Fred's, Inc. v. Jefferson

206 S.W.3d 238, 361 Ark. 258
CourtSupreme Court of Arkansas
DecidedMarch 31, 2005
Docket04-1085
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 206 S.W.3d 238 (Fred's, Inc. v. Jefferson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Fred's, Inc. v. Jefferson, 206 S.W.3d 238, 361 Ark. 258 (Ark. 2005).

Opinion

Robert L. Brown, Justice.

Appellants Fred’s, Inc. and its insurer, Royal & Sun Alliance Ins. Co., appeal from an opinion and order of the Workers’ Compensation Commission, which found that appellee Deborah Jefferson sustained a compensable injury in the course of her employment on April 25, 2002; that Jefferson remained in her healing period and was unable to earn wages from April 26, 2002 through May 27, 2002; and that Fred’s is responsible for all reasonable and necessary medical treatment that Jefferson claimed. We affirm the opinion and order of the Commission.

Deborah Jefferson lived in Osceola and worked for Fred’s from August 1997 until she was fired on June 10, 2002. She was employed as a “stock person,” which required her to “unload the trucks.” That work involved her bending and stooping and lifting objects and also pushing and pulling objects, while remaining on her feet all day.

On April 25, 2002, Jefferson’s manager asked her to retrieve some boxes from “upstairs” at the store. Jefferson attempted to comply by standing on a four-foot aluminum ladder, which collapsed while she was standing on it and caused her to land on her back on the concrete floor. Jefferson informed her assistant manager, Ruth Ware, about the accident. Ware directed her to see Dr. Brewer Rhodes.

On that same day, Dr. Rhodes diagnosed Jefferson with a contusion and strain of her spine and prescribed medication for her treatment, including Flexeril, and physical therapy for two weeks. Jefferson complied with the physical therapy, yet still complained of pain. Dr. Rhodes issued work-restriction certificates that prohibited Jefferson from returning to work until May 27, 2002. Jefferson filed a claim for workers’ compensation with Fred’s workers’ compensation insurance company, and the company denied it.

An Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) next heard Jefferson’s claim and issued an order and opinion awarding Jefferson benefits from April 26 through May 27, 2002, for temporary total disability. Fred’s appealed that order to the Commission, which affirmed the ALJ’s order by a vote of two to one. Fred’s appealed to the court of appeals, which affirmed the Commission’s order in an unpublished opinion. See Fred’s Inc. v. Jefferson, CA 04-166 (Ark. App. Sept. 22, 2004). Later, the court of appeals published a substituted opinion on denial of rehearing that also affirmed the Commission’s order and cited to the Physicians’ Desk Reference for the use of Flexeril, which was not adduced by either party in the briefs in this appeal. See Fred’s Inc. v. Jefferson, 89 Ark. App. 95, 200 S.W.3d 477 (2004).

Fred’s filed an amended petition for review with this court raising several issues, including the absence of objective medical findings to prove the injury and violation of due process because the court of appeals relied on the Physicians’ Desk Reference, although neither party had cited it, argued it, or made it part of the record. We granted the petition.

Fred’s first contends on appeal that the Commission erred in concluding that Jefferson sustained a compensable injury, because she failed to produce medical evidence supported by “objective findings,” as required by Ark. Code Ann. § 11-9-102(4) (D) (Repl. 2002). Fred’s further urges that the Commission erroneously relied on the ALJ’s speculation that medicine prescribed to Jefferson was for muscle spasms, because no physician or physical therapist reported witnessing or feeling Jefferson’s muscle spasms.

When we grant a petition for review, we consider a case as though it had been originally filed in this court. See Estridge v. Waste Management, 343 Ark. 276, 33 S.W.3d 167 (2000). We also view the evidence in a light most favorable to the Commission’s decision, and we uphold that decision if it is supported by substantial evidence. Id. We will not reverse the Commission’s decision unless we are convinced that fair-minded persons with the same facts before them could not have reached the conclusions arrived at by the Commission. Id.

A “compensable injury” is defined under the Workers Compensation Code as

An accidental injury causing internal or external physical harm to the body ... arising out of and in the course of employment and which requires medical services or results in disability or death. An injury is “accidental” only if it is caused by a specific incident and is identifiable by time and place of occurrence!.]

Ark. Code Ann. § 11-9-102(4)(A)(i) (Repl. 2002). Section 11-9-102(4) of the Code further provides that a compensable injury must be established by medical evidence supported by “objective findings.” See Ark. Code Ann. § 11-9-102(4)(D) (Repl. 2002). The Code defines “objective findings” as those “which cannot come under the voluntary control of the patient.” Ark. Code Ann. § 11 — 9— 102(16)(A)(i) (Repl. 2002).

In the case of Estridge v. Waste Management, supra, this court reversed the Commission’s denial of a claimant’s benefits and held that fair-minded persons with the same facts before them could not have reached the conclusions arrived at by the Commission. In Estridge, the claimant reported a back injury that occurred on the job to his employer and was referred to a physician, who diagnosed the claimant with low back strain and radicular pain. The physician failed to document any objective medical findings to support the diagnosis but prescribed Valium “as needed for muscle spasms.” Ultimately, the Commission denied the claimant benefits, finding that there were no objective findings to support an injury while at work.

On appeal, this court stated that muscle spasms can constitute objective medical findings to support compensability and that muscle spasms detected by someone other than a physician, such as a physical therapist, can be sufficient as well, because this is a perception of injury by someone other than the claimant. The Commission in Estridge concluded, however, that there was no observation of muscle spasms in the claimant, because the prescription for Valium “as needed for muscle spasm” was a direction and not a finding of the presence of muscle spasms. This court disagreed and said:

It was undisputed that appellant [claimant] sustained an accidental injury- at work and was diagnosed initially with back strain and received medication. What is disputed is whether appellant presented proof of objective medical evidence and whether there was a causal connection between the injury and the medical treatment. We hold that appellant did present proof of objective medical evidence and that there was a causal connection between the injury and the medical treatment, for the following reasons.
First, he was indisputably diagnosed with back strain for which he received medication after the crosstie incident. The medication was directed “as needed for muscle spasm” which the Commission dismissed as a direction to appellant rather than a medical finding. We find the Commission’s dismissal of this fact to be absurd. A doctor would not prescribe medication directed to be taken “as needed for muscle spasm” if he did not believe muscle spasms were existent.

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Bluebook (online)
206 S.W.3d 238, 361 Ark. 258, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/freds-inc-v-jefferson-ark-2005.