McBride, Angela v. McMinnville Boarding, Home for the Elderly, Inc.

2018 TN WC 135
CourtTennessee Court of Workers' Compensation Claims
DecidedAugust 31, 2018
Docket2018-05-0287
StatusPublished

This text of 2018 TN WC 135 (McBride, Angela v. McMinnville Boarding, Home for the Elderly, Inc.) 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
McBride, Angela v. McMinnville Boarding, Home for the Elderly, Inc., 2018 TN WC 135 (Tenn. Super. Ct. 2018).

Opinion

FILED Aug 31, 2018 07:15 AM(CT) TENNESSEE COURT OF WORKERS' COMPENSATION CLAIMS

TENNESSEE BUREAU OF WORKERS' COMPENSATION IN THE COURT OF WORKERS' COMPENSATION CLAIMS AT MURFREESBORO

ANGELA MCBRIDE, ) Docket No. 2018-05-0287 Employee, ) v. ) MCMINNVILLE BOARDING, ) HOME FOR THE ELDERLY, INC. ) State File No. 18025-2018 Employer, ) and ) BUILDERS MUT'L INS. CO., ) Carrier. ) Judge Robert Durham

EXPEDITED HEARING ORDER DENYING BENEFITS

This case came before the Court for an Expedited Hearing on August 15, 2018. The primary issue is whether Ms. McBride is entitled to medical care and temporary disability benefits as a result of an alleged work injury to her right shoulder. The Court holds Ms. McBride provided insufficient evidence to establish she is likely to prove a shoulder injury arising primarily out of her employment with McMinnville Boarding Home (MBH). Thus, it denies her request at this time.

History of Claim

In 2011, Ms. McBride began working as a patient care coordinator for MBH, an assisted care facility, before the purchase of the business in 20 13 by the current owners, Latesha Hillis and her husband. Ms. McBride's job duties involved record-keeping, coordinating medical care and charting for the patients, overseeing the nurses, and general managerial duties.

Ms. McBride asserted that on November 27, 2017, she was helping one of the nurses, Judy Tig, place a combative patient on a commode. Ms. McBride testified that the patient's struggles pushed her against the wall in the tiny bathroom, causing her right arm and shoulder to be pinned behind her. She suffered immediate pain in her right shoulder, and she yelled for Ms. Tig to "get [the patient] off me." Ms. McBride declared at the hearing that she never injured her right arm and she was certain that the incident was the source of her pain. Ms. McBride testified that, later that day, Ms. Hillis came to the facility. Ms. McBride informed her that the patient became increasingly agitated and she hurt her shoulder trying to assist in the patient's care. Ms. McBride also stated that on November 28 or 29, she sat in the breakroom with other employees, including Ms. Tig, when she again told Ms. Hillis of her injury. She stated that her shoulder was so sore she could barely move it. To avoid trouble for her coworkers, she did not subpoena them to testify at the hearing.

Ms. McBride also alleged she told Ms. Hillis about her problems with her right shoulder several times over the next few months. This included an occasion when Ms. Hillis asked her to assist with patient showers, and she replied that she would have trouble doing so because of her right arm pain. However, Ms. McBride continued to work her regular duties following the alleged injury. She also conceded that, although her shoulder continued to hurt, she did not seek medical care, either through workers' compensation or on her own, while employed with MBH. Ms. McBride indicated she never filed a workers' compensation claim, for either herself or another employee, while working for MBH; however, she knew how to do so.

On January 22, 2018, 1 Ms. Hillis asked Ms. McBride if she would assist with housekeeping duties the next day, since MBH was short-staffed. She responded that she would try. The next m rning, Ms. McBride stripped six beds at work before speakin~ with Ms. Hillis on the phone, apparently after Ms. Hillis talked with one of the nurses. Ms. Hillis told her to dispense medicine but do nothing else until she arrived. After arriving, Ms. Hillis told Ms. McBride to go home. A few days later, Ms. McBride received a notice terminating her due to "insubordination." Ms. McBride testified the termination came as a complete surprise to her. She stated that she has not worked anywhere since, although she sought employment with several other health-care facilities.

