Walton v. State ex rel. Wyoming Workers' Safety & Compensation Division

2007 WY 46, 153 P.3d 932, 2007 Wyo. LEXIS 49, 2007 WL 776737
CourtWyoming Supreme Court
DecidedMarch 16, 2007
DocketNo. 05-289
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 2007 WY 46 (Walton v. State ex rel. Wyoming Workers' Safety & Compensation Division) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Wyoming Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Walton v. State ex rel. Wyoming Workers' Safety & Compensation Division, 2007 WY 46, 153 P.3d 932, 2007 Wyo. LEXIS 49, 2007 WL 776737 (Wyo. 2007).

Opinion

GOLDEN, Justice.

[11] Darrell-Ann Walton was injured in a work-related accident in 2002. She claims [934]*934she injured primarily her low back, left shoulder and neck in the accident. The Wyoming Workers' Compensation Division (Division) denied all claims submitted by Walton for injuries to her left shoulder and neck, determining that such injuries were not causally related to her work accident. Walton also submitted a claim for medication for migraine headaches, which was denied on the basis that her migraines were not causally related to the work accident. The Division paid claims relating to Walton's low back injury until October 2004. The Division denied further claims, determining that Walton's physical condition with regard to her low back had reached pre-injury status.

[12] Upon Walton's request for a hearing on the denial of her various claims, the Division referred the case to the Medical Commission. After a contested case hearing, the Medical Commission Hearing Panel upheld the Division's denial of benefits in all respects. Walton sought review from the district court, arguing the decision denying benefits was not supported by substantial evidence and was arbitrary and capricious. The district court affirmed the Medical Commission's final order in all respects. Walton presents the same arguments on appeal. We affirm the final decision denying benefits for her injuries to her neck and left shoulder as well as the denial of payment for medication for migraine headaches. We reverse the denial of benefits for injuries to Walton's low back.

ISSUES

[T3] Walton presents two issues for our review:

1. Whether the conclusion of the Medical Commission Hearing Panel that the Appellant failed to meet her burden of proof establishing that the injuries to her neck, shoulder, lower back, and her headaches were directly and causally the result of her employment related accident at Memorial Hospital of Carbon County on October 2, 2002[is] supported by substantial evidence.
2. Whether the conclusion of the Medical Commission Hearing Panel that Appellant's injuries to her neck, shoulder, lower back, and her headaches were directly and causally the result of her employment related accident at Memorial Hospital of Carbon County on October 2, 2002(is] arbitrary and capricious as that standard is applied as a "safety net" under Newman.

The Division restates the issues, adding a bit more context:

1. The Medical Commission Hearing Panel determined that Ms. Walton's low back injury resolved by October 12, 2004, following her October 2, 2002 work injury. Further, the Medical Commission determined Ms. Walton failed to prove the relatedness between her work injury and complaints regarding her neck, left shoulder and headaches. Does substantial evidence support the Medical Commission Hearing Panel's decision denying benefits?
2. Whether the Medical Commission's decision denying benefits is arbitrary or capricious?

FACTS

[14] On October 2, 2002, Walton was working as an emergency room admissions clerk at Memorial Hospital of Carbon County when she slipped and fell in a hallway of the hospital. In her initial injury report, completed by Walton the same day, she stated that she had twisted her back and had suffered injury to her right ankle, right knee, right elbow, left buttock and left hip. Immediately after the fall she was taken to the hospital's emergency room. The emergency room notes reflect the same complaints, namely stiffness and soreness in her right leg, knee and ankle, but her major complaint of pain in the emergency room was regarding her left hip area.

[15] Walton visited her family physician, Dr. Charles Young, regarding her injuries for the first time on November 14, 2002. On this first visit Dr. Young's notes reflect that Walton complained of injury to her back, left hip, right elbow and right arm. Walton regularly returned to Dr. Young with complaints of low back pain from November 2002 onward. Upon submission of the claim, the Division determined that medical payments for- injuries to Walton's "left back, right arm-elbow, right foot, feet, toe(s), or an[935]*935kle(s), right leg-knee, and left hip" were compensable. Walton received extensive treatment on her low back from several different physicians. In October 2004, the Division ceased paying benefits for treatment to Walton's low back, determining that Walton's low back had reached pre-injury status.

[16] Dr. Young first noted complaints of pain by Walton in her left shoulder on November 25, 2008. The first notation concerning complaints of pain in her neck and migraine headaches appears in March 2004. Upon submission of the new claim in March 2004, the Division denied benefits for medical treatment to Walton's neck and left shoulder on the basis that there was no compelling evidence directly relating the treatment to injuries sustained in the work accident. The Division also denied a claim for payment for migraine headache prescription medication, again finding no causal relationship between the migraine headaches and the original work accident.

[T7] Walton requested a contested case hearing on all denials The case was referred to the Medical Commission. After a full hearing, the Medical Commission Hearing Panel agreed with the Division's contentions and upheld the denial of benefits in all respects. Walton sought review from the district court, which affirmed the Medical Panel's decision. This appeal ensued.

DISCUSSION

Standard of Review

[18] When reviewing an administra tive agency order, we review the case as if it came directly from the administrative agency, affording no deference to the district court's decision. Hicks v. State ex rel. Wyoming Workers' Safety and Comp. Div., 2005 WY 11, ¶16, 105 P.3d 462, 469 (Wyo.2005). The seope of our review is governed by Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 16-8-114(c) (LexisNexis 2005), which provides:

(c) To the extent necessary to make a decision and when presented, the reviewing court shall decide all relevant questions of law, interpret constitutional and statutory provisions, and determine the meaning or applicability of the terms of an agency action. In making the following determinations, the court shall review the whole record or those parts of it cited by a party and due account shall be taken of the rule of prejudicial error. The reviewing court shall:
(i) Compel agency action unlawfully withheld or unreasonably delayed; and
') Hold unlawful and set aside agency action, findings and conclusions found to be: .
(A) Arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion or otherwise not in accordance with law;
(B) Contrary to constitutional right, power, privilege or immunity;
(C) In excess of statutory jurisdiction, authority or limitations or lacking statutory right;
(D) Without observance of procedure required by law; or
(E) Unsupported by substantial evidence in a case reviewed on the record of an agency hearing provided by statute.

[T9] In appeals where both parties to a contested case submit evidence, appellate review of the evidence is limited to application of the substantial evidence test. Berg v. State ex rel. Wyoming Workers' Safety and Comp.

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2007 WY 46, 153 P.3d 932, 2007 Wyo. LEXIS 49, 2007 WL 776737, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/walton-v-state-ex-rel-wyoming-workers-safety-compensation-division-wyo-2007.