Siders v. Gilco, Inc

Defendants appeal by leave granted from a December 29, 1989, opinion and order of the Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board reversing the decision of a referee that denied plaintiff a closed benefit award and granting plaintiff an open benefit award. We affirm in part and reverse in part.

Plaintiff suffered from severe, congenital scoliosis. In late 1979, plaintiffs treating orthopedic surgeon inserted a seventeen-inch rod to straighten plaintiff’s spine, and placed him in a back cast which he wore for almost a year.

Before his surgery, plaintiff experienced significant pain, which he attributed…