Moss, Michael v. Wood Personnel Services

2016 TN WC 136
CourtTennessee Court of Workers' Compensation Claims
DecidedJune 3, 2016
Docket2015-06-1304
StatusPublished

This text of 2016 TN WC 136 (Moss, Michael v. Wood Personnel Services) 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
Moss, Michael v. Wood Personnel Services, 2016 TN WC 136 (Tenn. Super. Ct. 2016).

Opinion

FILED

JUNE 3, 2016

TN COURT OF WORKERS’ COMPENSATION CLAIMS

Time: 1:17 PM

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

AT NASHVILLE Michael Moss, ) Docket No.: 2015-06-1304 Employee, ) V. ) State File Number: 94542-2015 Wood Personnel Services, ) Employer. ) Judge Kenneth M. Switzer )

EXPEDITED HEARING ORDER GRANTING MEDICAL BENEFITS

This case came before the undersigned workers’ compensation judge on the Request for Expedited Hearing filed by the employee, Michael Moss, pursuant to Tennessee Code Annotated section 50-6-239 (2015). The present focus of this case is whether Mr. Moss is entitled to additional medical benefits and, in particular, a panel of orthopedic specialists. Mr. Moss additionally seeks reimbursement for past medical expenses and temporary disability benefits.’ For the reasons set forth below, the Court finds Mr. Moss is entitled to a panel. However, on the record presently before it, the Court cannot grant the additional relief Mr. Moss seeks.

History of the Claim

Mr. Moss is a thirty-nine-year-old resident of Davidson County, Tennessee. He worked for Wood Personnel Services, a staffing company, which assigned him to Standard Candy Company. Mr. Moss worked as a porterman, with duties similar to those of a janitor.

Mr. Moss testified that at 8:30 a.m. on November 2, 2015, he bent down to pick up a tote from the floor and felt a sharp pain in his back as he raised himself up. While Mr. Moss noticed groin pain the night before, this was the first time he felt pain in his back. Sherry Mattingly, Mr. Moss’ supervisor, noticed him limping and asked if he was all right. Mr. Moss told her he was in pain but would try to “walk it off.’ Mr. Moss stated the pain did not subside. At about 10:30 a.m., he informed Sherry’s supervisor, “Jorge,”

' The Dispute Certification Notice lists additional issues the parties failed to address at the expedited hearing. Therefore, the Court considers them waived at this time. he needed to go the emergency room. Jorge gave Mr. Moss his phone number and told him to keep him informed.

Upon arrival at the St. Thomas Midtown emergency room, Mr. Moss provided a urine sample, which indicated he was suffering from a kidney stone. Mr. Moss updated Jorge and “Justin,” his recruiter from Wood Personnel.

On November 4, 2015, Mr. Moss passed the kidney stone but still experienced back pain. He returned to the emergency room that evening, where he received an ultrasound, which revealed muscle spasms from passing the stone. He called Jorge once again, who told him to take time off from work. However, Mr. Moss returned to work for the next two weeks or so. Mr. Moss attempted to contact Justin over that time to discuss further medical treatment, but Justin never returned his calls. He finally called Wood Personnel, which eventually connected him with Todd Drumright. On November 19, 2015, Mr. Moss met with Mr. Drumright to complete the workers’ compensation documentation, which included selecting a physician from a panel provided by Wood Personnel. Mr. Moss chose U.S. HealthWorks from the panel. (Ex. 3.)

Mr. Moss saw Dr. Harold Nevels, the authorized treatment provider (ATP), at U.S. HealthWorks that same day. Dr. Nevels checked a box indicating the injury as work- related, placed Mr. Moss on light duty, and recommended physical therapy. (Ex. 1 at 31.)

Although Wood Personnel initially covered the cost of medications, Mr. Moss testified Mr. Drumright declined to pay for prescribed medicine during the week of Thanksgiving, saying it “wasn’t going to happen; it wasn’t his responsibility,” and, “something about my story wasn’t adding up.” Mr. Moss paid for the medicine himself, but he introduced no proof of the expense into evidence at the expedited hearing.

