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Crawford v. Single Source Transportation Fidelity & Casualty Insurance Co.6/30/2004
The Workers' Compensation Commission reversed the decision of an Administrative Law Judge and found that the appellant, Leon Crawford, suffered a non-compensable idiopathic injury to his knee on February 13, 2002. On appeal, appellant claims that substantial evidence does not support the Commission's denial of benefits. We reverse and remand.
In reviewing decisions from the Workers' Compensation Commission, the appellate court views the evidence and all reasonable inferences deducible therefrom in the light most favorable to the Commission's findings, and we affirm if the decision is supported by substantial evidence. Carman v. Haworth, Inc., 74 Ark. App. 55, 45 S.W.3d 408 (2001). Substantial evidence exists if reasonable minds could reach the same conclusion. Daniels v. Arkansas Dep't Human Servs., 77 Ark. App. 99, 72 S.W.3d 128 (2002); Lee v. Dr. Pepper Bottling Co., 74 Ark. App. 43, 47 S.W.3d 263 (2001). We will not reverse the Commission's decision unless we are convinced that fair-minded persons with the same facts before them could not have reached the conclusions arrived at by the Commission. White v. Georgia-Pacific Corp., 339 Ark. 474, 6 S.W.3d 98 (1999). We readily acknowledge that it is the function of the Commission to determine the credibility of witnesses and the weight to be given their testimony. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Stotts, 74 Ark. App. 428, 58 S.W.3d 853 (2001).
The appellee, Single Source Transportation, began employing appellant as a cement-truck driver on March 10, 1988. On February 13, 2002, appellant drove a load of cement for appellee to Kickapoo, Louisiana. Upon arriving at the destination, appellant stepped out of his truck, down two steep steps, and onto an oil field. As his foot reached the ground, appellant's knee "gave" or buckled. As a result, appellant fell to the ground and began to feel pain in his knee. Appellant testified that "I opened the door, and there are two steps and then the ground. I grabbed hold of the steering wheel, and I stepped out on the last step and put my left foot on the ground, and it just gave way with me." At the time of his injury, appellant was almost sixty years old.
After falling, appellant got up and proceeded to engage the truck's air lines to release the cement. In order to accomplish this, appellant held onto the truck while maneuvering the air lines and hose. Appellant finished the process and returned to appellee's plant. Appellant's knee swelled and continued to hurt on his return trip. Ultimately, appellant drove to his home hoping that his knee would recover. The next day, appellant went to work, but at the end of the day with his knee still hurting, appellant notified appellee of his injury. Appellant went home, and appellee sent a company car to transport him to Southern Clinic for medical attention. After his examination at the clinic, appellant was taken off work for three weeks and referred to Dr. Frank Hamlin, an orthopedic physician in Texarkana.
Appellant presented to Dr. Hamlin one week after the fall, and Dr. Hamlin noted in his medical report: I first saw [appellant] on 2-20-02 with chief complaint of pain and swelling of his left knee. He had an episode getting out of his truck on 2-13-02, at which time his knee buckled on him. As it did, he did have a twisting, flexion injury to his knee. He said immediately after that he could hardly walk. His knee became swollen almost immediately and it caused him to limp severely. . . He said previous to that, he had been having some soreness over the medial side of his knee when he would repeatedly use his clutch in his truck. He evidently drives a large 18 wheeler. He said he has never had any acute episodes like this before. When I saw him h
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