CASE NO. 143 CRD-7-82Workers’ Compensation Commission
JULY 24, 1984
The Claimant-Appellee was represented by Barry C. Knott, Esq.
The Respondents-Appellants were represented by Brian M. Gildea, Esq.
This Petition for Review from the April 13, 1982 Finding of the Commissioner for the Seventh District was argued July 29, 1983 before a Compensation Review Division Panel consisting of the Commission Chairman, John Arcudi, and Commissioners Rhoda Loeb and Frank Verrilli.
FINDING AND AWARD
The Finding and Award of the district commissioner is affirmed and adopted as the Finding and Award of the Compensation Review Division.
OPINION
JOHN ARCUDI, Chairman.
Respondents’ appeal attacks the district commissioner’s finding that claimant suffered a compensable injury to his neck and cervical spine August 7, 1980 while at work for the employer respondent. Respondents argue that the cause of claimant’s cervical problem was an earlier 1979 injury. As the commissioner stated in his finding, the matter is really one of credibility.
The claimant himself testified that he had an accidental injury at work August 7, 1980. The general practitioner who first saw him after that incident in a October 12, 1981 report in evidence confirmed that history. Another exhibit in evidence, an Easter Seal Rehabilitation Center report, was also confirmatory. Finally, the Bridgeport neurosurgeon, Dr. Michael Dogali testifying on behalf of the respondents in the January 12, 1982 hearing declared that there had been an exacerbation in claimant’s cervical condition in August, 1980.
Obviously, the respondents relied on other evidence tending to contradict the claimant’s assertions. But the commissioner had sufficient evidentiary basis to rule as he did. We as an appellate tribunal may not substitute our factual conclusion, Adzima v. UAC/Norden Division, 177 Conn. 107, 118 (1979).
The decision of the Commissioner is affirmed and the appeal is dismissed.
Commissioners Loeb and Verrilli concur in this opinion.