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Morrow v. Dunlop Tire Corp.3/5/1999
Kelly M. Morrow (the "worker"), an employee of Dunlop Tire Corporation (the "company"), was injured on March 16, 1996, when her right arm was drawn into a tire-building machine. The injury resulted in a displaced fracture of her right forearm. Because the injury was a crushing injury, the fracture was not simply a clean break in the bones of her forearm, but instead was a break in those bones with accompanying smaller fragments. The worker saw Dr. Louis G. Horn and underwent surgery to repair the arm, which resulted in the reattachment of the bone fragments with plates and screws.
The worker returned to work the first time on April 17, 1996. She attempted to resume her work as a master tire builder, but she could not make the production quota because she had difficulty cutting the rubber. She was later reassigned to a light-duty clerical position.
On April 14, 1997, Dr. Horn performed a second surgery to remove the plates and screws in the worker's arm. The doctor testified that the areas under the plates and around the screw holes would be weak for approximately six weeks and that the worker was advised to increase the use of her arm gradually over this period of time. According to Dr. Horn, the worker appeared to be making regular progress after the second surgery. She returned to work after this second surgery, on May 12, 1997.
On May 14, the worker tripped and fell while carrying a basket of laundry at her home. She again fractured her right arm. According to Dr. Horn, the fracture was a nondisplaced fracture through one of the screw holes remaining from the prior injury . Dr. Horn placed the worker's arm in a cast for several weeks, and she returned to work on August 11, 1997. The worker again attempted to resume her work as a master tire builder, but she was again unable to meet production quotas because of the difficulty she had cutting rubber.
The worker testified at trial about the difficulty she had when she attempted to return to work after both the first and the second injury . She testified that her arm would begin hurting and that her wrist would give out when she attempted to cut rubber as part of her duties as a master tire builder. She described the sensations in her arm as numbness and tingling in the top of her hand and on the top of her forearm, stiffness in her wrist, and numbness and stiffness up into her shoulder and neck. The worker also described the effect that the injuries to her arm have had on her everyday activities. She testified that she has tingling pain in her wrist and up her forearm to her elbow when she lifts objects like a gallon of milk or a pot on the stove. She further described the sensation as a pulling or pressure through her arm. She explained that, when lifting items like a pot on the stove, she would have to compensate for the loss of grip strength in her right hand by using her left hand as well.
The worker also explained that her right hand "feels like it's got extra skin, which I can feel hot and cold, it's just not as sensitive, I guess, as my left hand. And it's like your foot being asleep, you know, if you hit it, it's uncomfortable." She testified that she could not apply steady pressure with her right hand, like the pressure one would use when using a hand to wash the car or to do gardening. She further said that, whenever she was able to complete a task requiring the application of pressure with her right hand, her right hand and wrist would be stiff and painful the next day.
The trial court, after hearing the worker's testimony and then considering the deposition testimony of Dr. Horn, concluded that the worker had suffered a compensable injury to her right arm; it awarded the worker
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