Hills v. McDonald's

112 So. 3d 956, 2013 WL 1287357
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMarch 27, 2013
DocketNo. 12-CA-673
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 112 So. 3d 956 (Hills v. McDonald's) 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
Hills v. McDonald's, 112 So. 3d 956, 2013 WL 1287357 (La. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

JUDE G. GRAVOIS, Judge.

| ¡^Claimant, Janeka Hills, has appealed a May 1, 2012 judgment dismissing her claim for workers’ compensation benefits. For the reasons that follow, we affirm.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

On March 28, 2011, claimant filed a Disputed Claim for Compensation, alleging that on April 10, 2010, while working as a crew member at a McDonalds restaurant in Destrehan, she fell and injured her buttocks, back, and hands. Claimant alleged that she had removed a box of French fries from a freezer, and as she went to place the box onto a cart, “because of the grease on the floor my feet just left from under me.” Claimant further alleged that she “fell back on my butt.” Claimant’s employer, Valman Destrehan, L.L.C. d/b/a McDonalds, denied the allegations of the claim.

At trial, the fifty-one-year-old claimant testified that she started working at Me-[958]*958Donalds in Destrehan on April 3, 2010 and the accident occurred on April 6, I.^OIO.1 She explained that after getting the box of fries out of the freezer, as she was lifting the box to place it onto a cart, she slipped and fell in some grease that had leaked onto the floor from a fryer. She asserted that the fall was witnessed by the store manager on duty at the time, identified simply as “Keisha.” Claimant told Keisha that she was “o.k. for right now,” and then went to sit in the dining area of the restaurant for about an hour. She stated that she had a headache after her fall, but took some aspirin and was later able to finish her shift. She said that she had “no extreme pain” at the time and worked at McDonalds for three or four more days after the accident without much pain. About eight or nine days after her fall, she claimed that the pain became “excruciating.” She testified that she was told by her supervisors at McDonalds that if she went to the doctor, she would lose her job. She further testified that when her pain got too extreme, she called the general manager of the store, Ian, to tell him that she wanted to go to the doctor. She claims that she called Ian every day several times per day over an extended period of time, but he would not return her calls. When she finally spoke to Ian several months after the accident, he told her to call the owner’s main office in Baton Rouge. Claimant stated that Ms. Sulik, the person to whom she spoke at the owner’s office in Baton Rouge, arranged an appointment for her with Dr. St. Germain in LaPIace. Claimant testified that both Ian and Ms. Sulik told her that McDonalds would only allow her one visit to the doctor.

Claimant testified that Dr. St. Germain checked her reflexes and range of motion and said he did not see anything wrong with her. He refused her request for a prescription for pain medication. Claimant asserted that her pain continued to worsen over time and became unbearable when the weather changed. Also, |4sometimes her leg “goes out,” causing her to fall. Her ex-husband has taken her to several doctors because of pain.

Claimant testified that she advised her supervisors at McDonalds that she was unable to work on Sundays because of lack of transportation; however, her supervisors continued to schedule her to work on Sundays. When this happened, she called in and missed work. This resulted in her being given less and less hours of work per week. Claimant testified that in June 2010, she resigned from McDonalds because she got another job at Angel’s Aftercare, a job which, she testified, would not require her to do any lifting. She testified that she sometimes had to miss work from that job because of pain. After leaving that job, she went to work at Central Marketing, where she also had to miss work because of pain. She stated that she was terminated from both of those jobs because of missing work. During part of this time, claimant was also attending school and had to make up classes she missed because of pain.

Although she admitted that she had been in other accidents (including an accident while working at a Burger King in which a chair fell on her foot, an accident in which a crate of water fell on her at the grocery store, injuring her shoulder, and a car accident in which she injured her [959]*959neck), claimant stated that she never had any pain like the pain she had after her fall at McDonalds. She stated that her pain is at the base of her spine.

Claimant testified that she sought treatment for her pain from Dr. Verrette at the St. Charles Community Health Center. He referred her to a neurologist at the LSU Medical Center, and she was awaiting this appointment at the time of trial.

On cross-examination, claimant admitted that in January 2010, she filed for Social Security disability benefits, explaining that this was because of her neck, not her back. She also admitted going to the doctor on April 22, 2010 to have her |fiblood pressure treated and that her record of this visit did not mention back pain. She explained that her blood pressure “raises when you’re in pain.” When confronted with medical records in May 2010 that did not mention any complaints of back pain, claimant explained that her chief complaint at that time was her high blood pressure, and although she told the medical personnel at that visit of her back pain, it was not mentioned in her medical record of this visit. Claimant also testified that when she went to the doctor on July 21, 2010 to have paperwork filled out in connection with her application to work at “Aftercare,” she was not having any problems at all on that particular day. She acknowledged that the record of that visit states that she was physically fit to perform the duties of a personal care attendant. She explained that she made that statement to the medical attendant because she needed a job. Claimant testified that her back “really started” hurting around August or September, although she agreed that the first mention of back pain in her medical records at the St. Charles Center was at her December 15, 2010 doctor’s visit. As for the remaining medical records which do not mention back pain, claimant stated that the medical records do not mention all of her complaints, only her “chief complaint.”

The employer called Ian Patton, the general manager of the Destrehan Mc-Donalds, to the stand. He testified that when he first became aware of claimant’s slip and fall, he offered to send her to the doctor. She refused. He testified that the assistant manager also offered medical treatment to claimant. Mr. Patton stated that he worked alongside claimant following her slip and fall and she never complained of pain, never appeared to be in pain, and never asked to go to the doctor. He testified that claimant was terminated from her job at McDonalds because of her failure to come to work on her scheduled shifts. When claimant Rlater contacted him about going to the doctor after she had been terminated, he handled it through his supervisor in Baton Rouge.

On cross-examination, Mr. Patton denied telling claimant that he did not have the paperwork needed for her to schedule a medical appointment after her accident. He denied that McDonalds has a policy whereby an employee who is injured on the job is allowed only one doctor’s visit.

Lauren Sulik, the risk manager for Mc-Donalds, testified that she was contacted by claimant in August 2010. At that time, claimant complained of her back bothering her with changes in the weather. Since it was four or five months after the incident, Ms.

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

Related

Mendez v. Regional Transit Authority
130 So. 3d 352 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2013)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
112 So. 3d 956, 2013 WL 1287357, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hills-v-mcdonalds-lactapp-2013.