Summary
In Easterly, this court held that the employee's “discitis” was the result of treatment necessitated by a work-related injury and, therefore, was compensable under the workers' compensation statutes.
Summary of this case from Gore v. Lafarge N. Am., Inc.Opinion
2950662.
March 21, 1997. Rehearing Denied April 25, 1997. Certiorari Denied August 29, 1997 Alabama Supreme Court 1961341.
Appeal from the Jackson Circuit Court, No. CV-93-20, William W. Haralson, J.
Jeffery W. McKinney of Siniard, Lamar McKinney, P.C., Huntsville, for appellant.
D. Edward Starnes III and Jeffrey T. Kelly of Lanier Ford Shaver Payne, P.C., Huntsville, for appellee.
On January 19, 1993, Betty Ann Easterly filed a complaint in the Jackson County Circuit Court against Beaulieu of America, Inc., seeking workmen's compensation benefits. Easterly also asserted various claims against individual defendants who are not pertinent to this appeal. Following an oral proceeding, the trial court entered a judgment, finding that Easterly had developed "discitis," which is an infection of the disc space, at L4-5 and that Easterly's "discitis" was not caused by her June 24, 1991, back injury. The trial court entered a judgment in favor of the employer.
Easterly appeals, raising several issues. However, we find the dispositive issue to be whether Easterly's June 24, 1991, accident and injury caused, or contributed to, her development of "discitis."
Easterly's injury occurred on June 24, 1991; therefore, the Workmen's Compensation Act is controlling. In workmen's compensation cases, a two-step standard of review is used. Initially, this court must determine if there is any legal evidence to support the trial court's findings; if such evidence is found, then this court must determine whether any reasonable view of that evidence supports the judgment of the trial court. Ex parte Eastwood Foods, Inc., 575 So.2d 91 (Ala. 1991). However, this standard of review is applicable to the trial court's findings of fact and not to its conclusions of law. Ex parte Cash, 624 So.2d 576 (Ala. 1993).
At the time of trial, Easterly was 39 years old. She worked for the employer from 1988 until 1992, when she was fired. Easterly testified that she was a process technician at the employer's facility and that a process technician takes samples of "liquid" and "chips" from "pumps and blowers." She also testified that on June 24, 1991, she was trying to "hook up A-bed which . . . we have A-filter, B-filter, and two beds. To do this, you have caustic . . . acid to add." Easterly testified that when she tried to move a 55-gallon drum off a pallet close to the beds, the drum shifted and fell on her, her right wrist and left leg immediately swelled to twice their normal size, and her back and ribs began hurting. Easterly sought treatment and was eventually referred to Dr. James Stanford Faulkner, Jr., an orthopedic surgeon specializing in spinal disorders.
Dr. Faulkner testified by deposition that he initially saw Easterly on March 13, 1992, and that she complained of lower back and buttock pain. He also testified that he examined Easterly and found that she had a decreased range of motion and tenderness in the "facet area." Dr. Faulkner testified that he performed a "facet" block on Easterly, which relieved Easterly's back pain for approximately four days, and that he continued to treat Easterly and tried another "facet" block, which was unsuccessful.
On April 30, 1992, Dr. Faulkner performed a "discogram," which is the injection of dye into the disc space at the lower three vertebrae. Once the dye was injected, X-rays of Easterly's spine were taken. Easterly's discogram results were normal on all three levels. Easterly returned to Dr. Faulkner on May 19, 1992, complaining of severe pain. Dr. Faulkner diagnosed Easterly as having "discitis" and performed a needle biopsy and an MRI. He testified that this MRI revealed dramatic changes from the MRI performed on Easterly a day or two before the discogram, and he admitted Easterly to the hospital and treated her with intravenous antibiotics for one month. Easterly received intravenous antibiotics for several months after her release from the hospital.
Dr. Faulkner further testified that although trauma can cause "discitis," in his opinion, the discogram injection caused Easterly's "discitis" because Easterly's April 1992 MRI was normal and her May 1992 MRI showed dramatic changes. He also testified that the discogram was necessitated by Easterly's June 24, 1991, injury, and that Easterly has a permanent partial impairment as a result of her injury and the "discitis," although he had not determined the percentage of impairment.
In reviewing workmen's compensation cases, we are ever mindful that the Workmen's Compensation Act is to be liberally construed so as to effect its beneficent purposes and that all reasonable doubts must be resolved in favor of the employee. Ex parte Hagan, 607 So.2d 219 (Ala. 1992); Moore v. Reeves, 589 So.2d 173 (Ala. 1991). It is not necessary that the employee's injury be the sole cause, or dominant cause, of Easterly's disability, so long as it is a contributing cause. Ex parte Valdez, 636 So.2d 401 (Ala. 1994).
