Cossey v. Gary A. Thomas Racing Stable

344 S.W.3d 684, 2009 Ark. App. 666, 2009 Ark. App. LEXIS 808
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arkansas
DecidedOctober 7, 2009
DocketCA 08-1480
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 344 S.W.3d 684 (Cossey v. Gary A. Thomas Racing Stable) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Cossey v. Gary A. Thomas Racing Stable, 344 S.W.3d 684, 2009 Ark. App. 666, 2009 Ark. App. LEXIS 808 (Ark. Ct. App. 2009).

Opinion

KAREN R. BAKER, Judge.

| Appellant, Janis Cossey, appeals from a decision by the Workers’ Compensation Commission, reversing the opinion of the ALJ and denying appellant benefits. On appeal, Cossey argues that substantial evidence does not support the Commission’s decision. We affirm.

In February 2005, Janis Cossey was employed by Gary Thomas Racing Stables at Oaklawn Park. Her job duties included walking and grooming 'racehorses. She testified that on February 2, 2005, at approximately 10 a.m. she was walking a horse down a narrow hallway when another horse leaned out of its stall and bit her on her arm. She testified specifically that the horse “bit [her] and pulled [her] toward him, crushing [her] arm and pulling up the meat of [her] left upper arm, in between the elbow and the shoulder.” She described the bite as “open and gaping.” She .testified that she sought treatment from Dr. |2Roper at 11 a.m. on February 2, 2005. The record shows, however, that Dr. Roper’s report is dated February 15, 2005. Cossey testified that Dr. Roper was “concerned about infection,” so he “treated” the bite on her arm and “cleaned it.” Dr. Roper’s report indicated that he sent claimant for a tetanus shot, prescribed antibiotics, and assessed her condition as a “Horse Bite this AM.” Cossey testified that two days later, a second horse bit her on the same area of her arm. She stated, however, that the second bite did not break the skin and that she did not return to the doctor.

Approximately one month later, Cossey was terminated; Cossey testified that the reason she was terminated was “because [she] couldn’t do [her] work right,” and because she “was complaining.” Cossey then began working for a restaurant near Oaklawn Park. She stated that she worked at the restaurant through the summer and while working there, she “had problems with burning the whole time [she] worked at the restaurant.” She explained that she “began dropping things” and testified that her horse bite had not healed. Cossey testified, however, that when racing season returned eight months later, she began working for Beverly Fowler, another horse trainer at Oaklawn Park.

One year after the first horse bite, on February 16, 2006, claimant again sought medical treatment. Initially, she sought treatment from the emergency room, where she was diagnosed with “radial palsy.” She testified that she was unable to return to work. She was also treated by the Charitable Christian Clinic, which offered her free services. There, she saw Dr. Tucker, whose report noted a “scar” and a “clear indentation” on Cossey’s upper | ¡¡arm. Dr. Tucker described her arm as having “clear skin lesions where the horse bite left areas of the skin that did not heal properly.” Dr. Tucker prescribed her pain medication and ordered a nerve conduction study and an MRI. The record shows that an MRI of Cossey’s shoulder was performed, however, an MRI of Cos-sey’s arm was not. Dr. Tucker’s notes indicated that “[t]he patient has suffered a severe injury, with some neurological problems such [as] the atrophy of the muscle related to the horse bite. It is difficult to relate this to anything else.” In a post-treatment letter, Dr. Tucker stated “[t]here is no doubt the two horse bites produced some damage to the arm, and one can see the skin lesion still remaining. ... There is very localized atrophy, possibly related to damage to the circumflex branch of the radial nerve. The horse bite could have produced an injury to the radial nerve, although it would be surprising that the radial nerve palsy did not occur until a year later.” Cossey admitted in her testimony that Dr. Tucker’s report “does do a lot of speculation”; however, she blamed the speculation on the fact that she did not have the money to have the proper medical tests performed. When asked why Dr. Tucker’s report noted the problems with her right hand, she stated that she did not know why the report did not correctly state that she was having problems with her left hand and not her right hand.

Cossey testified that her symptoms began with the first horse bite and have continued since that time. She stated that “her wrist dropped,” that her pain had spread to her back and joints, and that her muscles were deteriorating. She also described spasms in her left shoulder and “clear indentations from all the bites.” She also testified that she was on medication for depression.

|4A hearing was held before the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) on August 8, 2007. Following the hearing, the ALJ awarded the claimant benefits finding that she had suffered a compensable injury. The Commission, however, reversed the ALJ’s decision, finding that Cossey failed to prove the following: that she sustained an accidental injury causing physical harm to her body arising out of and in the course of her employment with Gary Thomas Racing Stables; that there was a specific incident identifiable by time and place of occurrence; and that she sustained a compensable injury by medical evidence supported by objective findings.

The sole issue on appeal is whether there is sufficient evidence to support the Commission’s decision. When reviewing a decision of the Workers’ Compensation Commission, we view the evidence and all reasonable inferences deducible therefrom in the light most favorable to the findings of the Commission and affirm that decision if it is supported by substantial evidence. Liaromatis v. Baxter County Reg’l Hosp., 95 Ark.App. 296, 236 S.W.3d 524 (2006) (citing Clark v. Peabody Testing Serv., 265 Ark. 489, 579 S.W.2d 360 (1979); Crossett Sch. Dist. v. Gourley, 50 Ark.App. 1, 899 S.W.2d 482 (1995)). Substantial evidence is such relevant evidence as a reasonable mind might accept as adequate to support a conclusion. Wright v. ABC Air, Inc., 44 Ark.App. 5, 864 S.W.2d 871 (1993). The issue is not whether we might have reached a different result or whether the evidence would have supported a contrary finding; even if a preponderance of the evidence might indicate a contrary result, if reasonable minds could reach the Commission’s conclusion, we must affirm its decision. St. Vincent Infirmary Med. Ctr. v. Brown, 53 Ark.App. 30, 917 S.W.2d 550 (1996). |fiThe Commission is required to weigh the evidence impartially without giving the benefit of the doubt to any party. Keller v. L.A. Darling Fixtures, 40 Ark.App. 94, 845 S.W.2d 15 (1992).

To receive workers’ compensation benefits, a claimant must establish (1) that the injury arose out of and in the course of the employment, (2) that the injury caused internal or external harm to the body that required medical services, (3) that there is medical evidence supported by objective findings establishing the injury, and (4) that the injury was caused by a specific incident and is identifiable by the time and place of the occurrence. Ark.Code Ann. § 11-9-102(4) (Supp.2007). As the claimant, appellant bears the burden of proving a compensable injury by a preponderance of the credible evidence. See Ark.Code Ann. § 11 — 9—102(4)(E)(i) (Supp.2007).

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Bluebook (online)
344 S.W.3d 684, 2009 Ark. App. 666, 2009 Ark. App. LEXIS 808, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cossey-v-gary-a-thomas-racing-stable-arkctapp-2009.