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Authement v. Wal-Mart9/26/2003
nt to discharge this burden of proof, provided two elements are satisfied: (1) no other evidence discredits or casts serious doubt upon the worker's version of the incident, and (2) the worker's testimony is corroborated by the circumstances following the alleged incident. Fabre v. ICF Kaiser Intern., 2001-2734, p. 5 (La. App. 1 Cir. 11/8/02), 835 So.2d 724, 727. Corroboration of the claimant's testimony may be provided by the testimony of co-workers, spouses, friends, or by medical evidence. Moreover, barring circumstances that cast suspicion on the reliability of the claimant's uncontradicted testimony, the trial court should accept the testimony as true when determining whether the claimant has discharged his burden. Firmin v. St. Mary Parish School Bd., 2002-0631, p. 4 (La. App. 1 Cir. 4/2/03), 843 So.2d 1144, 1146.
After careful review of the record, we find no manifest error in the workers' compensation judge's determination that Ms. Authement's injury was caused by a work-related accident. On July 5, 2001, Ms. Authement reported to her immediate supervisor, Darla, that she was experiencing pain in her shoulders after "doing a lot of lifting." Darla commented to Ms. Authement that it was "probably from down stacking milk." Ms. Authement continued her work at that time and reported to work as usual the following day. However, when the pain worsened, Ms. Authement began working as a cashier to avoid the heavy lifting that was required in the dairy department. Ms. Authement testified she chose not to file an accident report immediately following the incident on July 5, 2001, because she believed she had just pulled some muscles. However, the pain started to radiate into her arms, and she sought medical attention. On July 19, 2001, Ms. Authement fled an accident report indicating that she was injured on July 5, 2001, and that "continuous lifting" was the cause of her injury.
According to the medical records from the various physicians who treated Ms. Authement, she was consistent in her description of how and when she was injured. Ms. Authement maintained throughout that she did not have any problems with her arms and shoulders before the incident on July 5, 2001. Further corroboration of Ms. Authement's testimony concerning the July 5, 2001 incident is found in an internal document from CMI. In a July 20, 2001 entry in the "Notepad History" from Ms. Authement's CMI file, the following was noted: "DOi: 07/05/01 Sp /W Mary in Personnel Date reported: 07/05/01 Reported to: Darala McDonald (dept. mgr.) Acciden into: Contious lifting and pushing."
Wal-Mart offered no direct evidence to discredit or cast serious doubt upon Ms. Authement's version of how she was injured on July 5, 2001. Wal-Mart simply argues that Ms. Authement "could not identify the cause of her injury without having spoken to Darla who gave her a description of an accident." Nonetheless, the fact remains that Ms. Authement reported pain in her arms and shoulders following what she described as "a lot of lifting" on July 5, 2001. She had no history of prior neck problems. Her condition worsened over a period of days, and an accident report was generated. Ms. Authement sought medical treatment, and Wal-Mart began paying medical benefits and weekly indemnity benefits. Ms. Authement was consistent in her reports to her treating physicians, and Dr. Guidry opined that her disc protrusion was secondary to her job activities. Moreover, we note Ms. Authement's testimony was corroborated by other evidence in the record. Thus, considering the record as a whole, and giving deference to the factual findings of the workers' compensation judge as we are required to do, we will not disturb the judge's finding that Ms. Authement was inj
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