Carter, Paulette v. Frito-Lay, Inc.

2021 TN WC 179
CourtTennessee Court of Workers' Compensation Claims
DecidedMay 24, 2021
Docket2019-05-1059
StatusPublished

This text of 2021 TN WC 179 (Carter, Paulette v. Frito-Lay, 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
Carter, Paulette v. Frito-Lay, Inc., 2021 TN WC 179 (Tenn. Super. Ct. 2021).

Opinion

FILED May 24, 2021 02:12 PM(CT) TENNESSEE COURT OF WORKERS' COMPENSATION CLAIMS

TENNESSEE BUREAU OF WORKERS’ COMPENSATION IN THE COURT OF WORKERS’ COMPENSATION CLAIMS AT MURFREESBORO

PAULETTE CARTER, ) Docket No. 2019-05-1059 Employee, ) v. ) FRITO-LAY, INC., ) State File No. 52007-2019 Employer, ) And ) INDEMNITY INS. CO. ) Judge Dale Tipps Carrier. )

COMPENSATION ORDER

The Court held a Compensation Hearing on May 13, 2021. The issues were whether Ms. Carter is entitled to permanent disability benefits, as well as additional temporary disability and medical benefits. For the reasons below, the Court holds that Ms. Carter is not entitled to permanent disability or additional temporary disability benefits. She is entitled to any further medical treatment recommended by her authorized doctors but not the additional treatment she requested during the hearing.

History of Claim

Ms. Carter was at work on June 9, 2019, when a stack of boxes fell on her. She reported the injury and received on-site physical therapy treatments until Frito-Lay provided a panel of physicians. Ms. Carter selected an occupational clinic, and a right- shoulder MRI revealed several tears and a bone lesion. The doctor referred Ms. Carter to her primary care physician to address the lesion and to an orthopedic specialist for her work injuries. She selected Dr. Troy Layton from a panel of orthopedists.

At Ms. Carter’s first appointment with Dr. Layton, she complained of right-shoulder pain and weakness. He observed a bone scan showed a bone lesion in the glenoid that was not work-related. Regarding the work injury, Dr. Layton was “very concerned that the radiologist under-read the severity of the tear.” He diagnosed a sprain of the right shoulder cuff capsule and impingement syndrome, and he performed a subacromial injection. When

1 Ms. Carter returned on August 26, Dr. Layton noted that she was “getting a workup” with another provider regarding the lesion. He recommended arthroscopy with decompression and rotator cuff repair but ordered an MR arthrogram since Ms. Carter had concerns about proceeding with the arthroscopy.

Before undergoing the MR arthrogram, Dr. Layton saw Ms. Carter again and noted he could not comment on her complaints of pain between the shoulder blades or in the neck because he does not treat those body parts. He had “no explanation for why her shoulder appears to be dropping other than voluntary muscular temporary dysfunction. There is no intra-articular shoulder pathology, rotator cuff or labral, that would cause this.”

Reviewing the MR arthrogram, Dr. Layton said that the labrum was completely intact with some chronic joint arthrosis. He also discussed a “very limited partial-thickness tear” on the undersurface of the supraspinatus. Dr. Layton further noted that the bone lesion represented a degenerative process. He recommended non-surgical management and eventually referred Ms. Carter to Dr. Jeffrey Hazlewood, a physiatrist, for her complaints of neck pain.

Before seeing Dr. Hazlewood, Ms. Carter returned to Dr. Layton. He told her that her shoulder blade pain was brought on by her physical therapy for the work injury, but the medial shoulder and neck pain was not related to her shoulder injury. Dr. Layton reiterated that he would not recommend surgery and that the bone lesion was not work-related. He said he would see her on an as-needed basis.

When Dr. Hazlewood first saw Ms. Carter, his impression included chronic right- shoulder pain, with the MRI showing “some partial rotator cuff tears, but nothing significant.” He felt Ms. Carter’s guarding and atypical pain behavior was out of proportion to her MRI findings. Dr. Hazlewood wrote that her history of fibromyalgia and chronic opioid dependency might be factoring into her presentation. He doubted cervical disc herniation but recommended a cervical spine MRI and an EMG of the right arm.

