Craddock v. Whirlpool Corp.

736 So. 2d 400, 1999 Miss. App. LEXIS 104, 1999 WL 119333
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedMarch 9, 1999
DocketNo. 98-CC-00238-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 736 So. 2d 400 (Craddock v. Whirlpool Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Mississippi primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Craddock v. Whirlpool Corp., 736 So. 2d 400, 1999 Miss. App. LEXIS 104, 1999 WL 119333 (Mich. Ct. App. 1999).

Opinion

BRIDGES, C.J.,

for the Court:

¶ 1. William Craddock perfected this appeal from the Lafayette County Circuit Court affirming the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Commission finding that Craddock suffered no permanent disability from his on-the-job injury at Whirlpool Corporation. Finding substantial evidence to support the Commission’s decision, we affirm.

FACTS

¶ 2. Craddock, a fifty-year-old white male, was employed by Whirlpool on August 15, 1993, as a dipper in the porcelain department. His job consisted of reaching overhead to a conveyor belt approximately seven feet above the ground and bringing down parts weighing about two pounds, dipping the parts in porcelain solution, and returning the parts to the conveyor belt. Craddock worked the afternoon shift. While performing these duties at approximately 5:00 p.m. on August 20,1993, Crad-dock felt a tightness in his back, a burning sensation, and then a pop with shooting pain up underneath his right shoulder blade.

¶ 3. According to Craddock, he notified his supervisor, Aundra Jones, of his injury. Craddock was accompanied to the first-aid room where ice was placed on his back for approximately an hour. Craddock then returned to work until about 8:00 p.m. when he lost all motion on his left side. Again Craddock reported to Jones, and Craddock was taken to the emergency room of the hospital.

¶ 4. While at the hospital, an x-ray was taken of Craddock’s back, and the doctor on duty prescribed a muscle relaxer and a shot for pain. Craddock was instructed to see Dr. William Spencer the following Monday.

¶ 5. After examining Craddock, Dr. Spencer prescribed Craddock medication, released Craddock to return to light duty work, and instructed him to come in every day for the remainder of the week for testing on his back.

¶ 6. Craddock returned to Whirlpool for light duty and was placed on a machine called a flow coater which required overhead lifting of frames from a conveyor belt and the occasional use of a long bar to straighten any twisted frame on the belt. The job was described as light duty or one of minimal movement and labor. However, the movement of reaching overhead caused Craddock pain. Craddock notified John Roberts, the safety coordinator, and Jones that he was unable to perform the job. According to Craddock, Roberts told him that if he could not handle the flow coater position which was the lightest position available, he should see Dr. Spencer and Craddock would be placed on medical leave.

¶ 7. Dr. Spencer referred Craddock to Dr. Wayne Terry Lamar, an orthopedic surgeon, on August 31, 1993. Dr. Lamar testified Craddock had a painful catch in his back and an acute muscle spasm. Dr. Lamar conducted a physical examination of Craddock. A lumbar spine x-ray showed Craddock had some hypertrophic changes at the lower dorsal spine between T12 and LI, changes at the interspace above T9-T10 and T11-T12 (which Dr. Lamar testified were unrelated to Crad-dock’s injury on August 20), some disk space narrowing, and anterior osteophyte formation. Dr. Lamar treated Craddock with physical therapy modalities and work reconditioning with a regimen of anti-in-flammatories and muscle relaxants. On September 13, Craddock complained that the B200 machine used in the rehabilitation process hurt his back. According to Dr. Lamar, Craddock’s complaints of pain seemed disproportionate to Dr. Lamar’s physical findings, and Dr. Lamar discerned a functional component. Dr. Lamar diagnosed Craddock as suffering from a thoracolumbar strain. Dr. Lamar testified that Craddock did not suffer any med-[402]*402ieal impairment of a permanent nature. Dr. Lamar referred Craddock to Dr. Thomas L. Windham for a neurological evaluation.

¶ 8. Dr. Windham first examined Crad-dock on September 14, 1993. Dr. Wind-ham testified he found Craddock’s condition to be unremarkable and noted that Craddock had good posture and good gait. He localized Craddock’s pain to about the eleventh thoracic vertebra on the right side. Dr. Windham found Craddock’s range of motion of the back was normal, Craddock had no pain on straight leg raising or hip motion and his neurological, reflex, and motor exams were all normal. An MRI scan was normal.

¶ 9. Dr. Windham suggested Craddock obtain a work evaluation and a functional capacity evaluation. The functional capacity evaluation test administered by Kelly Chaplin, a physical therapist at The Rehab Group, demonstrated Craddock was able to return to full duty without any restrictions.

¶ 10. On September 24, 1993, Dr. Wind-ham released Craddock to return to work the following week.

¶ 11. On September 27, 1993, Craddock arrived at Whirlpool ready to work. However, Craddock was advised by Roberts and Carroll Pringle that he was terminated due to Whirlpool’s policy that when a person’s absences are greater than his length of service, he is terminated. Crad-dock worked approximately a week and a half and had been off work for approximately five weeks.

¶ 12. On September 28, 1993, Craddock returned to Dr. Windham complaining of pain and stating that he was unable to work. At that time, Dr. Windham prescribed pain pills and muscle relaxants and diagnosed Craddock as having a thoraco-lumbar strain. Dr. Windham testified that Craddock had sustained no permanent impairment from his on-the-job injury and that Craddock had reached maximum medical improvement and could return to work on October 1,1993.

. ¶ 13. On a friend’s recommendation, Craddock saw Dr. George Ellis for his continued pain. Dr. Ellis referred Crad-dock to Dr. Don Carpenter, a neurologist, and Dr. Nate, a psychiatrist.

¶ 14. On October 10,1993, Dr. Carpenter referred Craddock to Dr. Bruce Senter, an orthopedist who limits his practice to diseases and traumas of the spine. Dr. Sen-ter performed a physical examination of Craddock on November 17, 1993, which revealed Craddock had no essential or neurological deficit. According to Dr. Sen-ter, Craddock had multiple non-organie signs or signs that are commonly associated with symptom magnification. Dr. Sen-ter treated Craddock conservatively with medications and home physical therapy.

¶ 15. When Dr. Senter saw Craddock on December 15, Craddock’s complaints were the same. Dr. Senter diagnosed Craddock as suffering from thoracic strain, which is a temporary problem. Work hardening or intensive physical therapy was ordered. Upon referral by Dr. Senter, The Rehab Group evaluated Craddock and placed him in a work-hardening program, which consisted of approximately five weeks of testing and procedures. A final functional capacity evaluation on January 25, 1994 indicated that Craddock was functioning in the light to medium exertion work level.

¶ 16. Dr. Senter did not place any permanent restrictions on Craddock nor did he feel based upon a reasonable degree of medical probability that Craddock had any permanent anatomical impairment due to the thoracic strain.

¶ 17. On April 7, 1994 Craddock was referred by his attorney to Dr. Tewfik E. Rizk, chief of staff at the Pain Clinic at St. Joseph Hospital in Memphis. Dr. Rizk testified that the electromyography and nerve conduction tests revealed the parav-ertebral muscle on the right side was abnormal. Dr. Rizk opined that Craddock’s pain was caused by an avulsion injury to [403]*403the posterior division of the nerve supplying T7, 8, 9, and 10. A thermogram revealed abnormality located in the same area on the paravertebral muscle on the right side. Dr.

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