Dyer, Destiny v. Petsmart, Inc.

2023 TN WC 89
CourtTennessee Court of Workers' Compensation Claims
DecidedDecember 4, 2023
Docket2023-05-00917
StatusPublished

This text of 2023 TN WC 89 (Dyer, Destiny v. Petsmart, 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
Dyer, Destiny v. Petsmart, Inc., 2023 TN WC 89 (Tenn. Super. Ct. 2023).

Opinion

FILED Dec 04, 2023 09:17 AM(ET) TENNESSEE COURT OF WORKERS' COMPENSATION CLAIMS

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

DESTINY DYER, ) Docket No.: 2023-05-00917 Employee, ) v. ) PETSMART, INC., ) State File No.: 50156-2022 Employer, ) And ) IDEM. INS. CO. OF N. AM., ) Judge Thomas Wyatt Insurance Carrier. ) )

EXPEDITED HEARING ORDER FOR MEDICAL BENEFITS

In this expedited hearing, Destiny Dyer sought surgery for a herniated cervical disc that PetSmart, Inc. denied. PetSmart argued Ms. Dyer did not give timely notice of a neck injury, which Ms. Dyer denied. Further, the parties disputed the mechanism of the injury, and the medical proof conflicted on the issue of causation of the herniated disc.

For the reasons below, the Court orders PetSmart to authorize the surgery.

History of Claim

Ms. Dyer has worked at PetSmart more than four years. She worked as a groomer at the time of her injury but now is a cashier because of limitations due to her injury. There is no evidence that, before her injury, she had experienced neck, left-shoulder, or left-arm symptoms.

In June of 2022, as Ms. Dyer trimmed the nails of a large dog, it suddenly jerked the paw she was trimming. She maintained her grip on the paw, and the dog yanked her left arm backward while spinning her to the left. During the incident, she claimed to have raised from her bent position and struck an overhead bar with her head.

She experienced left shoulder and arm pain after the accident and reported it to PetSmart’s store leader, Bradley Deselle, that same day. She told him that she hit her head

1 but declined medical attention because she was not dizzy and did not think she had a concussion. Mr. Deselle waited to see how the injury progressed before completing an incident report.

Ms. Dyer continued working in the days afterward but experienced persistent left- shoulder and upper arm pain. She requested medical attention thirteen days later. Mr. Deselle completed an incident report, writing that Ms. Dyer “was clipping nails when a [large] dog kicked [its] leg and [she] heard a pop in her shoulder.” He added that Ms. Dyer did not “think much” of the injury at first but decided to file a written report because “it has not gotten any better.” He testified that he did not remember Ms. Dyer telling him about hitting her head.

PetSmart accepted Ms. Dyer’s injury. Mr. Deselle referred her to a telehealth nurse, who wrote that Ms. Dyer “was holding [a French mastiff’s] paw, and the dog yanked its paw, causing her left shoulder to be yanked also.”

PetSmart next referred her to an urgent care clinic, where a physician noted that “[the patient] was trimming a mastiff’s nails. The dog lunged and pulled [patient’s] shoulder[.]” He wrote that Ms. Dyer described her shoulder pain as “aching and sharp” and diagnosed a strain of the left shoulder, upper arm, and trapezius.

On a later visit to the urgent care, Ms. Dyer added a report of constant, aching, and sharp pain in her neck.1 On her final visit, the treating physician added Ms. Dyer’s report of left-shoulder numbness and tingling. He referred her for orthopedic care.

Ms. Dyer selected Dr. Roderick Vaughan from a panel and saw him on September 12. He noted that a mastiff yanked her left arm and pulled and twisted it backward. She reported left-sided radiating pain from her shoulder to her forearm and tingling in her fingers. An MRI of the left shoulder and nerve testing of the left upper extremity showed normal findings. He recommended she see a pain management specialist, and PetSmart offered her a panel of physicians.

