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Williams v. North American Refractories Co.12/31/2003
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED
OPINION AFFIRMING
Douglas E. Williams Jr. petitions for review of an opinion of the Kentucky Workers' Compensation Board which affirmed the opinion and order of an administrative law judge dismissing Williams' claim for benefits relating to back pain he alleges stemmed from a workplace altercation that occurred in 1999 when he was employed by North American Refractories Company. We affirm.
Williams had been employed by North American as a process operator since 1995. On February 22, 1999, he was involved in a fight with a co-worker. The co-worker struck Williams several times with a broom handle and with his fists, knocked him to the floor, kicked him in the head, side, neck, and back, and attempted to choke him. Williams consulted a chiropractor, Dr. Shannon Johnson, for neck, arm, and back pain that he experienced following the fight. His treatments with Dr. Johnson continued until May or July 1999.
Meanwhile, after a thirty-day suspension, Williams returned to work. His duties included lifting bags and buckets weighing between fifty and one hundred pounds. He testified that he lifted a total of approximately three thousand pounds per shift.
On August 4, 2000, about seventeen months after the fight, Williams reported to a hospital emergency room complaining of acute back pain. The hospital record described his condition as "acute lumbar strain." He stopped working a few days later and applied for short-term disability benefits through North American. On the application form, he indicated that he had suffered a non work related injury and that he would not be filing a workers' compensation claim. Included with the application form was a report from Dr. Johnson stating that Williams had suffered neck, upper back, and lower back pain in February 1999, but that this had "resolved" by July 30, 1999. Williams received short-term disability benefits from North American for one year.
Then, on January 16, 2001, Williams filed an application for workers' compensation benefits, claiming that his severe back pain was work-related because it was triggered by the fight with his co-worker in February 1999. Following a hearing, the ALJ dismissed his claim in an opinion and order. The ruling was largely based on a determination that Williams' current medical condition is not related to the injuries he sustained in the fight at work. The ALJ concluded in part as follows:
he Administrative Law Judge initially believed that Williams' current and ongoing complaints/symptoms were related to the February 1999 altercation. However, now that the picture is complete, the Administrative Law Judge must find otherwise. In doing so, the Administrative Law Judge notes that Williams showed no reluctance to seek medical care in the three to four months following the altercation; however, he did not seek any medical care in the year before he stopped working. This supports Dr. Johnson's statement in August of 2000 that Williams had recovered from the effects of the altercation rather than Williams' testimony that he had ongoing complaints/symptoms. The absence of ongoing complaints/symptoms in the year before Williams last worked is also supported by the emergency room record that indicates an acute onset of symptoms, not an exacerbation of an ongoing condition. Furthermore, the Administrative Law Judge notes the statements by both Williams and Dr. Johnson in support of Williams' application for short term disability benefits. These statements, made contemporaneously with the application, belie the current statements from Williams and Dr. Johnson that Williams' condition has been ongoing and is related to the February 1999 altercation
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