Arnold v. Wal-Mart Stores11/5/2003
PUBLISHED
AFFIRMED IN PART, REVERSED IN PART, AND REMANDED.
In this workers' compensation matter, the employee filed a disputed claim against his employer and its workers' compensation insurer, contending that the employer and its insurer had failed to approve the employee's orthopedic surgery and had neglected to properly pay workers' compensation benefits. The workers' compensation judge issued a ruling denying the employee's claims and dismissing the suit with prejudice. The employee filed the instant appeal. For the following reasons, we affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand.
Factual and Procedural Background
Wilbert Arnold, the claimant herein, began working as a grocery stocker at the Wal-Mart Supercenter in Jennings, Louisiana, in January 2000. One of Mr. Arnold's duties in his capacity as a stocker was to unload meat trucks and to store this meat in Wal-Mart's freezer. On October 22, 2000, during the graveyard shift, Mr. Arnold slipped and fell as he attempted to push a pallet allegedly weighing 600-800 pounds and stacked 8-12 feet high with meat across an ice-covered freezer floor. At the disputed claim hearing on the matter, he explained that as a matter of course, it was necessary to "get a running start to push the pallet jack over the ice [on the freezer floor]," and he recalled that, in so doing, when he stepped onto the sheet of ice, he slipped, fell head over heels in somersault fashion, and landed, supine, on the freezer floor. Mr. Arnold noted in his statement to Wal-Mart's insurance adjuster that he then crawled to the door and pulled himself to his feet using a pole. He promptly informed his supervisor and the store manager that he had been injured, and he then proceeded to the emergency room of a nearby hospital, where he was treated and released.
The record indicates that soon thereafter, Mr. Arnold visited Dr. Robert Marshall, who had been his family physician since 1999, presenting complaints of back pain. Although Mr. Arnold's back pain eventually resolved itself, he began to experience considerable neck pain, which grew worse. On January 10, 2001, Mr. Arnold consulted Dr. John Cobb, an orthopedic surgeon in Lafayette, who recommended cervical discectomy, decompression, and fusion. Wal-Mart and Claims Management, Inc., its third-party claims administrator (hereinafter "CMI"), desired a second opinion as to the necessity of surgery, and the record reflects that they arranged for Dr. Randall Lea, an orthopedist in Baton Rouge, to examine Mr. Arnold. Dr. Lea's report indicates that he agreed with Dr. Cobb's finding that surgical fusion and decompression was warranted, opining that "surgery needed for an acute aggravation of a degenerative condition."
On February 1, 2001, Mr. Arnold filed a disputed claim for compensation in which he alleged that Wal-Mart and CMI (hereinafter collectively "Wal-Mart") had not authorized surgery as recommended by Mr. Arnold's orthopedist. Mr. Arnold further asserted that Wal-Mart had neglected to pay workers' compensation benefits and had not properly provided medical treatment and workers' compensation. He also requested penalties and attorney's fees. A disputed-claim hearing was held on March 11, 2002. In August 2002, before a ruling was issued, the workers' compensation judge assigned to Mr. Arnold's case, passed away. A different workers' compensation judge was assigned to consider the matter. On February 24, 2003, the workers' compensation judge issued a ruling denying Mr. Arnold's claims and dismissing the complaint with prejudice.
Mr. Arnold asserts eleven assignments of error on appeal. Those assignments are as follows:
1. It was error for t
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