COURT OF APPEALS OF OHIO, EIGHTH DISTRICT COUNTY OF CUYAHOGA NO. 60643 FRANCES J. BRAGGS, : : Plaintiff-Appellee : : JOURNAL ENTRY vs. : and : OPINION LTV STEEL COMPANY, ET AL., : : Defendants-Appellants : : : DATE OF ANNOUNCEMENT OF DECISION : JUNE 18, 1992 CHARACTER OF PROCEEDING : Civil appeal from : Common Pleas Court : Case No. 148,320 JUDGMENT : AFFIRMED DATE OF JOURNALIZATION : _______________________ APPEARANCES: For plaintiff-appellee: David G. Schmidt SHAPIRO, KENDIS & ASSOCIATES 1500 Rockefeller Building 614 Superior Avenue, N.W. Cleveland, Ohio 44113-1398 For defendant-appellant: R. Patrick Baughman James A. Neff BAUGHMAN & ASSOCIATES CO., LPA 55 Public Square Suite 2215 Cleveland, Ohio 44113 For James Mayfield, Admini- Diane Karpinski strator, Bureau of Workers' Assistant Attorney General Compensation and Industrial 615 West Superior Avenue Commission: Cleveland, Ohio 44113 - 2 - NAHRA, P.J.: Frances J. Braggs, plaintiff-appellee, was hired by the LTV Steel Company (hereinafter "LTV"), defendant-appellant, in March, 1976. Prior to working for LTV, Braggs was employed as a seamstress for several years. During her time as a seamstress, Braggs did not have any problems with her hands or wrists. While at LTV, Braggs worked in a variety of positions. However, on March 24, 1984, Braggs was laid off from work. During this period of employment and unemployment, she did not experience any problems with her right hand or wrist. In later March, 1986, Braggs was recalled by LTV and passed a physical examination upon her return. Braggs testified that she was assigned to work as a furnace builder's helper. Such job required Braggs to separate fifty to one hundred pound boxes of a wet clay product, known as Wram-Tite, into smaller bricks which weighed from ten to twenty pounds. After making the separation, Braggs would throw the bricks onto a conveyor belt. This procedure was strenuous on her hands and wrist. During the second week of April, 1986, Braggs developed soreness and pain in her right hand and wrist as well as in the rest of her body. On April 12, 1986, she went to Kaiser Medical Center and was diagnosed as suffering from carpal tunnel syndrome by a Dr. Ryder. On April 15, 1986, Braggs continued working with Wram-Tite. On that day, she experienced a painful, snapping sensation in her -3- right wrist. She reported her pain to her foreman, LTV employee Lester Coleman, who advised her to go home if she could not perform her duties. Braggs continued to work until April 18, 1986, when she called in sick. On April 19, 1986, Braggs went to the LTV dispensary and complained of pain in her right wrist and hand as well as having stomach cramps. After meeting with a nurse there, Braggs went home and did not return to work again. Subsequently, Braggs was treated by Dr. Milton Moss, a Kaiser orthopedic surgeon, for carpal tunnel syndrome. Dr. Moss performed a surgical release of Braggs' right carpal tunnel in August, 1986. In his deposition, Dr. Moss testified that Braggs had carpal tunnel syndrome and that her work activity probably caused such syndrome. Dr. Moss revealed that the nature of Bragg's job as a furnace builder's helper and the repetitive activity that it entailed over the course of several days or a week could have given rise to her condition. Dr. James Culver, an orthopedic surgeon at the Cleveland Clinic, also testified on behalf of Braggs by way of deposition. Dr. Culver, who treated Braggs and conducted tests, also stated Braggs had carpal tunnel syndrome as the result of her work activities at LTV; he revealed that the repetitive activity in which Braggs was engaged, whether for one day or several weeks, could give rise to her CTS. Both Dr. Culver and Dr. Moss agreed that Bragg's carpal tunnel syndrome could not have been caused by the single event in which Braggs threw one brick. -4- Dr. Stanley Nahigian, an orthopedic surgeon, and Dr. deWayne Richey, a plastic surgeon, testified on behalf of LTV. Both testified by way of deposition that Braggs suffered from CTS and that the single event of throwing one brick could not bring about the syndrome. Dr. Nahigian testified that the repeated activities of a furnace builder's helper over the course of at least one week could cause the development of carpal tunnel syndrome. The record contains conflicting evidence concerning the duration of Braggs' employ as a furnace builder's helper at LTV. Braggs testified that she worked in that capacity for approximately two weeks in April, 1986. However, LTV presented evidence that she worked in such position from April 14, 1986 through April 17, 1986. Braggs' filed a workers' compensation claim for carpal tunnel syndrome. Such