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Gordon v. St. Mary's Healthcare Center9/20/2000
Appeal from the Sixth Judicial Circuit, Hughes County, SD Hon. Lori S. Wilbur, Judge
Affirmed
Considered on Briefs May 30, 2000; Opinion Filed Sep 20, 2000
[ ] Delores M. Gordon (Gordon) appeals the Department of Labor's (DOL) denial of her petition for worker 's compensation benefits for injuries she sustained in July 1994. DOL found that Gordon's testimony on the notice issue lacked credibility, and determined that she did not provide sufficient notice of her July 1994 injuries. On appeal, the circuit court affirmed the decision of DOL. We affirm.
FACTS
[ ] Since 1979, Gordon has been employed as a licensed practical nurse at Maryhouse, a nursing home facility operated by St. Mary's Healthcare Center in Pierre. Gordon was frequently required to lift and move nursing home patients, equipment, and other heavy items. She experienced numerous work-related injuries during her tenure at Maryhouse, including a right shoulder strain in February 1985, a hip and neck injury in 1990, a neck, shoulder, and arm injury in 1991, a back injury in November 1991, an ankle sprain in 1992, and a back injury in 1993.
[ ] On July 2, 1994, Peggy Taft (Taft), a nurse's aid at Maryhouse, asked Gordon to assist her in moving a stroke resident off of a bathroom stool. As Taft and Gordon were lifting the patient, one of the patient's legs gave out, causing the patient to collapse against Gordon. Immediately after the incident, Gordon informed Taft that she injured her back, and laid down on the patient's bed. After resting on the bed, Gordon took some Tylenol, put ice on her back, and went back to work, completing her scheduled shift.
[ ] Other than telling co-worker Taft that she injured her back, Gordon did not report the incident either that day or the next, and did not seek medical treatment for her back in the following week. After the July 2 episode, and up until July 23, 1994, Gordon did not miss any of her scheduled workdays at Maryhouse.
[ ] Gordon took a trip to the Badlands on July 23 and 24. Following the trip, she was scheduled to be on vacation from July 25 through July 28. On July 25, Gordon began baby-sitting her eighteen-month-old grandson. During the daytime hours of July 25 and 26, she was the sole caregiver for the infant child. While she was at home on July 27, Gordon suffered an acute episode of back pain.
[ ] Gordon was immediately taken to see Dr. Curt Kuehl, her chiropractor. Kuehl could not help Gordon, and referred her to see Dr. S.Y. Stout, an orthopedist. Dr. Stout was not immediately available to see Gordon, so she was taken to see Dr. Kenneth Bartholomew, her family physician. Dr. Bartholomew administered pain medication to Gordon and sent her home.
[ ] The pain continued into the next day, and after midnight on July 29, 1994, Gordon was taken by ambulance and admitted to St. Mary's. Upon her admission to the hospital, Dr. Stout examined Gordon and diagnosed her with having a herniated disc at L4-5. Based on his diagnosis, Dr. Stout referred Gordon to see Dr. Michel Malek, a neurosurgeon from Aberdeen. On July 30, 1994, Gordon was transferred to St. Luke's Hospital in Aberdeen to have surgery performed on her back. Prior to her transfer to Aberdeen, Gordon's husband Jim (Jim), informed the staff at Maryhouse through several telephone calls that she required back surgery and that she would be unable to work.
[ ] The circumstances surrounding the July 27 episode are unclear. Although Gordon contends that she was walking empty handed across her living room when the back pain "hit," notes contemporaneously prepared by her treating physicians fail to support this cl
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