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Lockman v. Citizen's Memorial Hospital6/25/2004
Opinion Vote: AFFIRMED. Prewitt and Parrish, JJ., concur.
Opinion:
In this workers' compensation case, Joanne Lockman ("Employee") was adjudged permanently and totally disabled and awarded benefits commensurate therewith. In this appeal, her employer ("Citizens") and its insurer allege that the Labor and Industrial Relations Commission ("Commission") erred because, even though Employee may be permanently and totally disabled, Citizens was not liable (as a matter of law) for the entire claim as the Commission found. We disagree. The Commission's award is affirmed.
STANDARD OF REVIEW
When reviewing such an award, appellate courts "must examine the whole record to determine if it contains sufficient competent and substantial evidence to support the award, i.e., whether the award is contrary to the overwhelming weight of the evidence." Hampton v. Big Boy Steel Erection, 121 S.W.3d 220, 222-23 (Mo.banc 2003). "Whether the award is supported by competent and substantial evidence is judged by examining the evidence in the context of the whole record." Id. at 223 .
FACTS
Employee was working as a housekeeper for Citizens on June 21, 1996, when she fell, landing on her buttocks. It was this accident and resultant injuries to her back (particularly the L4-5 region of her back) that Commission ultimately found had rendered Employee totally disabled.
Before this accident, Employee had some health problems which resulted in some permanent, partial disability ratings. These pre-accident disabilities are why Citizens claims the Commission erred when it ruled Citizens was liable for Employee's total, permanent disability claim. For instance, sometime before 1981, Employee was diagnosed with ovarian and uterine cancer. Side effects from her radiation therapy ultimately led to removal of part of her small intestine. Near that same time (early 1980's), one of Employee's kidneys was removed after "blood vessels leading to . . . wadded up and cut theirself off." When Employee was evaluated by Dr. Norbert Belz after her 1996 accident, he found she had 5% permanent, partial disability to her body as a whole stemming from after-effects of radiation therapy used to combat the cancer.
Employee also had occasional back pain before 1996, for which she sometimes saw her physician. Then, in late August or early September 1995, she injured her back at home. Ultimately she sought treatment from Dr. Crabtree, a neurosurgeon. Dr. Crabtree noted that Employee had a "problem with back pain for several years," but that her current pain (in September 1995) "overshadowed" her prior problem. Dr. Crabtree concluded that a "disc herniation at the L4-5 level to the left " was causing the increased pain. In September 1995, Dr. Crabtree surgically treated that condition.
By the time Employee went home from the 1995 surgery, her post-accident leg pain and numbness were gone and her back felt better. In her recuperation period, Employee and her husband took several vacations, including one to numerous western states. Employee testified she had no back pain during this trip, engaged in a wide range of physical activities, and did so without restriction or use of pain medication. She also resumed other activities such as cooking, house cleaning, grocery shopping, playing bingo, driving, gardening, lawn mowing, playing golf, and generally doing whatever she wanted to do.
By the time Employee returned to work at Citizens in 1996, she was able to perform her "full duties" as a housekeeper "without any problems." This included cleaning hospital rooms, mopping floors, washing linens, and cleaning spills. Even so, Dr. Belz found E
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