Background
David Gilbert, a firefighter and paramedic for the City of Wheeling, filed a workers’ compensation claim after he slipped and fell onto a stretcher with his right hand outstretched. The claim was initially held compensable for a right wrist sprain. In earlier proceedings, the Workers’ Compensation Board of Review added right-wrist scapholunate instability and a right-wrist scapholunate ligament tear to the claim, and that determination was affirmed on appeal.
In the proceeding before the court, the City challenged a Board of Review decision reversing the claim administrator’s closure of Gilbert’s claim and continuing temporary total disability benefits from June 3, 2024, onward as substantiated by proper evidence. The Intermediate Court of Appeals affirmed. The City argued that Gilbert’s medical records did not show physical signs that its physician said would accompany a scapholunate ligament tear and, on that basis, contended both that the scapholunate conditions should not have been added and that benefits should not continue for those conditions. Gilbert responded that the compensability determination had already been affirmed and argued that benefits were warranted during his healing period.
The Court’s Holding
The Supreme Court of Appeals summarily affirmed the Intermediate Court of Appeals’ December 4, 2025, decision, leaving in place the Board of Review’s continuation of temporary total disability benefits from June 3, 2024, and thereafter when supported by proper evidence.
Applying de novo review to questions of law and deferring to the Board of Review’s factual findings unless clearly wrong, the court concluded after reviewing the record and briefs that there was no reversible error. It found oral argument unnecessary and issued a memorandum decision under Rule 21. The court did not separately analyze the City’s renewed challenge to the scapholunate conditions or expressly adopt Gilbert’s healing-period rationale.
Key Takeaways
- The court affirmed the continuation of Gilbert’s temporary total disability benefits from June 3, 2024, onward as supported by proper evidence.
- The City based its challenge on medical evidence that it contended undermined the diagnosis of a scapholunate ligament tear.
- The court resolved the appeal through summary affirmance, finding no reversible error without providing additional substantive analysis of the parties’ competing arguments.
Why It Matters
The decision preserves the benefits awarded by the Board of Review and affirmed by the Intermediate Court of Appeals. Its precedential guidance is limited, however, because the Supreme Court of Appeals summarily affirmed and did not announce a broader rule concerning prior compensability determinations or entitlement to benefits during a healing period.