Hagan, Kimberly v. Potomac Corp.

2021 TN WC 243
CourtTennessee Court of Workers' Compensation Claims
DecidedNovember 19, 2021
Docket2019-004-0105
StatusPublished

This text of 2021 TN WC 243 (Hagan, Kimberly v. Potomac Corp.) 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
Hagan, Kimberly v. Potomac Corp., 2021 TN WC 243 (Tenn. Super. Ct. 2021).

Opinion

FILED Nov 19, 2021 07:43 AM(CT) TENNESSEE COURT OF WORKERS' COMPENSATION CLAIMS

TENNESSEE BUREAU OF WORKERS’ COMPENSATION IN THE COURT OF WORKERS’ COMPENSATION CLAIMS AT COOKEVILLE

KIMBERLY HAGAN, ) Employee, ) Docket No. 2019-04-0105 v. ) POTOMAC CORP., ) Case No. 26575-2021 Employer, ) And ) THIRD COAST INS. CO., ) Judge Robert Durham Insurer. ) ________________________________________________________________________

EXPEDITED HEARING ORDER GRANTING BENEFITS

The Court addressed Ms. Hagan’s request for an expedited hearing with an on-the- record determination on November 8, 2021. Ms. Hagan sought medical and temporary disability benefits for a left shoulder injury, which she asserted primarily arose out of and in the course and scope of her employment with Potomac. The unauthorized doctor who performed surgery corroborated her assertion. Potomac argued that the authorized physician, to whom a presumption of correctness is afforded, believed Ms. Hagan’s injury is not work-related. After considering the evidence and testimony, the Court holds that Ms. Hagan demonstrated a likelihood of prevailing at trial in establishing causation and grants her request for medical and temporary partial disability benefits.

History of Claim

Potomac, also known as Nielsen-Bainbridge, is a factory that makes picture frames. Ms. Hagan worked on the assembly line making an average weekly wage of $440.94. 1 On March 24, 2021, her job involved lifting a “ten-foot pallet” onto a roller, loading the pallet with pieces of wood, and pushing and pulling it onto a table. From

1 This number is derived from the wage statement; however, the record is ambiguous as to Ms. Hagan’s actual term of employment with Potomac. While the wage statement indicates she started in April 2020, the first report of injury lists March 2021 as her date of hire. Additionally, two medical records stated she began work in October 2020.

1 there, she shimmied the pallet back and forth to scoot it across the table to the other end. Ms. Hagan described this activity as very repetitive.

Ms. Hagan testified that this repetitive activity caused pain in her left shoulder that gradually worsened as the day progressed. She could not point to a single, acute incident that caused the pain. After a few hours of work, her pain worsened, so she notified her supervisor and requested medical treatment.

Shelly Modrall, in Human Resources, stated she provided Ms. Hagan with a panel of doctors, and Ms. Hagan chose Dr. Toney Hudson. However, due to Ms. Hagen’s pain, she left before actually signing the panel.

Ms. Hagan saw Nurse Practitioner Chris Archer at Dr. Hudson’s office, although Dr. Hudson signed off on each note. Ms. Hagan could not remember a specific incident of injury but reported a gradual progression of pain from the top of her left shoulder to her elbow as she performed her job. She rated her pain level as seven or eight out of ten. N.P. Archer diagnosed Ms. Hagan with inflammation and a left rotator cuff tear. He prescribed steroids and modified duty.

At Ms. Hagan’s next appointment, she signed the previously provided panel. N.P. Archer ordered an MRI, which revealed moderate acromioclavicular osteoarthritis and a rotator cuff tear. N.P. Archer informed Ms. Hagan that she “appeared to have a complete through and through tear” of her rotator cuff. However, since she had “no injury whatsoever” at work, and her shoulder just became more painful throughout the day, it was not a work-related injury. He advised her to seek orthopedic care on her own, and Potomac denied her claim.

