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Hodapp v. Sam's Wholesale2/6/2002
Woodard, J., dissents.
Amy, J., dissents.
AFFIRMED AS AMENDED.
In this workers' compensation case, the employer, Sam's Wholesale, appealed the WCJ's finding that a work-related accident occurred and that the claimant, April Hodapp, is entitled to disability benefits and attorney's fees. Ms. Hodapp appealed the WCJ's denial of a discography and seeks additional attorney's fees. We affirm the decisions of the WCJ.
Factual and Procedural Background
Ms. Hodapp worked as an overnight stock person at Sam's Wholesale. In September of 1998, she suffered a work-related injury while lifting a five-gallon bucket of chlorine tablets. Ms. Hodapp was aware of Sam's policy requiring that she immediately report all work accidents, regardless of the nature of the injury or level of seriousness. Nevertheless, Ms. Hodapp failed to report the injury during her shift. Rather, she completed her work and went home.
The record shows that Ms. Hodapp visited the emergency room, at Huey P. Long Charity Hospital in Pineville, two days after the alleged injury, where a doctor diagnosed her with right mild lumbar pain and a tingling sensation in her iliac crest and upper thigh. At this time, instead of informing her treating physician of her work-related injury two days earlier, Ms. Hodapp informed the doctor that she had been experiencing the pain for four to five days. In an attempt to reconcile this discrepancy, Ms. Hodapp explained, at trial, that she was confused over the length of time that she experienced pain because she normally began her shift on one date and finished on another. The court accepted this explanation as reasonable.
On September 16, 1998, Ms. Hodapp completed an accident report. Later that day, Sam's Wholesale sent her to see Dr. Slaughter who diagnosed her with lumbar spasms. He immediately released her for work, but on September 21, 1998, he took her off of work.
When she saw her physician of choice, Dr. Cobb, on November 16, 1998, she had still been off of work, per Dr. Slaughter's request. Dr. Cobb continued that status until December 21, 1998, when he released her to light-duty. Thereafter, Sam's Wholesale provided her with a job that entailed answering the telephone and getting cigarettes for Sam's customers.
Ms. Hodapp returned to work on December 22, 1998. She worked for a few hours before her pain level escalated to such severity that she called Dr. Cobb to release her from work again. Consequently, he recommended steroid injections, which she received on February 11, 1999.
A few weeks later, she told him that the injection helped for a few days but provided no long-lasting relief. Dr. Cobb then recommended that Ms. Hodapp see a chiropractor to work on the joint, which she did. However, the employer did not authorize the treatment because the report from Echo Chiropractic Clinic indicated that most of the findings had no relationship to her injury.
On or about March 24, 1999, Sam's Wholesale hired a surveillance team that videoed Ms. Hodapp doing yard work. Shortly thereafter, Sam's Wholesale terminated all her benefits.
At trial, the WCJ found that Ms. Hodapp had proved an "accident" and that Sam's Wholesale failed to prove the availability of work within her medical restrictions. The WCJ also rejected Sam's Wholesale's claim for fraud. Finally, the WCJ found the termination of all benefits was arbitrary and capricious, and awarded Ms. Hodapp attorney's fees of $5,000 for termination of indemnity benefits and $5,000 for termination of medical benefits.
The Accident - Legal Causation
Sam's Wholesale alleges that Ms. H
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