Ameristar Casino - Vicksburg v. Rawls
| Docket Number: | 2007-WC-01434-COA Linked Case(s): 2007-WC-01434-COA ; 2007-CT-01434-SCT |
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| Court of Appeals: |
Opinion Link Opinion Date: 08-12-2008 Opinion Author: Roberts, J. Holding: Affirmed |
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| Additional Case Information: |
Topic: Workers’ compensation - Disability - Work-related injury Judge(s) Concurring: King, C.J., Lee and Myers, P.JJ., Irving, Chandler, Griffis, Barnes, Ishee, and Carlton, JJ. Procedural History: Admin or Agency Judgment Nature of the Case: CIVIL - WORKERS' COMPENSATION |
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| Trial Court: |
Date of Trial Judgment: 06-13-2007 Appealed from: WARREN COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT Judge: Frank G. Vollor Disposition: AFFIRMED DECISION OF THE WORKERS’ COMPENSATION COMMISSION FINDING PERMANENT TOTAL DISABILITY Case Number: 06,0105CI |
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| Party Name: | Attorney Name: | Brief(s) Available: | ||
| Appellant: | AMERISTAR CASINO-VICKSBURG AND LEGION INSURANCE COMPANY, EMPLOYER AND CARRIER |
F. HALL BAILEY,
KATHRYN H. HESTER |
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| Appellee: | JAMES RAWLS | DAVID M. SESSUMS |
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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 - Disability - Work-related injury |
| Summary of the Facts: | James Rawls was injured while he was working for Ameristar Casino as a slot technician. The parties stipulated that Rawls suffered a compensable injury on July 31, 2000; that Rawls’s average weekly wage at the time of the accident was $756; that the employer, Ameristar, and the carrier, Legion Insurance, paid Rawls temporary total disability benefits in the amount of $10,573.92 from August 16, 2000, through April 11, 2001, at the rate of $303.35 per week; and that all temporary total disability benefits had been paid by the employer and carrier. The only issue before the Administrative Law Judge was the existence/extent of permanent disability and/or loss of wage-earning capacity, if any of Rawls. The ALJ found that Rawls was permanently and totally disabled as a result of the work-related accident. The ALJ ordered the employer/carrier to pay permanent total disability benefits of $303.25 per week beginning on July 31, 2000. The order allowed the employer/carrier to receive credit for any payments of compensation of benefits or compensation already paid and ordered that the employer/carrier pay Rawls’s future reasonable and necessary medical bills. Ameristar appealed to the Commission, which affirmed the decision of the ALJ. Ameristar appealed to circuit court which affirmed. Ameristar appeals. |
| Summary of Opinion Analysis: | Ameristar argues that the Commission’s findings are not supported by substantial evidence, because Rawls failed to undertake reasonable efforts to gain employment in similar or other vocations after reaching maximum medical improvement and failed to accept a job offer from Ameristar that it said met the work restrictions of his treating physicians. Disability is determined by comparing the employee's pre-injury wages with the employee's post-injury capacity to earn wages in the open labor market. Rawls’ wage-earning capacity after his injury was essentially zero; thus, he is totally disabled. Both the medical testimony and Rawls’ testimony support this conclusion. An injured employee establishes a prima facie case of disability by showing that, because of the work-related injury, he cannot secure work in the same or other jobs at pre-injury rate of pay. An evaluation of the reasonableness of the claimant's job search may include consideration of job availability and the economics in the local community, the claimant's general education and work skills, and the nature of the disability itself. Ameristar offered the testimony of only one witness, the risk manager for Ameristar, who testified about a transportation dispatcher job that Ameristar had for Rawls. Rawls testified that he did not pursue the job for the following reasons: he was unable to make the hour-long commute from his home in Louisiana because of the pain from his injury; he would not have been able to take pain medication and work at Ameristar because the medication made him “not think straight” and the pain medication, Darvocet, might make him unable to pass Ameristar’s employee drug policy. Rawls’ job search, which was really no more than a rejection of the one job offered by Ameristar, was reasonable under the facts of the case. The record shows that Rawls’ long career in hard manual labor has been ended by his unfortunate injury at Ameristar. He was a star employee of Ameristar in 2000, the year of his injury. Any attempt by Ameristar to depict him as a slacker for not taking the dispatcher job is unfounded. Instead, the record shows that prior to the disabling on-the-job accident Rawls was a capable and reliable worker. |
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