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Willis v. Alpha Care Home Health1/31/2001
REVERSED AND RENDERED.
In this workers' compensation litigation, we have to determine whether the Workers' Compensation Judge (WCJ) erred when he found that Ms. Betty Faye Willis did not meet her burden of proving that she was disabled and entitled to workers' compensation medical and indemnity benefits. We find that the trial court committed legal and manifest error, and after conducting a de novo review of the record, we hold that Ms. Willis met her burden of proving, by a preponderance of the evidence, her disability and entitlement to medical benefits. Furthermore, our thorough review of the record reveals that she also met her burden of proving, by clear and convincing evidence, her entitlement to Total Temporary Disability (TTD) benefits. We reverse.
Ms. Betty Faye Willis claims that she sustained a wrist injury, on May 6, 1997, while in the course and scope of her employment with Alpha Care Home Health (Alpha). Her job duties consisted of providing stroke, heart, and paralyzed patients with home assistance regarding various tasks such as getting dressed, bathing, and grooming. She "would have to help [the patients] out of the bed, assist them in a wheelchair, bathe them, feed them, grooming , light house work."
Her injury occurred when she and Ms. Florence Scott, another Alpha employee, moved a paralyzed patient out of a rocking chair onto his wheelchair. Ms. Willis placed her left arm under his right arm and her right hand under his right leg. Apparently, both she and Ms. Scott lifted the patient and placed him onto his wheelchair, but as they sat him down, Ms. Willis jammed her right hand between the patient's leg and the wheelchair. She immediately called Ms. Scott and the patient's spouse who raised the patient's leg and to release her hand.
Ms. Willis felt immediate pain in her right wrist, and Ms. Scott applied rubbing alcohol on it. Her pain did not disappear, and when an Alpha nurse, Ms. Becky Baronet, entered the patient's house, Ms. Willis explained her predicament. Ms. Baronet instructed her to report the accident to Mr. Robert Littell, an Alpha supervisor, which she did. He agreed with Ms. Willis that she should consult with a physician and told her to have the physician send him the bill.
Before the accident, Dr. Clifton Young, Ms. Willis' treating physician, had last examined her in February of 1996 in a routine, school related visit. She did not disclose any right hand related problem. Further, it is not disputed that she could physically fulfill her job duties before the accident.
On May 7, 1997, she visited Dr. Young and explained to him that she had injured her right wrist while carrying a patient. She also complained about suffering from neck and shoulder pain, but she did not offer any other complaints regarding her right hand. Although Dr. Young did not see any motion deficit in her hand, he noted some tenderness localized over her right wrist, as well as her neck's right side and her trapezius area. He opined that she had a bruised right wrist and explained that Ms. Willis' wrist, neck, and shoulder pain could be consistent with carpal tunnel syndrome, which in his opinion necessitated that she undergo nerve conduction studies. He referred her to a neurologist. He acknowledged that she also suffered from depression for which he prescribed anti-depressants. He placed her off work and did not release her until July of 1998. When asked why he released her in July, he stated that both her physical and mental condition had significantly improved. He last saw her on May 10, 1999 and noted that she did not report anymore complaints.
Dr. Young referred Ms. Willis to Dr. John Patrick Schutte, an orthopa
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