Stanford v. V.F. Jeanswear, LP

84 So. 3d 825, 2011 WL 5032742, 2011 Miss. App. LEXIS 615
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedOctober 11, 2011
DocketNo. 2010-WC-01284-COA
StatusPublished

This text of 84 So. 3d 825 (Stanford v. V.F. Jeanswear, LP) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Mississippi primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Stanford v. V.F. Jeanswear, LP, 84 So. 3d 825, 2011 WL 5032742, 2011 Miss. App. LEXIS 615 (Mich. Ct. App. 2011).

Opinion

IRVING, P.J.,

for the Court:

¶ 1. On January 4, 2007, Martha Kay Stanford filed a petition to controvert with the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Commission (Commission), alleging that she had sustained injuries to her head, neck, back, knees, and extremities when she tripped and fell during the course and scope of her employment with V.F. Jean-swear, LP (V.F.). A hearing was held before an administrative judge (AJ), who denied Stanford’s claim for workers’ compensation benefits. Stanford appealed the AJ’s decision to the Commission, which affirmed the AJ’s decision. Stanford appealed the Commission’s decision to the Circuit Court of Union County, and the [827]*827circuit court affirmed the Commission’s decision denying benefits.

¶ 2. Feeling aggrieved, Stanford appeals and asserts three issues on appeal, which we will consolidate into two issues: (1) whether the AJ showed bias in favor of the employer/carrier and (2) whether the Commission’s denial of disability benefits was arbitrary and capricious and not supported by substantial evidence.

¶ 3. Finding no error, we affirm.

FACTS

¶ 4. Stanford sustained her injuries while driving a truck for V.F. She testified that sometime during the late evening of February 7, 2006, or early morning of February 8, she began to feel nauseous, so she pulled the truck into a scale house to rest for the evening. She parked the truck, and as she attempted to exit the driver’s seat and enter the sleeper compartment, she tripped over a cooler. Stanford fell into the sleeper compartment and hit her head on the bed rail; the fall knocked her unconscious. Stanford’s husband, William Stanford, who was riding with her, attempted to revive her. Stanford testified that after she regained consciousness, William offered to take her to the emergency room. Stanford declined and decided to stay in the sleeper compartment and rest until morning. According to Stanford, she contacted Tom Swin-ton, the head dispatcher, the following day to report her fall. Stanford testified that Swinton instructed her to call Keith Horton, the terminal manager, and report her fall. Stanford testified that she contacted Horton, and he arranged for Stanford and her husband to return home.

¶ 5. Stanford and her husband returned home on February 8, 2006, and she went to Dr. Allie Prater for an evaluation of her injuries. Dr. Prater was unable to see Stanford that day, so she returned to his office the following day. Dr. Prater’s notes reflect that Stanford’s chief complaints were blackouts, syncope, and slurred speech. Stanford told Dr. Prater that her symptoms had begun one week prior to her visit. Dr. Prater’s notes do not mention Stanford’s fall in the truck or that she was knocked unconscious; however, Stanford testified that she had told Dr. Prater about the fall. Dr. Prater diagnosed Stanford with benign essential hypertension and ordered blood tests, an ultrasound, and a brain MRI.

¶ 6. Stanford returned to Dr. Prater on March 81, 2006, complaining of neck pain. Dr. Prater reviewed Stanford’s MRI, which revealed osteophytes at C3-4, C5-6, and C6-7. Dr. Prater diagnosed Stanford with “unspecified polyarthropathy or po-lyarthritis involving multiple sites” and referred her to Dr. Glenn Crosby, a neurosurgeon.

¶ 7. Before seeing Dr. Crosby, Stanford presented to Dr. Johnny Mitias, an orthopedic surgeon, on March 15, 2006. Dr. Mitias’s notes indicate that Stanford complained of “right buttock and lateral thigh pain” and that the pain had existed for “some time” but had worsened over the last two to three months. While Dr. Miti-as’s records state that Stanford is a truck driver, there is no mention of her fall. In fact, Dr. Mitias noted that “[tjhere was no injury that started this.” Dr. Mitias diagnosed Stanford with right sciatica and ordered physical therapy.

