Harrell v. Time Warner/Capitol Cablevision, et al.
| Docket Number: | 2001-WC-01989-COA Linked Case(s): 2001-CT-01989-SCT ; 2001-WC-01989-COA ; 2001-CT-01989-SCT |
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| Court of Appeals: |
Opinion Link Opinion Date: 04-29-2003 Opinion Author: Chandler, J. Holding: Affirmed in part, Reversed and Rendered in part |
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| Additional Case Information: |
Topic: Workers’ compensation - Pre-existing condition - Causal connection - Work-related injury Judge(s) Concurring: McMillin, C.J., King and Southwick, P.JJ., Bridges, Thomas, Lee, Irving, Myers and Griffis, JJ. Procedural History: Admin or Agency Judgment Nature of the Case: CIVIL - WORKERS' COMPENSATION |
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| Trial Court: |
Date of Trial Judgment: 12-18-2001 Appealed from: Hinds County Circuit Court Judge: W. Swan Yerger Disposition: THE FINDING OF THE WORKERS' COMPENSATION COMMISSION THAT CLAIMANT WAS ENTITLED TO COMPENSATION FOR A BACK INJURY AND NOT ENTITLED TO COMPENSATION FOR INTERSTITIAL CYSTITIS WAS AFFIRMED; THE FINDING THAT THE CLAIMANT WAS NOT ENTITLED TO COMPENSATION FOR A SHOULDER INJURY WAS REVERSED. Case Number: 251-2000-1093 |
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| Party Name: | Attorney Name: | |||
| Appellant: | MELISSA J. HARRELL |
LANCE L. STEVENS |
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| Appellee: | TIME WARNER/CAPITOL CABLEVISION AND TRAVELERS CASUALTY AND SURETY COMPANY | PHILLIP PERKINS EMBRY RICHARD MACK EDMONSON |
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Synopsis provided by:  If you are interested in subscribing to the weekly synopses of all Mississippi Supreme Court and Court of Appeals hand downs please contact Tammy Upton in the MLI Press office. |
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| Topic: | Workers’ compensation - Pre-existing condition - Causal connection - Work-related injury |
| Summary of the Facts: | Melissa Harrell fell at work, and her employer paid her temporary total disability benefits covering intervals from June 9, 1994 to October 20,1997, and permanent partial disability benefits from October 21, 1997 until September 20, 1999. Harrell filed a petition to controvert, claiming that she had sustained work-related injuries to her lower back and right shoulder, and that the lower back injury caused a urological condition called interstitial cystitis. The employer and carrier admitted the compensability of the back injury, but denied the compensability of the other injuries. The administrative law judge awarded Harrell permanent partial disability benefits for the back injury in the amount of $29.28 for 450 weeks from October 6, 1997, the date of maximum medical improvement, with credit allowed for amounts previously paid and ordered the employer and carrier to pay for any medical services and supplies reasonably required to treat the back injury. Harrell appealed, and the Commission affirmed. Harrell appealed to the circuit court which ruled that there was substantial evidence to support the Commission's finding that Harrell had failed to prove that the interstitial cystitis was compensable, but that there was not substantial evidence to support the Commission's decision that Harrell did not sustain a compensable right shoulder injury. Harrell appeals, and the employer and carrier cross-appeal. |
| Summary of Opinion Analysis: | Issue 1: Pre-existing condition Harrell argues that the judge erred in finding that the medical testimony failed to relate Harrell's interstitial cystitis to her compensable back injury to a reasonable degree of medical certainty, because she showed that she has a urological problem and that she suffered no urological problems prior to her employment with Capitol Cablevision. A pre-existing condition is not always a bar to recovery for a disability. If the employment aggravated, accelerated, or combined with the pre-existing condition to produce the disability, the disability arose out of the employment and the claimant is entitled to compensation for the disability. Harrell failed to prove that a work-related fall could be a probable cause of interstitial cystitis. None of the physicians was able to establish anything more than a speculative link between a fall resulting in a back injury and interstitial cystitis, or between a fall aggravating prior back injuries and interstitial cystitis. Harrell's treating urologists testified that the cause of interstitial cystitis is unknown. Both urologists testified that back injuries could have been a factor in the development of Harrell's bladder condition but were unable to state to a reasonable degree of medical certainty that the work-related back injury of June 6, 1994, rather than Harrell's previous surgeries, or some other element, caused or contributed to the interstitial cystitis. The Commission's conclusion that Harrell failed to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that her bladder condition was caused or contributed to by her work-related injury was supported by substantial evidence. Issue 2: Work-related injury Time Warner argues that the court erred in reversing the decision that Harrell failed to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that she had sustained an injury to her right shoulder during her fall at work. Harrell had the burden to prove beyond speculation and conjecture that she sustained the shoulder injury in the course and scope of her employment. The record reveals no documentation of any shoulder problem until 1997, approximately three years after Harrell's fall at work. Harrell's own unsubstantiated testimony was the primary evidence of a shoulder injury sustained in the fall. Therefore, the decision of the administrative law judge, as affirmed by the Commission, was supported by substantial evidence. |
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