In the Matter of the Worker's Compensation Claim of: Steve Hampton v. State of Wyoming, ex rel., Wyoming Workers' Safety and Compensation Division

2013 WY 17, 296 P.3d 934, 2013 WL 474347, 2013 Wyo. LEXIS 19
CourtWyoming Supreme Court
DecidedFebruary 8, 2013
DocketS-12-0076
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 2013 WY 17 (In the Matter of the Worker's Compensation Claim of: Steve Hampton v. State of Wyoming, ex rel., Wyoming Workers' Safety and Compensation Division) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Wyoming Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In the Matter of the Worker's Compensation Claim of: Steve Hampton v. State of Wyoming, ex rel., Wyoming Workers' Safety and Compensation Division, 2013 WY 17, 296 P.3d 934, 2013 WL 474347, 2013 Wyo. LEXIS 19 (Wyo. 2013).

Opinion

VOIGT, Justice.

(11] Steve Hampton, the appellant, was injured in a work-related accident on December 21, 1996. In November 2009, he was diagnosed with a labral tear in his left shoulder. The appellant applied to the Wyoming Workers' Safety and Compensation Division (Division) for benefits, asserting that the injury was caused by the 1996 accident. The Division denied his claim, a decision that was affirmed by both the Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH) and the district court. The appellant now appeals that decision. We affirm.

ISSUES

(12] 1. Was the decision of the hearing examiner to deny the appellant's request for benefits supported by substantial evidence?

2. Was the decision of the hearing examiner to deny the appellant's request for benefits arbitrary and capricious?

*936 FACTS

(13] On December 21, 1996, the appellant was injured in a work-related accident. The appellant was driving a truck up a steep gradient when the vehicle's driveline suddenly gave out. As the truck rolled backward toward the edge of a cliff, the appellant jumped out of the vehicle, landing on his left side. The appellant applied for and received workers' compensation benefits for the injuries suffered in this accident.

(14] On the day following the accident, the appellant sought treatment for pain in his ankle, knee, hip, and back. On May 19, 1998, the appellant visited Dr. Stephen Emery to determine his impairment rating as a result of the accident. The doctor's report noted that, although the appellant's left shoulder had decreased range of motion compared with the right shoulder, the MRI "showed no evidence of impingement or rotator cuff pathology." Additionally, the radiology report indicated "no evidence of labral or subscapu-laris tendon tear." Over the next decade, the appellant received extensive medical care, primarily related to injuries sustained to his neck, low back, and left leg and ankle and was prescribed painkillers to alleviate his discomfort.

(15] In August 2009, the appellant was building a dog house with his wife when he experienced a sharp pain in his left shoulder. The appellant testified that this sort of pain was not out of the ordinary since the 1996 accident, Dr. Matthew Gorman treated the appellant and performed an MRI. Unlike the 1998 MRI, this MRI used more modern technology including gadolinium contrasting. Dr. Gorman's evaluation of the MRI indicated a labral tear of the appellant's left shoulder. The appellant requested payment of benefits for the treatment of the labral tear from the Division. The Division, however, denied the appellant's request on November 25, 2009, determining that the current condition of the appellant's left shoulder was not due to the 1996 work-related accident. Following the appellant's appeal of that determination, the OAH affirmed that denial, which was then affirmed by the district court following an additional appeal by the appellant. The appellant now appeals the decision of the district court.

DISCUSSION

Was the decision of the hearing examiner to deny the appellant's request for benefits supported by substantial evidence?

[16] The substantial evidence test will be applied when this Court reviews an evidentiary matter. Dale v. S & S Builders, LLC, 2008 WY 84, ¶ 11, 188 P.3d 554, 558 (Wyo.2008).

"In reviewing findings of fact, we examine the entire record to determine whether there is substantial evidence to support an agency's findings. If the agency's decision is supported by substantial evidence, we cannot properly substitute our judgment for that of the ageney and must uphold the findings on appeal. Substantial evidence is relevant evidence which a reasonable mind might accept in support of the agency's conclusions. It is more than a secintilla of evidence."

Id. (quoting Newman v. State ex rel. Wyo. Workers' Safety & Comp. Div., 2002 WY 91, ¶ 12, 49 P.3d 163, 168 (Wyo.2002)). In an appeal from a district court's review of an administrative agency's action "'we review the case as if it had come directly to us from the administrative agency, " giving no deference to the district court's decision. Id. at ¶ 8 (quoting Newman, 2002 WY 91, ¶ 7, 49 P.3d at 166).

(47] The appellant argues that the hearing examiner's decision to deny his request for benefits for his left shoulder injury was based on speculation and was contradicted by the evidence in the record. Specifically, he argues that the hearing examiner incorrectly gave greater weight to the opinion of Dr. Kaplan, the doctor who performed the appellant's second opinion impairment rating on November 12, 2009, over that of Dr. Gorman, and that there was no evidence to support the examiner's contention that the appellant's work and recreational activities would have made the labral tear apparent long before 2009.

[18] As the claimant for workers' compensation benefits, the appellant had the *937 burden of proving that his injury was caused by the work-related accident. Anastos v. Gen. Chem. Soda Ash, 2005 WY 122, ¶ 20, 120 P.3d 658, 666 (Wyo.2005). To state the obvious, the Division need not prove that the injury was not the result of the accident in question. The appellant relied heavily, if not entirely, upon the opinion of Dr. Gorman in his argument that the hearing examiner's decision was not supported by substantial evidence. The appellant sought Dr. Gor-man's medical advice on August 28, 2009, following the sharp pain he experienced while building a dog house. At the appellant's request, Dr. Gorman wrote a letter to the Division indicating his belief that the labral tear was a result of the 1996 accident. His opinion is based on the fact that the earlier MRI used less modern technology, that the appellant told him he had suffered shoulder pain since the 1996 accident, and that he was unaware of any other prior injury to the appellant's shoulder. The appellant's medical history, however, indicates that he had been treated multiple times in the late 1980s for shoulder pain related to an accident suffered in 1984. That accident resulted in a humeral fracture of the appellant's left upper arm and caused the appellant significant pain in his left shoulder as well as diminished the range of motion of his left arm. The doctor treating him at this time noted that shoulder surgery may be necessary down the road. Dr. Gorman's opinion was based on his mis-perception that the appellant had no history of injury to his shoulder prior to the 1996 accident.

(19] Both Dr. Kaplan and Dr. Gorman agree, and the evidence is clear, that the 1998 MRI did not reveal a tear in the appellant's left shoulder. The appellant argues that tear became apparent in the 2009 MRI because of more modern technology, specifically the use of gadolinium contrast dye. In his letter to the Division, Dr. Gorman stated "it is certainly a very realistic possibility that his labral injury could have been missed [by the 1998 MRIJ" The appellant's and Dr. Gorman's suggestion that, with the use of more modern technology, the tear could have been visible in 1998 is in no way definitive proof that the tear was a result of the 1996 accident. The appellant's burden was to show that not only did he have a labral tear in his left shoulder in 1996, but that the tear was a result of a work-related accident.

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2013 WY 17, 296 P.3d 934, 2013 WL 474347, 2013 Wyo. LEXIS 19, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-the-matter-of-the-workers-compensation-claim-of-steve-hampton-v-state-wyo-2013.