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Authement v. Wal-Mart9/26/2003
ssary or likely to improve her condition and therefore it is logical to conclude that she is at maximum medical improvement at the current time. She has a permanent impairment related to her C5-6 disc protrusion but in response to your questions regarding whether this impairment is related to the accident of July 05, 2001 I have not seen evidence that a single incident or single injury has caused this disc problem. Her physical restrictions would be primarily regarding her upper extremities and overhead activities. I would not advise her lifting repetitively more than 10 or 15 pounds.
I would place her in a light duty capacity and not require her to perform activities that required extremes of cervical spine motion. Sedentary or light work would be well within her qualifications. I would not restrict her traveling and I feel that these restrictions are necessary relative to her C5-6 disc protrusion and these restrictions and opinions are based more heavily on her subjective complaints augmented by the MRI scan findings.
There is no further medical evidence in the record concerning Ms. Authement's injury . However, at the trial of this matter on August 2, 2002, Ms. Authement testified as follows with regard to her current complaints: "My shoulders and my neck hurt sometimes. It depends what I do. If I move my head a lot or if I do any movement, if I move around too much, my arms, I'll hurt." Ms. Authement further indicated that she intends to proceed with the surgery as recommended by Dr. Guidry and Dr. Haydel.
According to the record, Wal-Mart began paying medical benefits and weekly indemnity benefits of $190.76 to Ms. Authement following her injury and continued to pay same through February 14, 2002, when all benefits were terminated. This action by Wal-Mart prompted the instant suit. Ms. Authement's claim for compensation proceeded to hearing on August 2, 2002, at which time the workers' compensation judge heard testimony from Ms. Authement and Ms. Davis, allowed the introduction of various documents into evidence, including the depositions of Dr. Gary Guidry and Peggy Horton and Ms. Authement's medical records, and took the matter under advisement.
After hearing from Ms. Authement and Ms. Davis at trial and considering the evidence in the record, the workers' compensation judge rendered judgment on August 30, 2002, finding that Ms. Authement was injured while in the course and scope of her employment with Wal-Mart and that she was entitled to workers' compensation benefits. Moreover, the judge concluded that Wal-Mart did not reasonably controvert Ms. Authement's claim for benefits and, thus, awarded Ms. Authement $2,000.00 in penalties and $2,000.00 in attorney fees. It is from this judgment that both parties have appealed. In its appeal, Wal-Mart assigned the following specifications of error:
1. The Workers' Compensation Court erred in ruling that the claimant suffered an accident as defined by the Louisiana Workers' Compensation Act.
2. The Workers' Compensation Court erred in finding that the employer was arbitrary and capricious and in its application of LSA-R.S. 23:1201.2 by awarding both penalties in the amount of $2,000.00 as well as attorney's fees in the amount of $2,000.00.
3. The Workers' Compensation Court erred in ruling that Employer/Defendant should pay medical benefits, as the accident was not compensable, and if, in the alternative the incident was compensable, the Workers' Compensation Court erred by not ruling on Defendant/Employer specifically pled right to a medical expense offset as afforded in LSA-R.S. 23:1212.
In her appeal, Ms. Authement assigns error to the workers' compensation judg
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