Royal v. Pulaski State Prison

750 S.E.2d 179, 324 Ga. App. 275, 2013 Fulton County D. Rep. 3293, 2013 WL 5663357, 2013 Ga. App. LEXIS 833
CourtCourt of Appeals of Georgia
DecidedOctober 18, 2013
DocketA13A0930
StatusPublished

This text of 750 S.E.2d 179 (Royal v. Pulaski State Prison) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Royal v. Pulaski State Prison, 750 S.E.2d 179, 324 Ga. App. 275, 2013 Fulton County D. Rep. 3293, 2013 WL 5663357, 2013 Ga. App. LEXIS 833 (Ga. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

BARNES, Presiding Judge.

Sherri Royal appeals the superior court’s order affirming the decision of the Appellate Division of the State Board of Workers’ Compensation, which had in turn adopted the findings and conclusions of the administrative law judge (“AL J”). Royal contends that the superior court erred in affirming the Appellate Division because the Division “ignored the Employer’s action of terminating Ms. Royal [276]*276because of her work restriction that arose out of her compensable work injury.” Because the record contains some evidence to support the Appellate Division’s denial of benefits, we affirm the superior court’s order.

In reviewing a workers’ compensation award, both the appellate court and the superior court must construe the evidence in the light most favorable to the party prevailing before the appellate division of the State Board of Workers’ Compensation. It is axiomatic that the findings of the State Board of Workers’ Compensation, when supported by any evidence, are conclusive and binding.

(Citation and punctuation omitted.) Ray Bell Constr. Co. v. King, 281 Ga. 853, 854 (642 SE2d 841) (2007). “[EJrroneous applications of law to undisputed facts, as well as decisions based on erroneous theories of law, are subject to a de novo standard of review.” (Citation omitted.) Trax-Fax, Inc. v. Hobba, 277 Ga. App. 464, 464 (627 SE2d 90) (2006). The Workers’ Compensation Act provides that an injured worker must miss seven or more days of work before she is entitled to receive income benefits. OCGA § 34-9-220. If the employee subsequently seeks income benefits, her claim requires “a hearing on all issues as opposed to a change-in-condition hearing.” (Citation omitted.) Diamond Rug & Carpet Mills v. Moses, 221 Ga. App. 807, 809, n. 1 (472 SE2d 565) (1996).

In this case, Royal sought temporary total disability income benefits beginning May 13, 2008, medical treatment, attorney fees, and penalties, contending that a compensable work-related injury on March 19, 20081 impaired her earning capacity. The parties stipulated to the ALJ that Royal sustained an injury to her lungs on March 19, 2008 by inhaling chlorine bleach fumes in the course of her employment at the Pulaski State Prison, which temporarily aggravated her pre-existing asthma and caused her to cough uncontrollably. She was treated at a nearby emergency room and released a few hours later. The employer accepted Royal’s workers’ compensation claim as medical-only and paid the emergency room bill and other medical bills. Royal did not work for five days following the exposure, then returned to work as scheduled on March 28, 2008.

Royal testified that she worked for six days, through April 17, 2008, then saw her family doctor on April 18, 2008, because she was not feeling well. He diagnosed her with pneumonia and admitted her [277]*277to the hospital for four days. On May 12, 2008, her physician released her to return to work with a work restriction of having to avoid strong chemical fumes due to a sensitivity, but after two-and-a-half hours at work the next day, the employer advised her it could not accommodate her restriction and sent her home.

The employer controverted medical payments beginning with Royal’s hospitalization on April 18, 2008 for pneumonia, contending that the treatment was unrelated to her work-related injury. Royal remained on leave with pay through December 15, 2008, then was placed on leave without pay for 12 months, until December 17, 2009, when she was separated for failing to return from a leave of absence.2

Royal asserted that she was entitled to continuing medical benefits beginning with her April 18, 2008 hospitalization for pneumonia, and to temporary total disability income benefits because her sensitivity to strong chemical fumes was caused by her March 18, 2008 exposure to chlorine bleach fumes. In response, her employer argued that Royal had recovered from the chemical exposure when she returned to work on March 28, 2008 after her treating physician cleared her to do so without restrictions, and that any subsequent disability was related to pre-existing conditions that were not work-related.

In determining whether Royal was entitled to income benefits and additional medical benefits due to her work-related injury, the ALJ considered Royal’s medical history before and after her exposure to chlorine fumes in March 2008. The ALJ noted that Royal left work in 2005 after inhaling bleach fumes but returned to work the following day after receiving medical treatment. She had been treated by an ear, nose, and throat doctor (ENT) for chronic coughing in September and October 2007, treated for chronic bronchitis in January 2008, and had numerous other long-standing ailments.

The ALJ also considered reports and records from several doctors who had either treated Royal, examined her, or reviewed her medical history, including the ENT, Royal’s family doctor, an “internal medicine and pulmonary specialist,” a pulmonologist, and a neurologist-psychiatrist, as well as a report from an environmental medicine specialist who had reviewed Royal’s records. After reviewing the evidence, the ALJ determined that Royal had not met her burden of proving by a preponderance of the evidence that she was disabled [278]*278from April 18 to May 12, 2008 or that she experienced an economic disability from May 13, 2008 onward as a result of her March 2008 inhalation injury.

While the record contains evidence that could have supported a different conclusion, it also contains a substantial amount of evidence supporting the ALJ’s conclusion. The ALJ noted that Royal’s family doctor released her to work without restrictions on March 24, 2008, and that she worked from March 28,2008 to April 17,2008. When she saw the ENT on April 18, 2008 for severe coughing and wheezing, an x-ray revealed she had pneumonia and she was admitted to the hospital for four days. She improved and was discharged, and the ENT referred her back to her family doctor. The ALJ noted that, contrary to the parties’ stipulations, Royal told her family doctor on May 5, 2008 that she had not worked since her exposure to bleach fumes on March 18, 2008. The family doctor concluded that the exposure had exacerbated Royal’s chronic cough caused by reflux, which caused aspiration and pneumonia, and that an x-ray showed that the pneumonia had cleared. He released her to return to work on May 12, 2008 with a work restriction due to her being “allergic (sensitive) to inhaled chemical fumes especially strong bleach.” On May 28, 2008, the ENT reported that Royal was disabled from the exposure from March 21 to 24, 2008, but that following her hospitalization for pneumonia in April 2008, she was able to return to work on May 9, 2008.

The ALJ found that Royal had misrepresented her medical history to an examining pulmonologist in November 2008, which caused the pulmonologist to change his opinion from believing that Royal had reactive airway dysfunction caused by her March 2008 exposure to believing Royal had experienced only a temporary aggravation of pre-existing asthma. The pulmonologist also tested her lung function in November 2008 and concluded it was normal, as was a June 2008 lung function test he reviewed. He did not think her April 2008 pneumonia was related to her bleach exposure.

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Related

Smith v. Mr. Sweeper Stores, Inc.
544 S.E.2d 758 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 2001)
Trax-Fax, Inc. v. Hobba
627 S.E.2d 90 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 2006)
Diamond Rug & Carpet Mills v. Moses
472 S.E.2d 565 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1996)
Worthington Industries v. Sanks
492 S.E.2d 753 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1997)
Ray Bell Construction Co. v. King
642 S.E.2d 841 (Supreme Court of Georgia, 2007)

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750 S.E.2d 179, 324 Ga. App. 275, 2013 Fulton County D. Rep. 3293, 2013 WL 5663357, 2013 Ga. App. LEXIS 833, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/royal-v-pulaski-state-prison-gactapp-2013.