Armstrong, Syvonia v. Chattanooga Billiard Club, Inc.

2019 TN WC 22
CourtTennessee Court of Workers' Compensation Claims
DecidedFebruary 7, 2019
Docket2018-01-0006
StatusPublished

This text of 2019 TN WC 22 (Armstrong, Syvonia v. Chattanooga Billiard Club, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Tennessee Court of Workers' Compensation Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Armstrong, Syvonia v. Chattanooga Billiard Club, Inc., 2019 TN WC 22 (Tenn. Super. Ct. 2019).

Opinion

FILED Feb 07, 2019 02:22 PM(ET) TENNESSEE COURT OF WORKERS' COMPENSATION CLAIMS

TENNESSE BUREAU OF WORKERS' COMPENSATION IN THE COURT OF WORKERS' COMPENSATION CLAIMS AT CHATTANOOGA

Syvonia Armstrong, ) Docket No.: 2018-01-0006 Employee, ) v. ) Chattanooga Billiard Club, Inc., ) State File No.: 927-2018 Employer, ) And ) Eastern Alliance Insurance Co., ) Judge Thomas Wyatt Carrier. )

EXPEDITED HEARING ORDER DENYING MEDICAL BENEFITS FOR DENTAL CONDITIONS

This matter came before the Court on February 6, 2019, for an Expedited Hearing. The primary issue is whether Ms. Armstrong came forward with evidence that she would likely prevail at a hearing on the merits that her alleged dental injuries arose primarily out of and in the course and scope of her employment. For the reasons below, the Court holds she did not.

History of Claim

Ms. Armstrong worked as a bartender/shift leader for Chattanooga Billiards Club's (CBC's) restaurant and bar. On December 12, 2017, she received an electrical shock while changing a filter on a dishwasher. She stated she felt a sensation like bees stinging her face and burning inside her mouth and on her right arm. She notified CBC's owner of the incident, but declined the owner's offer to send her for immediate treatment.

Later that evening, Ms. Armstrong developed swollen and burned lips, bums inside her mouth, pain in her left ear, and pain behind her left eye. She sought emergent care without authorization and reported that she had "contact with electrical wire ... at the right wrist" while ''working on a dishwasher." The emergency-room doctor diagnosed an "electric shock" and discharged her without treatment.

1 Ms. Armstrong later sought medical benefits under workers' compensation.• CBC referred her to its insurance broker, to whom Ms. Armstrong reported chipped teeth and that an electrical shock "blew out her fillings." She testified the broker allowed her to see a dentist, and she saw Dr. Drew Shabo on December 18.2 Dr. Shabo's examination revealed several decayed and chipped teeth for which he recommended veneers. On the issue of causation, Dr. Shabo's office note states, ''there's no way to know whether the electric current caused the fracturing of the teeth" but "it is possible that the amalgam fillings acted [as a] conductor and caused them to fracture but he hasn't seen her before to know."

CBC later provided Ms. Armstrong a panel of walk-in clinics from which she selected American Family Care (AFC). She saw physicians at AFC on January 9 and 12, 2018, who diagnosed burns of the mouth and pharynx and referred her to anENT. A doctor who saw Ms. Armstrong at AFC on the second visit wrote that she became irate during the visit, told him she did not want diagnoses of jaw pain, ear pain or headaches, and threatened to sue if CBC did not pay for her treatment under workers' compensation. 3 Both AFC physicians released her to return to work without restrictions.

Ms. Armstrong selected Dr. David Fortune from a panel for the ENT referral. Dr. Fortune concluded the slight abnormalities on a hearing test were not those normally seen with electrical shock injuries. He released her with ointment to treat a burn of the left external ear canal and assigned no impairment or work restrictions.

CBC also offered Ms. Armstrong a panel of dentists. She refused to select a dentist for authorized care, opting instead to pursue an order requiring CBC to pay for Dr. Shabo's recommended care. During the hearing, she stated she made this decision because she had a lot going on in her life and did not want to encounter the inconvenience of seeing a new dentist.

