 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Premdor Corporation v. Jones11/14/2003
Premdor Corporation appeals from a judgment entered by the Marion Circuit Court in favor of Renelda K. Jones finding that Jones was permanently totally disabled as a result of an injury she sustained in the course of her employment with Premdor.
Jones began working for Premdor in October 1996. In the spring of 1999 Jones became a buggy loader at Premdor's plant; a buggy loader loads pieces of wood used in the manufacturing of doors into carts and pushes the carts to another work station. A fully loaded cart could weigh up to 2,200 pounds, and, by her estimation, Jones had to push the carts approximately 50 feet. Jones contended that on May 9, 2000, she injured her lower back while pushing one of the carts. She admitted that she did not inform her supervisor of the injury, but she claimed that approximately one hour after she sustained the injury she informed plant manager Larry Cagle, who happened to be walking through the plant, that she had hurt her back.
Premdor has a policy that states that if an employee sustains a job -related injury, "it is imperative that [the employee] contact [his or her] supervisor immediately." The supervisor would then fill out paperwork on the injury for workers' compensation purposes. Jones admitted to being aware of the policy, and evidence was introduced showing that she had followed the policy on two previous occasions when she had sustained workplace injuries to a foot and an elbow. No paperwork was filled out regarding Jones's lower-back injury at any time before the filing of this action by Jones.
Jones testified that on May 6, 2000, the Saturday before the Tuesday on which she allegedly sustained the workplace injury at issue, she was mowing the grass at her mother's house. Jones stated that, "just as I started to mow ..., I felt a sharp pain, and I hadn't done anything really yet." However, she also testified in response to questions from her attorney that she " over the grass pain before the Premdor pain" and that her back felt fine on May 9 before she started pushing the cart that allegedly caused her injury. Id.
Following the alleged injury on May 9, Jones finished her shift and went home. In the early morning of May 10, 2000, Jones was taken to Carraway Northwest Medical Center's emergency room by her husband because of her complaints of intense back pain. Jones was referred that day to her family physician; however, because her family physician was unavailable, she was seen by another doctor, Dr. Miller, for evaluation. Dr. Miller recommended that Jones see Dr. Palmer, a chiropractor. On May 15, 2000, Jones was seen by Dr. Palmer's partner, Dr. Marino, who cleared her to return to work on light duty for a day starting on May 22, followed by a resumption of her regular duties the following workday. Jones claimed that she reaggravated the injury on May 23 and that she told her supervisor, Kenny Price, that she had hurt her back. Price testified that Jones never informed him that she had injured her back at any time.
Jones left work that day and again visited Dr. Marino; he did not take Jones off work, but he did refer her to Dr. Jeffrey Long. Dr. Long diagnosed Jones with a lumbar sacral sprain, but he did not take her off work. Jones returned to work on May 25, and she worked for two weeks without reporting any other injuries to her supervisor or to anyone else. On June 6, 2000, Jones was unable to get out of bed because of pain in her back, and, thus, she did not go to work. She called Premdor and reported that she was feeling hurt and would not be reporting to work that day. Jones visited her family physician, Dr. Gary Fowler, two days later on June 8. Dr. Fowler took Jones off work for a few days; Jones had
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Alabama Personal Injury Attorneys
Personal Injury Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|