Ms. Hagan then sought treatment with orthopedist Dr. James McGehee on April 9. According to his records, she initially felt some soreness in her shoulder but then felt “sudden pain while lifting and pushing a pallet.” She denied any history of left shoulder problems and explained she was on a leave of absence because she could not do her job. 2

Following an exam and MRI review, Dr. McGehee diagnosed a “left shoulder strain with high grade partial-thickness rotator cuff tear,” bursitis, tendinitis, a SLAP tear, and acromioclavicular arthritis. He prescribed physical therapy, continued her restriction against using her left arm, and scheduled a six-week follow-up appointment. As to causation, Dr. McGehee said that Ms. Hagan described a “reasonable mechanism” for a shoulder strain which can cause a partial tear. He believed that the injury was “greater than 50% work-related.”

2 Potomac also admitted in its pre-hearing statement that it could not accommodate Ms. Hagan’s restrictions. 2 In August, Dr. McGehee prepared a signed note addressing causation:

Kimberly Hagan is currently under my medical care. In my opinion, there were no features on her diagnostic imaging or at the time of surgery that would clearly indicate that this was a chronic tear in her left shoulder. Therefore, in the setting of an appropriate mechanism, I would conclude that her injury is greater than 50% work related. She also reported to me no prior shoulder problems. We expect up to six months to return to full activities.

Ms. Hagan also provided a “worklink” physicians’ report from Dr. McGehee, dated October 27, that said Ms. Hagan could return to work with a ten-pound lifting restriction.

To rebut Dr. McGehee’s opinion, Potomac offered statements from Dr. Hudson. In a signed letter to Potomac’s counsel, Dr. Hudson acknowledged that he supervised N.P. Archer and reviewed his treatment notes. He then offered his causation opinion:

Supraspinatus tears can be caused acutely by suddenly lifting something too heavy, falling on your arm, or dislocating your shoulder. Ms. Hagan did not experience either [sic] of those events. Other cases are the result of the tendon wearing down over time, resulting in a degenerative tear. Ms. Hagan’s MRI also revealed degenerative changes, more likely than not, her tear is the result of degenerative changes.

Dr. Hudson also provided a Rule 72 Declaration that established his qualifications as a board-certified internal medicine specialist. He gave his opinion within a reasonable degree of medical certainty that Ms. Hagan’s left upper extremity complaints were not caused or aggravated by her alleged March 24 work incident.

Finally, Ms. Hagan admitted that she fell on her left side while working at a nursing home in 2018; however, she stated she did not receive any medical attention for her left shoulder and that she had no residual pain from the fall afterwards.

Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law

The record is clear that Ms. Hagan suffered from a partial left rotator cuff tear. The dispute is whether the tear arose primarily out of and in the course and scope of her employment. To prevail, Ms. Hagan must present evidence showing she is likely to prevail at a trial on the merits. See McCord v. Advantage Human Resourcing, 2015 TN Wrk. Comp. App. Bd. LEXIS 6, at *9 (Mar. 27, 2015).

In deciding the issue, the Court first notes that it finds Ms. Hagan’s account of her

3 activities and pain progression on March 24 to be credible. She candidly admitted she could not identify an acute incident, even after Potomac denied her claim. This frankness permits the Court to find her statements that she never suffered shoulder pain before March 24 to be credible as well, particularly since Potomac offered little to dispute this assertion. However, credibility is not enough, as Ms. Hagan must also prove that her account is consistent with a compensable injury under Tennessee workers’ compensation law.

For Ms. Hagan’s injury to be compensable, it must be “caused by a specific incident, or set of incidents, arising primarily out of and in the course and scope of employment, and [be] identifiable by time and place of occurrence. …” Tenn. Code Ann.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

§ 50-6-102
Tennessee § 50-6-102(14)(A)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2021 TN WC 243, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hagan-kimberly-v-potomac-corp-tennworkcompcl-2021.