¶ 8. Dr. Crosby evaluated Stanford on March 31, 2006. Stanford again complained of neck pain, which Dr. Crosby described in his notes as “insidious onset.” Dr. Crosby diagnosed Stanford with symptomatic cervical spondylosis with osteo-phyte complex and ordered physical therapy. The physical therapy aggravated Stanford’s symptoms, so Dr. Crosby rec[828]*828ommended a cervical diskectomy and fusion at C3-4. Dr. Crosby performed the recommended surgeries on August 8, 2006. After surgery, Stanford began complaining of pain in her left buttock and down her left leg. Dr. Crosby ordered a lumbar MRI, which revealed a large rupture of the lumbar spine at L4. On November 28, 2006, Dr. Crosby performed a diskectomy at the L4 level.

¶ 9. Stanford returned to Dr. Crosby on January 25, 2008, again complaining of neck and lower back pain. Dr. Crosby’s notes mention that Stanford attributed her symptoms to her work as a truck driver. Additionally, Dr. Crosby’s notes indicate that Stanford “had a fall this past year” that may have aggravated her back. However, Dr. Crosby’s notes do not mention that Stanford suffered a fall at work until her follow-up visit with Dr. Crosby on May 30, 2008. Dr. Crosby testified in his deposition that prior to that visit, Stanford had not disclosed any history of an accident at work. However, he testified that the problems with her neck and back were probably related to her work injury.

¶ 10. Additional facts, as necessary, will be related during our analysis and discussion of the issues.

ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION OF THE ISSUES

¶ 11. An appellate court’s standard of review in workers’ compensation cases “is limited to whether the [Commission’s] decision is supported by substantial evidence.” Omnova Solutions, Inc. v. Lipa, 44 So.3d 935, 940 (¶ 15) (Miss.2010) (quoting Lott v. Hudspeth Ctr., 26 So.3d 1044, 1048 (¶ 12) (Miss.2010)). “The [Commission] is the trier and finder of facts in a compensation claim, the findings of the [AJ] to the contrary notwithstanding.” Id. (quoting Lott, 26 So.3d at 1048). An appellate court “will reverse an order of the [Commission] only where such order is clearly erroneous and contrary to the overwhelming weight of the evidence.” Id. (quoting Lott, 26 So.3d at 1048). Furthermore, “[i]n applying this standard, ... the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Law ⅛ construed liberally, and doubtful cases are to be resolved in favor of compensation so that the beneficent purposes of the act may be achieved.’ ” Id. (quoting Robinson v. Packard Elec. Div., 523 So.2d 329, 332 (Miss.1988)).

1. Bias of the AJ

¶ 12. The Mississippi Supreme Court has stated that, in the context of administrative hearings, “there is a presumption that the officers conducting the hearing ... behave honestly and fairly in the conduct of the hearings and in the decision-making process.” McFadden v. Miss. State Bd. of Med. Licensure, 735 So.2d 145, 158 (¶ 53) (Miss.1999) (quoting United Cement Co. v. Safe Air for the Env’t, Inc., 558 So.2d 840, 842 (Miss.1990)). “Absent some showing of personal or financial interest on the part of the hearing officer or evidence of misconduct on the officer’s part, this presumption is not overcome.” Id. (quoting United Cement, 558 So.2d at 842-43).

¶ 13. Stanford argues that the AJ demonstrated bias in favor of V.F. and its insurance carrier by affording greater weight to certain witnesses and evidence. Specifically, she contends that the AJ should not have accepted the testimony of Sally Jo Rupley, who was also employed by V.F.

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Bluebook (online)
84 So. 3d 825, 2011 WL 5032742, 2011 Miss. App. LEXIS 615, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/stanford-v-vf-jeanswear-lp-missctapp-2011.