Lail v. Burke County Schools

CourtNorth Carolina Industrial Commission
DecidedDecember 29, 2009
DocketI.C. NO. 600992.
StatusPublished

This text of Lail v. Burke County Schools (Lail v. Burke County Schools) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering North Carolina Industrial Commission primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lail v. Burke County Schools, (N.C. Super. Ct. 2009).

Opinion

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The Full Commission reviewed the prior Opinion and Award based upon the record of the proceedings before Deputy Commissioner Stanback and the briefs and oral arguments before the Full Commission. The appealing party has not shown good ground to reconsider the evidence, receive further evidence, or rehear the parties and their representatives. Accordingly, the Full Commission Affirms with modifications the Opinion and Award of Deputy Commissioner Stanback and enters the following Opinion and Award.

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The Full Commission finds as a fact and concludes as a matter of law the following, which were entered into by the parties as:

STIPULATIONS *Page 2
1. All parties are properly before the Commission and the Commission has jurisdiction of the parties and of the subject matter.

2. All parties have been correctly designated, and there is no question as to misjoinder or nonjoinder of parties.

3. Both the Plaintiff and the Defendants are subject to the Act.

4. The Defendant-employer is self-insured, with Key Risk Management Services, incorporated as the third-party administrator.

5. The Plaintiff was the employee of Defendant employer Burke County Public Schools on October 14, 2005.

6. Plaintiff sustained compensable injury by accident on or about October 14, 2005 while working for Defendant employer, when she strained her neck.

7. Plaintiff-employee's average weekly wage is $320.78.

8. Documents entered into evidence include the following:

a. Stipulated Exhibit #1 — Pre-Trial Agreement

b. Stipulated Exhibit #2 — Industrial Commission Forms, Report of Injury, Occupational Health and Medical Records; Job Description; Ergonomic Report; Discovery

c. Stipulated Exhibit #3 — Letter dated July 23, 2008

9. Issues for determination include the following:

a. Whether the modified special needs teacher assistant job is suitable employment, whether it is otherwise available within the economy, and whether it was specially created for plaintiff;

b. Determination of all compensation due Plaintiff;

*Page 3

c. Whether N.C. Gen. Stat. § 97-25.1 future treatment order should be entered, including medications, doctor visits, and a TENS unit.

d. Whether or not Plaintiff refused suitable employment?

e. Whether or not Plaintiff is disabled or totally disabled as a result of the work injury of October 14, 2005?

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Based upon all of the competent evidence of record and reasonable inferences flowing therefrom, the Full Commission makes the following:

FINDINGS OF FACT
1. Plaintiff was 53 years old at the time of the hearing before the deputy commissioner. She finished high school and took some college courses and received a CNA certificate. She also took a course in phlebotomy and accounting. She worked at Broughton Hospital for seven and a half years as a CNA/health care technician prior to working for the Defendant.

2. In 2000, Plaintiff started working for Defendant, Burke County Public Schools at North Liberty School as a teacher's assistant in a special needs class. Plaintiff's teacher's assistant job description indicates that she would work one on one for a student with severe behavioral problems.

3. On October 14, 2005, plaintiff sustained an admittedly compensable neck injury while assisting a child to his classroom. Plaintiff did not really notice any pain at work so she continued to work. It was not until after she got home that her pain got worse.

4. On October 15, 2005, Plaintiff presented to Burke Primary Care, where she was seen by Physician's Assistant William Vaassen. Plaintiff complained of pain in the neck and *Page 4 medial scapula area and was diagnosed with cervical and upper thoracic strain. Plaintiff continued to treat with Burke Primary Care and was referred to Dr. Ralph Maxy on December 2, 2005.

5. On February 1, 2006, Plaintiff presented to Dr. Ralph Maxy, an orthopedic surgeon with Carolina Orthopedic Specialists, with neck pain. Dr. Maxy had previously treated Plaintiff for some medical conditions unrelated to her work injury such as her low back, knees, ankles, and foot. He also was the surgeon who initially operated on her neck in June of 2003 for a disk herniation at C5/6 and C6/7 which had healed well after the surgery. After the February 1, 2006 visit, Dr. Maxy obtained a CT of Plaintiff's cervical spine which showed that all the hardware was in good position and the bone had healed nicely. There was no evidence of a disk herniation or anything pinching the nerves in her neck. He diagnosed her with a cervical strain.

6. Plaintiff returned to Dr. Maxy on April 3, 2006 with complaints of left knee pain and again on April 10, 2006 with complaints of right hand pain. These conditions are unrelated to Plaintiff's workers' compensation injury.

7. On April 12, 2006, Plaintiff complained to Dr. Maxy of neck pain with minimal improvement. His workup showed no pathology to explain the symptoms. All objective pathologies/studies including x-ray, CAT scan, myelogram, showed no objective pathology. None of the bones were out of place and no nerve was being pinched. She was diagnosed with a cervical strain and he placed her on restrictions of no lifting heavier than 15 pounds, no excessive or repetitive bending, twisting or stooping which Dr. Maxy anticipated he would be able to lift in four weeks.

8. On May 10, 2006, Dr. Maxy released Plaintiff to go back to work with no restrictions and gave her a 1% permanent partial impairment rating of the cervical spine, based *Page 5 on Plaintiff's subjective complaints, since there were no objective or radiographic findings on physical exam.

9. On May 24, 2006, Plaintiff for the first time complained to Dr. Maxy of shoulder pain. Dr. Maxy referred Plaintiff to Dr. Christopher Daley, a shoulder specialist in his office. A physical therapy note dated July 19, 2006 states that the patient reports soreness from painting and hammering at Bible school. Also, at that time, Plaintiff had a pain threshold of a four or five out of ten. For Dr. Maxy, this physical therapy note indicates a possible cause for her shoulder impingement injury.

10. Dr. Christopher Daley, an orthopedic surgeon with Carolina Orthopedic Specialists, saw Plaintiff on June 20, 2006 when she complained of right shoulder pain, ongoing neck pain and discomfort and some degree of radicular type arm pain. Plaintiff had generalized tenderness over the cervical spine but he could find no abnormal neurological findings. Plaintiff had good motion of both shoulders and impingement signs of her shoulder at that time in the right shoulder.

11. On September 8, 2006, Dr. Daley's impression was that Plaintiff's neck was causing her shoulder symptoms but not the shoulder impingement. Plaintiff's EMG nerve conduction study was essentially normal. On September 25, 2006 an MRI was done which showed mild changes at the AC joint, which is the end of the collarbone.

12. Dr. Daley saw Plaintiff again on October 6, 2006 and his diagnosis remained the same as impingement syndrome with neck pain, and he referred Plaintiff to physical therapy. On November 17, 2006, Dr.

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Bluebook (online)
Lail v. Burke County Schools, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lail-v-burke-county-schools-ncworkcompcom-2009.