Soon after her termination, Ms. McBride saw an orthopedist through her health insurance for her shoulder complaints, but she did not provide any medical records from that visit. In February, Ms. McBride received a panel from MBH and chose Fast Pace Urgent Care as the authorized provider. After examining Ms. McBride, Fast Pace providers ordered a cervical MRI; however, MBH denied her claim before she could undergo it.

1 Ms. McBride testified that she could not recall whether her last day of work for MBH was January 16 or 23, but she conceded that it could have been on the 23'd as stated on the separation notice. Given that the actual date is of little relevance to the decision, the Court will consider the 23'd as her last day of work. 2 In her affidavit attached to the PBD, Ms. McBride stated she exacerbated her shoulder injury when she stripped the beds. However, she did not testify to exacerbating her shoulder at the hearing or notifying anyone at MCB, nor did she discuss it in her recorded statement.

2 As part of its proof, MBH offered Ms. McBride's February 22, 2018 recorded statement. In the statement, Ms. McBride did not mention a conversation with Ms. Hillis regarding her shoulder injury on the day it occurred. She identified two other times other than in the breakroom when she notified Ms. Hillis that her right arm hurt, including the night before her last day of employment. Ms. McBride did not testify to these conversations at the hearing. Further, she did not mention in her statement or her testimony that she exacerbated her arm pain on the last day she worked.

MBH also offered Ms. Hillis' testimony, which was substantially different from Ms. McBride's. Ms. Hillis stated that, since she and her husband became owners of MBH, they experienced numerous problems with Ms. McBride's work. She cited multiple occasions when MBH failed inspections or produced inadequate reports under Ms. McBride's supervision, leading to censures and penalties from various regulatory agencies. She said Ms. McBride also had a spotty attendance record including last- minute absences, requiring Ms. Hillis to find someone to cover her duties. Ms. Hillis stated she attempted to address this issue with Ms. McBride, but Ms. McBride would not change her behavior. Ms. Hillis also testified that, in her last months of employment, Ms. McBride would refuse or complain when asked to cover for absent nurses. She said these acts of negligence and insubordination escalated, causing palpable tension. Ms. Hillis stated that, based on the growing acts of insubordination, she terminated Ms. McBride on January 23, 2018. Ms. McBride did not challenge any of the incidents described by Ms. Hillis, either through cross-examination or her own testimony.

As to the alleged accident, Ms. Hillis testified that, while Ms. McBride complained of the patient's combative behavior, she never informed her that she hurt her neck and arm while assisting the patient. In fact, she stated that the first time she received notice of an alleged injury was when the Bureau of Workers' Compensation ombudsman contacted her on February 20, 2018.

MBH also introduced a recorded statement from Ms. Tig as an exhibit without objection. In the statement, Ms. Tig remembered the November 2017 incident, but she could not recall Ms. McBride saying anything about hurting her neck and arm.

Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law

Ms. McBride need not prove every element of her claim by a preponderance of the evidence to obtain relief at an Expedited Hearing. Instead, she must present sufficient evidence that she is likely to prevail at a hearing on the merits. See Tenn. Code Ann. § 50-6-239(d)(l) (2017); McCord v. Advantage Human Resourcing, 2015 TN Wrk. Comp. App. Bd. LEXIS 6, at *7-8, 9 (Mar. 27, 2015).

To prevail on causation, Ms.

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Related

§ 50-6-102
Tennessee § 50-6-102(14)(A)
§ 50-6-239
Tennessee § 50-6-239(d)(l)

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Bluebook (online)
2018 TN WC 135, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mcbride-angela-v-mcminnville-boarding-home-for-the-elderly-inc-tennworkcompcl-2018.