Based upon our review of the record, we conclude that Easterly's June 24, 1991, injury caused, or contributed to, her "discitis" because that injury necessitated the discogram, which caused the discitis. Dr. Faulkner's testimony clearly established that the discogram caused, or contributed to, Easterly's "discitis." The trial court erred in holding that Easterly's discitis was not a compensable injury and in failing to award Easterly workmen's compensation benefits. Valdez, supra.
Accordingly, the judgment of the trial court is reversed and the cause remanded to the trial court with directions to determine the percentage, if any, of Easterly's permanent partial or permanent total disability arising from her initial injury and the treatment necessarily arising from that injury, including the discitis. Ex parte Valdez, supra.
The foregoing opinion was prepared by Retired Appellate Judge L. CHARLES WRIGHT while serving on active duty status as a judge of this court under the provisions of § 12-18-10(e), Ala. Code 1975.
REVERSED AND REMANDED WITH INSTRUCTIONS.
ROBERTSON, P.J., and YATES, J., concur.
MONROE, J., concurs specially.
CRAWLEY and THOMPSON, JJ., dissent.
Under workers' compensation law, aggravation of the primary, work-related injury or a subsequent injury caused by medical or surgical treatment of the work-related injury is compensable. Patterson v. Clarke County Motors, Inc., 551 So.2d 412 (Ala.Civ.App. 1989); see also, 1 A. Larson, The Law of Workmen's Compensation, § 13.21 (1985). Dr. Faulkner's testimony was that, in his opinion, the discogram injection he used to treat Easterly's injury caused her discitis. Therefore, even though it may have been the treatment of Easterly's work-related injury that resulted in her discitis, the condition is still compensable.
I agree with the majority that no reasonable view of the evidence presented in this case supports the trial court's judgment that Easterly's discitis was not caused by her back injury. Therefore, I agree that the judgment must be reversed and this cause remanded for further proceedings.
I must respectfully dissent from the majority's opinion. My review of the record indicates that there is a great deal of evidence that casts uncertainty on the cause of Easterly's injury and thus supports the trial judge's holding. Much of the evidence contradicts the testimony of Easterly regarding the circumstances of the accident. For example, Easterly did not indicate to her coworker, her supervisor, or the first doctor who treated her, that a drum had fallen on her until several days after the alleged incident. Easterly testified that she had bruises from the drum's falling on her, but the doctor who examined her three days after the alleged incident did not find bruises or contusions, but testified that he would have noted the presence of any bruises or contusions on Easterly.
There is also evidence indicating that Easterly had previously sought medical treatment for similar injuries sustained when a different drum fell over on her on a prior occasion. Easterly denied that she suffered back pain for many years as a result of injuries sustained in an automobile accident in 1985, but such chronic pain was documented in her medical records. Further, one month before her injury, Easterly had seen a doctor for back pain.
The majority mischaracterizes Dr. Faulkner's testimony as "clearly establishing that the discogram caused, or contributed to, Easterly's 'discitis.' " Dr. Faulkner testified in his deposition that Easterly's discitis was "probably caused by the test," but he also noted that "she possibly had the disc space infection before that injection, because she was in severe pain even before the test was done."
The trial judge listened to the testimony of the witnesses, including Easterly, and determined their credibility. The judgment of the trial court read in part:
"In discussing this aspect of the Plaintiff's medical condition, Dr. Faulkner opined that her discitis could have been present before the injury because of her medical history of chronic back pain for some years off and on prior to 24 June 1991, which complaints would be consistent with this condition, or that it may have occurred through accidental injection of a virus during some of Dr. Faulkner's invasive medical treatment of Mrs. Easterly while under his care. Dr. Faulkner could not say with any degree of medical certainty whether her current condition was flare up of a previously existing discitis condition or was caused by his treatment."
Under the old Workman's Compensation Act, the appropriate standard of review allows us to determine only whether there was any legal evidence to support the trial court's findings, and if so, whether any reasonable view of the evidence supports the trial court's judgment. Ex parte Cash, 624 So.2d 576 (Ala. 1993). After observing the witnesses and reviewing the medical evidence, the trial judge made a factual finding that Easterly's discitis was not caused by the accident of June 24, 1991. There is ample evidence in this case to support the trial court's judgment, including evidence that Easterly had prior back injuries, back pain, and back surgery.
Based upon our standard of review, I must dissent.
CRAWLEY, J., concurs.