Ms. Dyer selected Dr. Jeffrey Hazlewood. He is board certified in physical and rehabilitation medicine and pain management and has practiced more than thirty years.

Ms. Dyer saw Dr. Hazlewood twice. At the first visit on October 24, she testified that he spent more time with her in taking her history than did the physicians she saw previously. Dr. Hazlewood reported that Ms. Dyer gave a reliable presentation of her injury and history.

1 In responses to requests for admission, Ms. Dyer stated that she did not report neck pain until she saw Dr. Hazlewood, but this notation shows an earlier report of neck pain.

2 He wrote that a “dog pulled down her arm on the left in a hyperextended position and yanked it, pulling her forward.” He added that Ms. Dyer smacked her head against a bar and suffered a whiplash of the head. On examination, he noted left-shoulder pain, shooting pain into the left upper extremity, numbness, tingling, and vibrating sensations throughout her left upper extremity, and left-upper-extremity weakness.

He ordered an MRI of the neck and another nerve test. The testing showed a large, left-sided herniated disc at the C6-7 level with C7 radiculopathy. He concluded the condition was work-related. He later referred Ms. Dyer to neurosurgeon Dr. George Lien, and PetSmart authorized treatment with him.

Dr. Lien has practiced as a board certified neurosurgeon for thirty years. He saw Ms. Dyer once, in December 2022, and noted her report of injury when knocked over by a dog that she was grooming. The dog jerked her left arm, and she struck her back and shoulder area. He recommended fusion surgery because conservative care over several months was unsuccessful.

During treatment, PetSmart questioned the causation of Ms. Dyer’s neck injury. Dr. Hazlewood reviewed Ms. Dyer’s records and changed his initial causation opinion because none of the reports he reviewed included a history that she hit her head. He concluded that Ms. Dyer may have lied when she told him she hit her head, noting that she had been diagnosed with a borderline personality disorder, and persons with this diagnosis are known to lie. Dr. Hazlewood reconsidered the mechanism of injury that Ms. Dyer described. He concluded that if she did not hit her head, the trauma she described was insufficient to cause a herniated cervical disc.

Based on Dr. Hazlewood’s revised causation opinion, PetSmart denied the surgery recommended by Dr. Lien. The fact that Dr. Lien disagreed with Dr. Hazlewood’s causation opinion did not change the denial.

PetSmart asserted it had no notice that Ms. Dyer hit her head until four months after the date of injury. The adjuster testified that he would have reviewed video evidence of Ms. Dyer’s injury at the beginning of the case had he known that she hit her head. In fact, he asked for the video after receiving Dr. Hazlewood’s report, but it had been erased. 2 PetSmart claimed that its right to investigate this claim was irreparably prejudiced due to these circumstances.

As to causation, PetSmart argued the failure of Mr. Deselle and several treatment sources to note that Ms. Dyer hit her head meant that it did not happen. PetSmart relied on Dr. Hazlewood’s revised causation opinion that the trauma of the dog jerking Ms. Dyer’s arm was insufficient to have herniated her C6-7 disc unless she also hit her head.

2 PetSmart did not introduce evidence as to when the video was erased.

3 For her part, Ms. Dyer testified consistently that the dog she was grooming twisted her arm, spun her around, and she hit her head on the overhead bar. She claimed she reported that she hit her head each time she described her injury.

Ms. Dyer also testified that she was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, depression, and anxiety during her mid-teen years. She was hospitalized for a week for these conditions. She discontinued medication and counseling after both worsened her conditions. She continues to experience mental-related symptoms but manages them by understanding her symptoms, keeping active, and surrounding herself with positive, supportive people.

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Related

Terri Ann Kelly v. Willard Reed Kelly
445 S.W.3d 685 (Tennessee Supreme Court, 2014)

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Bluebook (online)
2023 TN WC 89, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dyer-destiny-v-petsmart-inc-tennworkcompcl-2023.