M.A. MORTENSON COMPANIES and Arch Insurance Company/Gallagher Bassett Services, Inc., Appellants
v.
Mae REED, Appellee
Page 488
APPEAL
FROM THE ARKANSAS WORKERS COMPENSATION COMMISSION [NO.
G708560]
Dover
Dixon Horne PLLC, Little Rock, by: Joseph H. Purvis and Monte
D. Estes, for appellants.
The
Law Office of Furonda Brasfield, PLLC, by: Furonda Brasfield,
for appellee.
OPINION
N. MARK
KLAPPENBACH, Judge
Page 489
Appellants M.A. Mortenson Companies, Arch Insurance Company,
and Gallagher Bassett Services, Inc., appeal the decision of
the Arkansas Workers Compensation Commission awarding
benefits to appellee Mae Reed. Appellants contend that
substantial evidence does not support the Commissions
conclusion that Reeds right shoulder injury is compensable.
We affirm.
Reed
was employed by M.A. Mortenson Companies as an assembler of
solar panels. She was the only witness to testify at the
hearing before the administrative law judge (ALJ), and her
deposition was also admitted into evidence. According to her
testimony, she was injured on Saturday, November 18, 2017,
when a gust of wind blew a solar panel she was holding into
the air and blew her arm back over her head. She was not in
pain at that time and continued working, but she did stop the
employers "safety man," Joe Pena, as he drove
around checking on employees. Reed said that after she told
Pena what had happened, he contacted her supervisor on his
walkie-talkie, and two more employees were sent to help Reed
and her coworkers. Reed said that work ended early that day
due to strong winds and heavy rain.
The
day of the incident was Reeds last scheduled day of work
before leaving on a trip out of the country on Tuesday,
November 21. She acknowledged that on Monday before her trip,
a coworker called and told her that the whole crew was being
laid off; however, Reed was not contacted by the employer.
Reed said that her pain started Tuesday night, but she did
not get any medical treatment while out of the country
because no one there spoke English. Reed arrived back home in
the early morning hours of November 28 and immediately went
to the emergency room.
Reed
testified that she told emergency-room personnel that the
problems with her shoulder were from a work-related accident;
however, the emergency-room records do not reflect this. A
"triage note," which provides that Reed was seen at
4:13 a.m., states that "[p]atient states that about a
week ago threw right [arm] up and felt like it pulled
something, now it hurts all the time since then." The
next page of the records provides the following:
"Mechanism of injury comment: About a week ago, snatched
right shoulder up too quick, hurt ever since, painful and
hard to lift." Reed was diagnosed with a strained
shoulder and told to follow up with her family physician, Dr.
Dennis Yelvington.
Later
that same morning, Reed went to the job site to report her
injury. She said that the employer became upset with her and
wanted to know why she had not let go of the panel when it
was blown by the wind. Reed testified that they were taught
to not let go of panels because someone could be injured, and
on this occasion there were people working behind her. She
said that she spoke to Pena, and he remembered her telling
him about the incident with the panel; however, Reeds boss
told her shortly thereafter that Pena said he did not
remember anything. A handwritten statement by Pena dated
December 4, 2017, was admitted into evidence. Pena wrote that
Reed had made a comment that the winds were making it
difficult for her to secure panels, but he said that there
was no other conversation about any incident or injury.
Reed
saw Dr. Yelvington for her shoulder injury on December 1 and
again on December 12. Both office notes state in part that
"[t]his is a new problem. The
Page 490
current episode started 1 to 4 weeks ago." Reed
testified that she told Dr. Yelvington that she had hurt
herself at work, and she did not know where the time frame in
the notes came from. The December 1 note does not address how
Reed hurt herself, but the December 12 note recounts the
wind-blown-panel incident. Dr. Yelvington ordered an MRI and
recommended steroid injections and physical therapy for
bursitis and "AC joint arthritis." Reed
subsequently saw Dr. Kirk Reynolds, whose notes recount the
incident on November 18 and that Reeds pain worsened several
days later. Dr. Reynolds recommended an injection and
physical therapy for a rotator-cuff strain. Reed said that a
doctor had told her that ...