Mr. Moss returned to U.S. HealthWorks on November 25, 2016, at which time Dr. Nevels recommended an MRI and a referral to an orthopedic specialist. [d. at 36-37. Dr. Nevels made the same recommendation on December 3, 2015. Jd. at 40-41. Wood Personnel denied Mr. Moss’s claim on December 4, 2015, due to “no medical evidence to support work injury.” (Ex. 5.) At some point after the denial, Wood Personnel terminated Mr. Moss, and he has been unable to work since his injury.

Mr. Moss sought additional care over the next few months at Nashville General Hospital at Meharry. (See generally Ex. 6.) A February 10, 2016 MRI revealed, “[ml]ild right paracentral and foraminal disc protrusion at L4-L5. Mild right-sided central spinal canal stenosis and right neuroforaminal narrowing which abuts the exiting right L4 nerve root.” (Ex. 2 at 5; Ex. 6.) The “clinical history” of the MRI report additionally states, “degenerative spine disease.” According to Mr. Moss, he inquired about the degenerative spine problem, and providers at Meharry told him they are required to code procedures in advance to justify their performance. After Mr. Moss presented all of his proof at the expedited hearing, Wood Personnel moved for a directed verdict, which the Court took under advisement but now denies.”

Wood Personnel offered Mr. Drumright’s testimony in its case-in-chief. Mr. Drumright, as area manager, is responsible for processing workers’ compensation claims. He investigated Mr. Moss’ claim and completed a report. (Ex. 7.) He testified he contacted Standard Candy Company’s safety manager to inquire about any videotape documenting the injury, but, “there was no, um, ah, video that reflected a time that Mr. Moss was injured.” Wood Personnel did not introduce any video into evidence. Mr. Drumright additionally visited the workplace and spoke to Ms. Mattingly, who said Mr. Moss did not make her aware of an injury, his back hurt due to kidney stones, and there was no injury reported to her or Jorge. Mr. Drumright further testified he spoke to Dr. Nevels. Mr. Drumright recounted their conversation as follows:

Dr. Nevels, um, thought that the injury was not matching up with, uh, what Mr. Moss was telling him. There was also, um, inconsistencies in the times — in the times and dates that he said he went to the hospital. And then, ah, as well as, uh, there was some information that Dr. Nevels said that could be signs of withdrawal for not having certain medications. And Dr. Nevels, um, resisted giving narcotics, um, for his injury because of that.

Mr. Drumright conveyed this information to the carrier, prompting the denial.

Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law

In order to grant the relief Mr. Moss seeks, the Court must apply the following legal principles. Mr. Moss bears the burden of proof on all prima facie elements of his workers’ compensation claim. Tenn. Code Ann. § 50-6-239(c)(6) (2015); see also Buchanan v. Carlex Glass Co., No. 2015-01-0012, 2015 TN Wrk. Comp. App. Bd.

* In Burchfield v. Renfree, No. E2012-01582-COA-R3-CV, 2013 Tenn. App. LEXIS 685 (Tenn. Ct. App. Oct. 18, 2013), the Court of Appeals reiterated the principles regarding directed verdicts:

The rule for determining a motion for directed verdict requires the trial judge and the appellate courts to look to all of the evidence, take the strongest, legitimate view of the evidence in favor of the opponent of the motion and allow all reasonable inferences from it in his favor. The court must disregard all countervailing evidence and if there is then any dispute as to any material, determinative evidence or any doubt as to the conclusions to be drawn from the whole evidence, the motion must be denied. The court may grant the motion only if, after assessing the evidence according to the foregoing standards, it determines that reasonable minds could not differ as to the conclusions to be drawn from the evidence.

Id.

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2016 TN WC 136, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/moss-michael-v-wood-personnel-services-tennworkcompcl-2016.