Ms. Carter returned to Dr. Hazlewood after her tests. He found degenerative changes but no acute disc pathology. The EMG showed carpel tunnel syndrome but no cervical radiculopathy or brachial plexopathy. He wrote, “[t]he type of injury she describes should not cause any structural neck pathology.” He characterized her problem as “subjective pain and no objective explanation.” Dr. Hazlewood had no further recommendations, placed Ms. Carter at maximum medical improvement, and returned her to full duty. He also said he would see Ms. Carter again as needed.

Dr. Hazlewood later gave a deposition. He agreed with Dr. Layton’s findings and added that he could not explain the cause of Ms. Carter’s pain, especially in view of her mechanism of injury. Dr. Hazlewood also said the cervical MRI showed degenerative changes but no disc herniation that would cause her symptoms or be related to the injury.

2 The EMG showed no cervical radiculopathy or brachial plexus injury. Dr. Hazlewood concluded that the accident would not cause Ms. Carter’s pain presentation. He placed her at maximum medical improvement and assigned a zero permanent impairment rating.

For several years before her work injury, Ms. Carter regularly saw her personal physician, Dr. Paul Sain, for chronic pain management. His records show he prescribed opioids for fibromyalgia and neuropathy. Ms. Carter continued to treat with Dr. Sain after her work injury, and he referred her to an orthopedic specialist.

Dr. Sain completed a Form C-32 Medical Report. He identified a partial right rotator cuff tear, subchondral cyst, and brachial radiculopathy, all of which were either primarily caused by the work injury or were pre-existing conditions aggravated primarily by the work accident. Dr. Sain added that, because of her work injury, Ms. Carter was unable to work from January 16, 2020, to the present. Although he assigned permanent restrictions, Dr. Sain identified no date of maximum medical improvement and gave no permanent impairment rating.

At the hearing, Ms. Carter requested more medical treatment so that she can return to her pre-injury condition. Specifically, she would like Frito-Lay to provide treatment with her unauthorized physicians. These include Dr. Sain, Dr. Mark Leberte (who was scheduled to perform a right-shoulder arthroscopy on Ms. Carter on May 24), and Dr. Murray Spruiell for cervical pain.1

Frito-Lay contended that Ms. Carter is not entitled to additional benefits. It pointed out that she received medical treatment through authorized specialists and temporary disability benefits during the time those physicians took her off work. Frito-Lay argued that both authorized doctors provided an opinion that Ms. Carter’s current symptoms are not related to her work accident. Thus, it is not responsible for the additional treatment recommended by her unauthorized physicians. However, it acknowledged that she retains the right to return to Dr. Layton or Dr. Hazlewood. Frito-Lay also denied it is liable for any additional disability benefits because Ms. Carter is at maximum medical improvement and retains no permanent impairment.

Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law

Ms. Carter, as the employee in a workers’ compensation claim, has the burden of proof on all essential elements of her claim. Scott v. Integrity Staffing Solutions, 2015 TN Wrk. Comp. App. Bd. LEXIS 24, at *6 (Aug. 18, 2015). At a compensation hearing, she must establish by a preponderance of the evidence that she is entitled to the requested benefits. Willis v. All Staff, 2015 TN Wrk. Comp. App. Bd. LEXIS 42, at *18 (Nov. 9,

1 Ms. Carter offered records from these and other medical providers at the hearing, but they were not admitted into evidence. 3 2015).

Medical Benefits

Ms. Carter seeks medical treatment for her neck and shoulder beyond what has already been provided by Drs. Layton and Hazlewood.

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Related

§ 50-6
Tennessee § 50-6
§ 50-6-102
Tennessee § 50-6-102(14)

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2021 TN WC 179, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/carter-paulette-v-frito-lay-inc-tennworkcompcl-2021.