claim was allowed by the Industrial Commission of Ohio. Pursuant to R.C. 4123.519, LTV filed an appeal with the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas. Trial ensued and a jury found that Braggs was entitled to participate in the benefits of workers' compensation. This appeal follows. Appellants' sole assignment of error states: THE TRIAL COURT COMMITTED PREJUDICIAL ERROR IN SUBMITTING TO THE JURY, OVER DEFENDANT'S OBJECTIONS, PLAINTIFF'S REQUESTED JURY INSTRUCTIONS. A. THE TRIAL COURT COMMITTED PREJUDICIAL ERROR IN INSTRUCTING THE JURY, OVER DEFENDANT'S OBJECTIONS, THAT "PLAINITT (SIC) IS ENTITLED TO BENEFITS FOR AN AGGRAVATION OR WORSENING OF A PRE-EXISTING -5- (SIC) CONDITION DIRECTLY OR PROXIMATELY CAUSED BY HER WORK EXPERIENCES", WHICH INSTRUCTION IS INCORRECT AS A MATTER OF LAW. B. THE TRIAL COURT COMMITTED PREJUDICIAL ERROR IN SUBMITTING TO THE JURY, OVER DEFENDANT'S OBJECTIONS, AN "AGGRAVATION" INSTRUCTION WHERE THERE HAS BEEN NO TESTIMONIAL EVIDENCE, WITH A REASONABLE DEGREE OF MEDICAL PROBABILITY, OF AN AGGRAVATION BY DIRECT AND PROXIMATE CAUSATION. LTV maintains that the trial court committed error by its instruction to the jury on the issue of aggravation. The trial court stated: To participate in the State Fund, Plaintiff must establish the following facts, essential facts: That in April, 1986, she performed repetitive work activity with her hands while unpacking Wram-Tite. Two, that as a result, as a direct result of such work she sustained a carpal tunnel syndrome of her right wrist and hand by way of causation or aggravation. (Tr. 211.) * * * Plaintiff is entitled to benefits for an aggravation or worsening of a pre-existing (sic) condition directly or proximately caused by her work experience. (Tr. 214-15.) LTV asserts that the trial court's instruction was incomplete because it failed to include the element of a preexisting injury. LTV argues further that the term "work experience" as employed by the court was improper. LTV also contends that evidence in the record did not warrant an instruction on the issue of aggravation. In so arguing, LTV maintains that no medical -6- experts revealed a belief with a reasonable degree of medical certainty that Braggs aggravated a preexisting condition. In considering the appropriateness of a jury instruction, the instructions as a whole must be reviewed. Schade v. Carnegie Body Co. (1982), 70 Ohio St. 2d 207, 210, 275 N.E.2d 340. No reversible error is committed so long as the law is clearly and fairly expressed to the jury and they are able to understand it as it applies to the facts in the case at hand. Wagenheim v. Alexander Grant & Co. (1983), 9 Ohio App. 3d 7, 16, 482 N.E.2d 959. We believe that the instruction given to the jury on the issue of aggravation was warranted by the evidence in the record and that it was clearly and fairly expressed to the jury. The term "work experience", to which LTV objects, clearly refers to the time in which Braggs was performing her duties on the job as a furnace builder's helper. Evidence in the record conflicts with respect to whether Braggs worked for two or three days or for two weeks in the strenuous job of unpacking Wram-Tite. Three experts testified that she could have developed carpal tunnel syndrome gradually over a period of two weeks. Two experts testified that she could even have developed the same over a two day period. See Village v. General Motors Corp. (1984), 15 Ohio St. 3d 129, 472 N.E.2d 1079. In this way, the incident on April 15, 1986, when Braggs experienced a snapping sensation in her right hand and wrist, could well have constituted an aggravation of a preexisting -7- condition. Medical testimony in the record warranted the trial court's instruction on aggravation. Appellant's assignment of error is overruled. Accordingly, the judgment of the trial court is affirmed. -8- It is ordered that appellee recover of appellants her costs herein taxed. The court finds there were reasonable grounds for this appeal. It is ordered that a special mandate issue out of this court directing the Common Pleas Court to carry this judgment into execution. A certified copy of this entry shall constitute the mandate pursuant to Rule 27 of the Rules of Appellate Procedure. ANN McMANAMON, J., and KRUPANSKY, J., CONCUR. JOSEPH J. NAHRA PRESIDING JUDGE N.B. This entry is made pursuant to the third sentence of Rule 22(D), Ohio Rules of Appellate Procedure. This is an announcement of decision (see Rule 26). Ten (10) days from the date hereof this document will be stamped to indicate journalization, at which time it will become the judgment and order of the court and time period for review will begin to run. .