Mr. Liberty testified on his own behalf and presented the following exhibits, all of which were admitted into evidence without objection:
Exhibit A - Deposition, Dr. Brent Koprivica, 10/12/2004
Exhibit B - Report, Dr. Brent Koprivica, 8/13/2002
Exhibit C - Report, Dr. Brent Koprivica, 8/10/2003
Exhibit D - Report, Dr. Brent Koprivica, 8/30/2004
Exhibit E - Report, Mary Titterington, 5/19/2003
Exhibit F - Medical Records, North Kansas City Hospital
Exhibit G - Medical Records, Dr. Thomas A. Janes
Exhibit H - Medical Records, Kansas City Neurosurgery Group
Exhibit I - Medical Records, Kansas City Neurosurgery Group
Exhibit J - Medical Records, Shawnee Mission Medical Center
Exhibit K - Medical Records, Northeastern Neurological Surgery
Exhibit L - Medical Records, Independent Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine
Exhibit M - Medical Records, Independent Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine
Exhibit N - Medical Records, Liberty Hospital
Exhibit O - Medical Records, Excelsior Springs Medical Center
Exhibit P - Medical Records, Dr. Sidney Cantrell
Exhibit Q - Medical Records, Dr. Sidney Cantrell
Exhibit R - Deposition, Mary Titterington, 5/25/2005
Although the Second Injury Fund did not call any witnesses, it did present the following exhibits, all of which were admitted into evidence:
Exhibit 1 - Claim for Compensation, 4/25/01
Exhibit 2 - Letter requesting consent to see a SIF doctor, 6/19/01
Exhibit 3 - Stipulation of Compromise Settlement, 9/15/04
Exhibit 4 - Report of Dr. Swaim, 3/22/05
Exhibit 5 - Curriculum Vitae of Dr. Swaim
Exhibit 6 - Deposition of Dr. Swaim, 5/26/05
Exhibit 7 - Deposition of Mr. Liberty, 3/19/04
No objections were made to Exhibits 1-5 and 7; objections contained in the deposition of Dr. Swaim were renewed but are overruled.
Based on the above exhibits and the testimony of Mr. Liberty, I make the following findings.
Mr. Liberty is a married, 58-year old male, who lives in Lawson, Missouri. He and his wife have two, adult children, ages 33 and 29. He attended Sacred Heart High School through his sophomore year. He received his G.E.D. from Maple Woods Junior College in 1974. He has not completed any other formal education. Mr. Liberty began working for Owens Corning ("OC") on January 8, 1968. He worked until April of that year and then because of family issues and his father's poor health temporarily moved to Nebraska to help with his father's farm. He testified in his deposition that he simply stopped going in to work. He did not formally resign and he was never formally terminated. Approximately eight months later in December of 1968, Mr. Liberty returned to his employment at OC. Mr. Liberty continued to work for OC until August 22, 1999, the day before his first and only back surgery was scheduled. Prior to working for OC in 1968, Mr. Liberty served in the U.S. Army from 1966-1968 as a communications worker. He testified that he did not have any injuries, illnesses, or conditions prior to starting with OC.
Mr. Liberty held five different positions during his tenure with OC: packer, janitor, spinner/driller, disposal vehicle operator, and service attendant group leader. Mr. Liberty testified on direct examination that he was first hired by OC on December 20, 1968 and continued in varying positions with them until his last day on August 22, 1999. On direct examination, he testified that after a call from one of his brothers, Mr. Liberty interviewed with Luther McCaren at OC's Kansas City, Kansas production plant. Mr. Liberty testified that he was called at his brother's house in North Kansas City, Missouri and told that he had the job. However, on cross-examination, Mr. Liberty revealed that he had nine brothers. He lived with several different brothers at various times after leaving the Army; and, although he claims to remember which brother he was staying with at the time, he did get confused on cross-examination as to where that brother lived. At his deposition he gave a different general location than he did at the hearing. He could not remember the address where his brother lived; he could not remember his brother's phone number. Mr. Liberty also revealed that he had worked for OC on another occasion in January of 1968. At that time, Mr. Liberty went to a group interview of fifteen to twenty people at OC's production plant in Kansas City, Kansas, and was hired to come to work in a couple of days, following a chest x-ray he was asked to provide to employer. The x-ray location was in Kansas City, Kansas. Mr. Liberty never quit during the period between the beginning and end of 1968, but he stopped going into the plant when he moved to Nebraska in April 1968. He also testified that he was never fired.
Mr. Liberty worked for OC as a janitor. In that capacity, Mr. Liberty cleaned floors, cleaned the cafeteria and emptied trash. He testified that he had no workplace injuries during that time period.
In approximately 1973 or 1974, Mr. Liberty moved to the "spinner room" area of OC's Kansas City, Kansas facility. Mr. Liberty's job during this time was to work at a machine as part of a production line. In the fall of 1978, Mr. Liberty slipped on his left foot and hurt his back below the beltline. (There was some discrepancy of testimony, Mr. Liberty's recollection in live testimony was around 1977, but treatment records indicate the slip occurred in 1978). Mr. Liberty walked with help to his supervisor's office and was sent to the hospital where x-rays were negative. Mr. Liberty received a shot in his hip at that time and was kept off work for four days. According to Mr. Liberty, his back never got better after the 1977 incident. His employer added some cabling to help with lifting tanks in the spinner room, but the cables were added to all spinner room tanks and not specifically as an accommodation for Mr. Liberty. Mr. Liberty was able to successfull