Gladden v. Georgia Pacific Corp.

379 S.W.3d 743, 2010 Ark. App. 808, 2010 Ark. App. LEXIS 870
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arkansas
DecidedDecember 8, 2010
DocketNo. CA 10-462
StatusPublished

This text of 379 S.W.3d 743 (Gladden v. Georgia Pacific Corp.) 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
Gladden v. Georgia Pacific Corp., 379 S.W.3d 743, 2010 Ark. App. 808, 2010 Ark. App. LEXIS 870 (Ark. Ct. App. 2010).

Opinions

LARRY D. VAUGHT, Chief Judge.

_JjKim Gladden appeals the opinion of the Workers’ Compensation Commission finding that he failed to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that he sustained a compensable injury while employed with appellee Georgia Pacific Corporation (GP). Gladden argues that the Commission’s decision denying his claim for a left-shoulder injury based upon a preexisting condition is not supported by substantial evidence. Because the Commission failed to determine whether Gladden suffered an aggravation of a preexisting condition, we reverse and remand.

Gladden, a forty-six-year-old welder, began working for GP in June 2004 as a millwright. On December 12, 2007, Gladden and another employee were on a catwalk changing a gear that weighed 134 pounds. Wearing gloves that had some oil on them, Gladden picked up the gear. It slipped out of his hands, and Gladden tried to catch it so that it would not fall to the ground. The weight of the gear pulled Gladden down to the catwalk, which Gladden testified strained 12his upper back and shoulders. Gladden immediately reported the incident to the human-resource manager, who convinced Gladden to go home and take some Aleve.

Due to pain in his shoulders, Gladden sought medical treatment at the emergency room the following evening. The medical reports generated from this visit reflected that Gladden complained of right shoulder and neck pain. An x-ray of Gladden’s right shoulder showed “[n]o definite evidence for acute findings.” He was given a prescription for pain, a sling for his right arm, and a two-week light-duty work restriction. Gladden returned to work; however, he received follow-up medical care from Dr. Michael Payne on December 18, 2007. Dr. Payne’s report reflected that Gladden complained of right-shoulder pain as a result of his accident at work, but an MRI of the right shoulder showed no definite tear of the rotator cuff.

Gladden continued to have pain and was treated by Dr. Ethan Shock. Dr. Shock’s January 17, 2008 records reflected that Gladden was experiencing pain in his neck and both the right and left shoulders. A cervical MRI was performed in February 2008, and the results showed, among other findings, a C6-7 posterior broad-based disc herniation. Dr. Shock stated on May 1, 2008, that “I do not think that [Gladden] has a [right-]shoulder injury. I believe his symptoms are consistent with the findings of the cervical disk injury, and examination and radiological tests have shown the [right] rotator cuff and shoulder to be intact.”

On September 12, 2008, Gladden had surgery on his neck, performed by Dr. Tim Burson. This was accepted as compensa-ble by GP.1 Following neck surgery, Gladden continued |sto complain of shoulder pain, and he sought medical treatment from Dr. John Lytle. Gladden related the cause of his bilateral shoulder pain to the December 2007 work incident. Dr. Lytle recommended an MRI of the left shoulder, which showed a full-thickness rotator-cuff tear with significant retraction. Dr. Lytle recommended surgery on the left shoulder, initially opining that it was caused by the incident that occurred at GP in December 2007.2 The surgery was performed on January 29, 2009. In June 2009, Dr. Lytle had not released Gladden to return to work. However, Gladden testified that his left shoulder was significantly improved. The left-shoulder injury and the medical treatment for same were controverted by GP.

The administrative law judge found that Gladden failed to prove that his shoulder injuries were compensable. Regarding the right-shoulder injury, the ALJ found that there were no objective findings to support it. As for the left-shoulder injury, the ALJ found that Gladden reported pain in his left shoulder within a month of the incident and that the reason he did not receive treatment for the injury immediately was because he was receiving treatment for his neck and right-shoulder injuries. The ALJ also noted that there were objective findings supporting the left-shoulder injury as the MRI showed a full-thickness rotator-cuff tear.

Despite these findings, the ALJ ultimately found that Gladden failed to establish that the left-shoulder injury arose out of and in the course of his employment with GP on December 12. | /This decision was based on the ALJ’s conclusion that Gladden had a preexisting condition in his left shoulder. Questioning the credibility of Gladden, the ALJ cited Gladden’s testimony under oath that he had never had problems with his left shoulder prior to December 2007, which conflicted with pri- or medical records.3 The ALJ also pointed to Dr. Lytle’s deposition testimony that Gladden denied that he had experienced left-shoulder problems prior to December 2007 when giving his medical history. The ALJ further found that Gladden did not report left-shoulder complaints to the emergency-room physicians on December 13, 2007, and did not list a left-shoulder injury on the Workers’ Compensation Commission Form AR-N. On appeal, the Commission affirmed and adopted the ALJ’s opinion.

In appeals involving claims for workers’ compensation, our court views the evidence in a light most favorable to the Commission’s decision and affirms the decision if it is supported by substantial evidence. Galloway v. Tyson Foods, Inc., 2010 Ark. App. 610, at 5, 378 S.W.3d 210. Substantial evidence exists if reasonable minds could reach the Commission’s conclusion. Galloway, 2010 Ark. App. 610, at 5, 378 S.W.3d 210. The issue is not whether the appellate court might have reached a different result from the Commission; if reasonable minds could reach the result found by the Commission, the appellate court must affirm. Id. Where the Commission denies a claim because of the claimant’s failure to meet his burden of proof, the substantial evidence standard of review ^requires that we affirm the Commission’s decision if its opinion displays a substantial basis for the denial of relief. Id.

Gladden argues on appeal that the Commission’s denial of his claim of his left-shoulder injury4 based upon a preexisting condition was error because (1) it was based on speculation and conjecture as the only evidence in the record of an accident was the compensable one; (2) Gladden was able to work prior to the compensable incident but not afterward; and (3) an aggravation to a preexisting injury can be compensable.

Arkansas Code Annotated section 11 — 9—102(4)(A)(i) (Supp.2009) defines a compensable injury as

[a]n 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[.]

A compensable injury must be established by medical evidence supported by objective findings. Ark.Code Ann. § 11 — 9— 102(4)(D). “Objective findings” are those findings which cannot come under the voluntary control of the patient. Ark.Code Ann. § 11-9-102(16). Further, an employer | stakes an employee as he finds him, and employment circumstances that aggravate preexisting conditions are compensable. Heritage Baptist Temple v.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
379 S.W.3d 743, 2010 Ark. App. 808, 2010 Ark. App. LEXIS 870, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gladden-v-georgia-pacific-corp-arkctapp-2010.