowledged that

did not offer any assistance.

Hodge may not have known that her hand was caught in the press, she testified that he failed to come to her aid. Varble stated that she lost consciousness and fell to her knees. She heard a man's voice call her name and tell her to When she regained consciousness, no one was

"kick the lever." there. hand.

She kicked a lever on the press and was able to free her During the process, Varble lost control of her bladder. After freeing herself from the press, Varble walked to

Hodge and asked him to call for first aid.

She was ultimately

taken to Jewish Hospital and has undergone several surgeries on her hand. Varble has returned to work at Conco, but is unable to

operate a press. Several weeks after returning to work, Varble approached Conco's personnel director and asked for help because

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she was unable to deal with her injury.

Conco referred her to

Solutions Center for Brief Therapy, where she came under the care of Dr. Joel Velasco, a psychiatrist, and Dr. John Fidanza, a clinical psychologist. Varble filed her claim for benefits on February 1, 1999. Although her claim initially sought benefits solely for

the injury to her hand, she later amended her claim to include "the injury induced psychiatric element." In regard to the injury to Varble's hand, medical records were filed from Dr. Thomas Wolff, who was Varble's treating physician, and Dr. Frank Wood, who performed an independent medical evaluation on October 12, 1999. Both Dr.

Wolff and Dr. Wood assigned Varble a 12% impairment rating for the injury to her left hand. According to medical records from the Solutions Center for Brief Therapy, Dr. Velasco referred her to Dr. Fidanza for counseling. Dr. Velasco periodically evaluated Varble's progress

and prescribed medication, including Prozac, Serzone, Xanax, and Tegretol. Dr. Fidanza handled Varble's therapy sessions. According to Dr. Fidanza's office notes, he saw Varble forty-five times between June 4, 1997, and August 30, 1999. Office notes from June 4, 1997, state that "Pt . . . is referred for [treatment] . . . due to recurrent MDE [without] significant alleviation over past three months." During many of her therapy

sessions, Varble related that she was having problems adjusting to the injury to her hand. When Varble returned to work in

November 1997, she reported to Dr. Fidanza that she had an

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increase in her feelings of anxiety and depression, and also had anxiety in regard to seeing Hodge again. hostility and anger towards Hodge. She also expressed

On several occasions, Varble

related having nightmares and flashbacks of the accident. Aside from problems stemming from the injury to her hand, Varble discussed two other incidents with Dr. Fidanza. August 4, 1997, Dr. Fidanza's office notes show that Varble "expressed sadness over the death of her son-in-law this past weekend . . . in [an] auto accident." This is the only entry At her On

related to this incident in Dr. Fidanza's notes.

deposition, Varble testified that she told Dr. Fidanza that her son-in-law's death did not really bother her as he was an alcoholic and she expected his death "at any given time." On August 13, 1999, Dr. Fidanza's office notes reflect the following: Pt. presented to session in an distraught mood, citing her taking out a [illegible] on her daughter and having temporary custody of her 3

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