Fuller v. Millar, Inc
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Cite as 2010 Ark. App. 490
ARKANSAS COURT OF APPEALS
DIVISION II
No. CA10-80
DALE FULLER
APPELLANT
V.
MILLAR, INC., and NEW HAMPSHIRE
INSURANCE COMPANY
APPELLEES
Opinion Delivered June
16, 2010
APPEAL FROM THE ARKANSAS
WORKERS’ COMPENSATION
COMMISSION
[NO. F807968]
AFFIRMED
JOSEPHINE LINKER HART, Judge
Appellant, Dale Fuller, appeals the Arkansas Workers’ Compensation Commission’s
determination that he did not suffer a compensable work-related injury to his back.
Particularly, he asserts that the Commission arbitrarily disregarded medical opinions indicating
that his back pain was caused by a work-related injury. We affirm the Commission’s decision.
Appellant testified that on August 4, 2008 (a Monday), while at work, he sustained an
injury to his back when he unhooked a diesel tank from the front end of a backhoe. He
“snatched” the fastening pin seven to ten times, as it was hard to remove, and when he did
remove it, he felt a sharp pain down his right leg and right side, but the pain quickly went
away. When he went home, however, he began to ache and hurt, and he sought medical
attention the next day. He explained that he had sharp pain in his back and down his legs. He
asserted that he reported his injury to his supervisor, Steven Shuck, the morning after the
injury. He admitted on cross-examination that he suffered from kidney stones.
Cite as 2010 Ark. App. 490
Shuck testified that he drove appellant home on August 4, 2008, and appellant did not
mention the incident with the pin or mention any pain or injury. Shuck further testified that
on the morning of August 5, 2008, appellant called him and told him that he was going to
see a physician because his back and kidneys were hurting. According to Shuck, appellant did
not mention a work-related injury. When Shuck spoke to appellant later that evening,
appellant told him that he had kidney stones, that his back was swelling, and that he needed
to take a few days off. Appellant took the rest of the week off.
Shuck called appellant on the following Sunday, and appellant told him that he was
feeling worse and would see a doctor the next day. On Monday, appellant told Shuck that
his doctor told him that he needed to file a workers’ compensation claim for his back. Shuck
asked if appellant hurt his back at work, and appellant told him that he really did not know
where he hurt his back, but that the only thing that he could think of was when he pulled the
pin. Shuck filled out an accident report. Shuck testified that appellant’s co-workers reported
that they did not witness anything. According to Shuck, he had three to four conversations
with appellant before appellant mentioned the pin.
Medical records from August 5, 2008, indicated that appellant complained to his
treating physician of low back pain that was “worse after driving heavy equipment.” A record
from six months later, February 3, 2009, noted low back and right hip and leg pain, and
appellant’s treating physician noted that the pain “occurred after pulling on pin on
backhoe—(See note 8-5-08.) Still trying to get WC coverage.” On February 9, 2009, a
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neurosurgeon noted the history of appellant pulling a pin out of a hitch from a bulldozer to
a fuel tank on August 4, 2008, and suffering from “immediate pain into his back and going
down into his buttock in his right leg area.” The neurosurgeon noted that appellant’s MRI
was “completely negative.” On February 23, 2009, the neurosurgeon wrote that he would
“assume” that appellant’s history of a work injury was the etiology of appellant’s problem, but
that there was “no way I can absolutely be sure of that.” The neurosurgeon again noted that
an MRI was “completely negative” and that appellant did not have anything other than a
“muscular ligamentous type injury” from his exam and history.
The parties addressed before the administrative law judge whether appellant sustained
a compensable work-related injury. The ALJ found that appellant was attributing his back
problems to an incident at work because of a lack of any other explanation. The ALJ noted
that the claimant neither reported an injury at work that day, nor was he hurting on his ride
home with Shuck. Further, she noted that appellant admitted that the pain began when he
was at home and that he suffered from kidney stones and other health problems. She also
noted that the MRI of his lumbar spine was negative. The ALJ found that “[b]ased on the
credible evidence,” appellant failed to prove a compensable work-related back injury on
August 4, 2008. The Commission adopted the ALJ’s opinion.
On appeal, appellant asserts that the neurosurgeon’s observation that he would
“assume” that appellant’s history of a work-related injury was the etiology of appellant’s
problem, but that there was “no way I can absolutely be sure of that,” was a medical opinion
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on causation. Further, he observes that his treating physician noted on February 3, 2009, this
same history. He asserts that the Commission arbitrarily disregarded the physicians’ opinions
on causation.
To receive workers’ compensation benefits for a specific-incident injury, a claimant
must establish that the injury arose out of and in the course of employment and was caused
by a specific incident that is identifiable by time and place of occurrence. Ark. Code Ann. §
11-9-102(4)(A)(i) (Supp. 2009). The claimant’s injury must be attributable to a particular,
specific incident. Mack-Reynolds Appraisal Co. v. Morton, 2010 Ark. App. 142, ___ S.W.3d
___. In reviewing Commission decisions, we view the evidence and all reasonable inferences
deducible therefrom in the light most favorable to the Commission’s findings and affirm if the
decision is supported by substantial evidence. Id. The Commission, however, may not
arbitrarily disregard medical evidence or the testimony of any witness. Roberts v. Whirlpool,
102 Ark. App. 284, 284 S.W.3d 100 (2008).
Here, appellant testified about the pin-pulling incident, and some six months after the
accident, two physicians reiterated this same history that appellant provided to them.
Appellant, however, failed to report a specific incident to his employer on the day of the
accident, August 4, 2008. Nor was there a reference to the pin-pulling incident in the medical
report made the day after the accident. Further, according to appellant’s supervisor, it was not
until some time later that appellant told him that he really did not know how he hurt his
back, but that the only thing that he could think of was when he pulled the pin. Given these
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inconsistencies, there was substantial evidence from which the Commission could conclude
that appellant failed to establish that the pin-pulling incident was the cause of any injury.
Affirmed.
VAUGHT, C.J., and PITTMAN, J., agree.
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