Foy-Watson v. General Motors Corp.

847 So. 2d 85, 2003 La. App. LEXIS 1419, 2003 WL 21076671
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMay 14, 2003
Docket37,106-WCA
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 847 So. 2d 85 (Foy-Watson v. General Motors Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Foy-Watson v. General Motors Corp., 847 So. 2d 85, 2003 La. App. LEXIS 1419, 2003 WL 21076671 (La. Ct. App. 2003).

Opinion

847 So.2d 85 (2003)

Lela FOY-WATSON, Plaintiff-Appellant,
v.
GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATION, Defendant-Appellee.

No. 37,106-WCA.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Second Circuit.

May 14, 2003.

*86 The Law Office of Alex S. Lyons by Alex S. Lyons, Jeffrey Lee Little, Shreveport, for Appellant.

Lunn, Irion, Salley, Carlisle & Gardner by J. Martin Lattier, Walter S. Salley, Shreveport, for Appellee.

Before WILLIAMS, STEWART & PEATROSS, JJ.

PEATROSS, J.

This appeal arises from a workers' compensation judgment denying workers' compensation benefits to the plaintiff, Lela Foy-Watson ("Watson"). Watson now appeals the judgment. For the reasons stated herein, we affirm in part, reverse in part and remand for further proceedings.

*87 FACTS

In January 1999, Watson worked as an environmental technician for General Motors Corporation ("GM") at the GM Truck Assembly Plant in Shreveport. On the evening of Saturday, January 30, 1999, Watson was tasked to pick up and distribute tools. The production line was closed for the weekend and the area where she was working was poorly lit because the plant's main lights were off. While she was working, Watson tripped and fell to the ground when something caught her foot. When she fell, Watson tried to catch herself with her hands and ended up falling on her hands and knees and then onto her stomach and chest, hitting the ground hard. There were no witnesses to the accident.

Watson told the security guard on duty at the plant that she had injured herself and she was sent to the emergency room at Willis-Knighton Hospital.[1] When she was admitted, she filled out a form where, under a section captioned "chief complaint," she wrote:

Knees hurt, hands hurt and ribs on left side of my body.

Watson did not list back pain on this form; however, the physician's chart from the emergency room reflects that Watson complained of right knee and wrist pain with back discomfort and that she was "sore everywhere." Despite this notation, the treating physician wrote that he found no "obvious" back injury during an examination of Watson's body.

On Monday, February 1, 1999, when the plant reopened, GM made a report of Watson's accident. This report indicates that Watson was "walking in area toward platform" when she fell and that she suffered a "contusion of chest wall: rib-left." Watson filled out a form captioned "Employee's Report of Occupational Injury or Disease." The form asked the employee to list:

Nature of injury or disease. (Describe FULLY. Include all parts of body affected.)

Watson wrote:

Both hands, both knees, and left side ribs

Watson did not include any alleged back injury in her report.

On that same day, Watson went to Willis-Knighton's "Work Kare" facility and came under the care of Dr. Tony Alleman. At this time, Watson filled out a medical history form and reported no history of back pain. Dr. Alleman diagnosed Watson with a contusion to the left chest wall and strained left wrist and knee and released her to sedentary work for six to eight days. She returned to Work Kare on February 5, 1999, with complaints of left knee pain, wrist numbness and pain "everywhere" in her legs. Chest x-rays from that date revealed "normal left ribs." Watson was seen that day by Dr. James Harris who diagnosed contusions to her left chest and knee and a possible sprain of her left wrist and again released her to sedentary work only. She had similar complaints of pain when she revisited Work Kare on February 8, 1999.

On February 15, 1999, Watson reported to Dr. Alleman that her symptoms had improved since the last visit, but she complained of sharp pain shooting through her legs after standing on concrete for long periods. Again, there was no mention of back pain. Dr. Alleman maintained his recommendation for sedentary work. On February 17, 1999, Watson went to Good Shepherd Medical Center in Longview, *88 Texas, on referral by Dr. Alleman. Records show that she only complained of pain in her left knee and wrist. On February 22, 1999, Watson saw Dr. Alleman again. His records reflect that Watson said she was much improved with her left knee and wrist problem. Dr. Alleman released her to light work.

On March 1, 1999, Watson had a follow-up visit with Dr. Alleman and reported that her left knee "has come a long way," but was still sore. The doctor noted that Watson's left wrist had resolved. Dr. Alleman recommended physical therapy for Watson's knee. The doctor's progress note from a March 8, 1999 visit states that Watson reported that her knee was "a lot better."

Watson returned to work without restrictions on March 15, 1999; and, on that day, when she was climbing down from her "fork truck," she later said she had "sharp pains ... all the way up from my feet all the way up to my ankles, my knees, and even my back."[2] Watson visited Dr. Alleman on March 22, 1999, and his report indicates that Watson complained of pain "from below knee down to foot on both legs." (Emphasis in original.) There was no mention of back pain. Dr. Alleman's report from Watson's next visit, March 29, 1999, reflects complaints of aching pain in both legs between her knees and her ankles and also states that she "was not complaining of pain in her right leg until the past two weeks." Watson was released to regular duty, but Dr. Alleman referred her to Dr. William Fox, an orthopedic surgeon, "as her physical findings and her previous injury are inconsistent." Dr. Alleman mentioned in his deposition that, during his treatment of Watson, she never complained of pain in her back.

On March 31, 1999, Watson saw Dr. Fox for the first time for her complaints of pain in the lower portions of both legs. The report from this visit states that Watson told Dr. Fox that this pain commenced on March 15, 1999, after the "fork truck" incident. Dr. Fox ordered MRI studies of Watson's legs to confirm whether she had bone bruises or contusions and he ordered that she not work until the MRI was conducted. After the MRI was completed, Dr. Fox reported on April 23, 1999, that the scan was "suggestive of a marrow-replacing process such as lymphoma, myeloma and metastatic disease." At his deposition, Dr. Fox explained that these processes were not in any way related to trauma.

On April 26, 1999, Dr. Fox completed a form that appears to be part of a health and accident insurance claim. Dr. Fox indicated on this form that Watson had not recovered sufficiently to return to work and estimated that she could return to work on June 1, 1999. Dr. Fox referred Watson to her family physician, Dr. James Sawyer, for further testing. On May 7, 1999, Watson saw Dr. Sawyer and his records reveal that a bone scan (conducted on recommendation of Dr. Fox) was "normal."

On May 20, 1999, Watson saw Dr. Fox again and, for the first time, complained of lower back pain. Dr. Fox recommended a lumbar MRI. On June 10, 1999, Watson had a lumbar MRI which revealed, among other things, "moderate sized central L5-S1 disc herniation with ... nerve root impingement" and other degenerative changes. On June 18, 1999, Dr. Fox again indicated on an insurance claim form that Watson was not healthy enough to return to work and estimated that she could work again on August 1, 1999. On June 25, 1999, Watson saw Dr. Tom Chow, a microneurosurgeon, who evaluated her MRI and *89 recommended a course of pain management with Dr. Aaron Calodney, an anesthesiologist with a specialty in pain management.

Watson first saw Dr.

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847 So. 2d 85, 2003 La. App. LEXIS 1419, 2003 WL 21076671, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/foy-watson-v-general-motors-corp-lactapp-2003.