CBC also had Ms. Armstrong examined by oral surgeon Dr. Richard L. Johnson. He took dental x-rays revealing numerous decayed teeth, intact fillings, and chipping consistent with normal wear. On causation, he stated that "I do not feel there is any dental disability from [the electrical shock]."

1 Ms. Annstrong asked CBC to have the dishwasher inspected. CBC did so, once by a repainnan and then by an electrician. Ms. Annstrong disagreed with the findings that nothing was wrong with the dishwasher and refused to use the dishwasher. CBC tenninated her for this refusal and previous misconduct, including tardiness. 2 CBC lodged a hearsay objection to Ms. Annstrong's testimony about the broker's authorization. Upon consideration of Ms. Annstrong's testimony that she relied on the broker's statement in going to see Dr. Shabo, the Court overruled the objection under the state-of-mind exception to the hearsay rule. 3 Ms. Annstrong testified she never saw the physician who wrote this.

2 Ms. Armstrong then obtained letters bearing Dr. Shabo's signature that addressed causation. A September 5 letter stated: "Dr. Shabo concluded that the work that needs to be done to save her teeth could very well be needed due to the electrical shock the patient experienced." A September 19 letter stated: "Dr. Shabo concluded that, it is more likely than not, to a reasonable degree of medical certainty, the described injury 'electrical shock' in dental notes was the primary cause of the need for dental treatment."

Ms. Armstrong filed a Petition for Benefit Determination seeking medical benefits and temporary and permanent disability benefits. At the Expedited Hearing, she stated "I only want my teeth fixed. I did not have chipped teeth before." CBC contended that Ms. Armstrong failed to prove the essential elements of her claim, including causation and the reasonableness, necessity and work-relatedness of requested treatment.

Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law

At an expedited hearing, Ms. Armstrong must provide sufficient evidence from which the Court can determine she is likely to prevail at a hearing on the merits. McCord v. Advantage Human Resourcing, 2015 TN Wrk. Comp. App. Bd. LEXIS 6, at *7-8, 9 (Mar. 27, 2015). Ms. Armstrong contends her dental problems arose primarily from the electrical shock at CBC and relies on the opinions stated in Dr. Shabo's letters in support of her claim. CBC argues that Dr. Shabo's opinions are unreliable because he changed them over the course of time. It asserts that the Court should give greater weight to the opinion of oral surgeon Dr. Johnson, who concluded that Ms. Armstrong's dental conditions were not caused by an electrical shock.

Tennessee Code Annotated section 50-6-102(14) (2018) defines a compensable injury as one "arising primarily out of and in the course and scope of employment." Subsection 50-6-102(14)(C) requires that compensability be shown to "a reasonable degree of medical certainty." Subsection 50-6-102(E) provides that the opinions of treating physicians selected from a panel "shall be presumed correct on the issue of causation but this presumption shall be rebuttable by a preponderance of the evidence."

Here, Dr. Fortune diagnosed Ms. Armstrong with a bum to her left external ear canal and prescribed treatment. Thus, Ms. Armstrong established she would likely prevail at a hearing on the merits regarding treatment for the bum. However, Ms. Armstrong failed to come forward with evidence rebutting Dr. Fortune's opinion that her hearing abnormalities were not related to the electrical shock. Thus, she failed to establish entitlement to medical benefits for her hearing.

The compensability of the dental injuries hinges on the competing causation testimonies of Dr. Shabo and Dr. Johnson. Their opinions stand on equal footing because neither provider was selected from a panel.

3 In considering this issue, the Court notes that Dr. Shabo provided differing causation opinions.

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Related

§ 50-6
Tennessee § 50-6

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2019 TN WC 22, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/armstrong-syvonia-v-chattanooga-billiard-club-inc-tennworkcompcl-2019.