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Cenacle Retreat House & Summit-Claims Center v. Dubose11/30/2004
ogy of fibromyalgia, Dr. Balasini noted that mental stress or physical trauma may be a cause. Dubose has also been diagnosed with post traumatic stress syndrome, allegedly caused by the events at the workplace.
Dubose's pre-employment medical records show that, following her two surgeries for TOS in 1998, she continued to be symptomatic in her left shoulder, left arm and hand. She was treated by Dr. Edna Doyl, a physiatrist, and tested and treated by neurologists, Dr. Mossadiq Jaffri, Dr. Maria Palmer and Dr. Richard Palmer. She was provided physical therapy at times and was regularly receiving chiropractic treatments from Dr. Fitch. Dr. Blasini also treated her during this time. In addition, the evidence shows that after the automobile accident in February of 2002, Dubose claimed injuries to the same areas that she said she hurt at work. Despite this evidence, she insisted at trial that the injuries from the alleged work accidents were different from the injuries from the pre-employment 1996 accident and the post-employment 2002 automobile accident. However, she reluctantly admitted at trial that she made a personal injury claim for the same type of injuries from the accident in 2002.
We do not doubt that Dubose has pain in her shoulder, arm and hand area. However, her medical records prior to and after her employment with Cenacle show that her complaints have not changed in any significant manner. She suffered chronic problems with her left shoulder, arm and hand. In her testimony, Dubose stated that the two work incidents did not aggravate those conditions. Instead, she insisted that the pain was new. The medical records do not support that claim. Thus, her attempt to differentiate pain, allegedly caused from the work-related incidents from the chronic 1996 and 2002 accidents, is neither persuasive nor credible. Dubose's credibility was further impeached by her failure to disclose the 2001 automobile accident that occurred four months before she was hired and the 2002 accident that occurred two months after her termination, when she gave her statement in May of 2002 to Keith Catha, the Summit field adjuster. In that statement, she denied several times that she had any other automobile accidents after the one in 1996. She finally disclosed the automobile accidents in her deposition. Dubose blamed her lapse of memory on the medications which she was taking at the time, which included medications that cause sleepiness. However, we note that the February 2002 automobile accident occurred only a few months before the statement was taken.
Considering the minor nature of the work-related incidents, the pre-employment and post-employment medical records, and Dubose's lack of credibility in her testimony, we conclude that the workers' compensation judge was not manifestly erroneous in finding that Dubose failed to show that her medical condition was caused by the two incidents.
FORFEITURE OF BENEFITS AND PENALTIES
Based on our conclusions that Dubose failed to prove a compensable injury , we pretermit the issue of whether she violated the statute. For the same reason, we affirm the denial of her claim for penalties and attorneys' fees.
DECREE
Accordingly, the judgment of the workers' compensation judge is hereby affirmed. Costs of the appeal are to be paid by Dubose.
AFFIRMED
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