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State v. Sparks3/1/1999
Certification from the District Court of Laramie County The Honorable Nicholas G. Kalokathis, Judge
The issue presented by this appeal requires this Court to define the phrase, "the normal activities of day-to-day living, that is used in Wyo. Stat. Ann." § 27-14-102(a)(xi)(G) (Michie Cum. Supp. 1996). We hold that the phrase does not include those activities of an employee, while engaged in job -related duties, over which the employer has the right to control the details. The Office of Administrative Hearings ruled that a back injury sustained by Nancy J. Sparks (Sparks), who was working as a hospital nurse when she bent over a cart to obtain medication for a patient, was not excluded from coverage under the Wyoming Worker' s Compensation Act (Wyo. Stat. Ann. §§ 27-14-101 through 27-14-805 (Michie Cum. Supp. 1996 & 1997)). The employer had the right to control the details of the work Sparks was performing at the time of her injury, and we affirm the Order Awarding Benefits which the Office of Administrative Hearings entered.
In the Brief of Appellant, filed by the State of Wyoming, as the Wyoming Workers' Safety and Compensation Division (Division), the issue before us is stated in this way:
The Employee hurt her back lifting a pill from a medication cart at work as a nurse. The Hearing Examiner did not decide if lifting the pill was a normal activity of day-to-day living. Instead, he ruled that activities occurring at work, which are required by work, are not subject to the daily living exclusion.
A. Was the Hearing Examiner' s decision contrary to law?
The issues are stated in this fashion in the Appellee' s Brief, filed for Sparks:
"1. Did the hearing officer correctly interpret the "normal activities of day to day living" exception found in § 27-14-102(a)(xi)(G), W.S. 1977 (1996 Repl.)?"
"2. Does § 27-14-102(a)(xi)(G), W.S. 1977 (1996 Repl.), violate Article 10, § 4 of the Wyoming Constitution by exclusion of injuries arising from the normal activities of day to day living from the definition of "injury" for purposes of compensability under the Wyoming Workers' Compensation Act?"
There is no dispute between the parties about any of the facts in this case. Sparks was performing the usual duties assigned to her in her regular employment as a nurse at United Medical Center (the hospital) in Cheyenne, on April 13, 1997. She was assigned to administer medication to patients in the behavioral health unit at the hospital. She bent over to pick up a pill for a patient from the medicine cart, and experienced a severe and sudden pain in her lower back. That pain dissipated when she stood up, and it did not manifest itself the rest of that work day. When Sparks awakened the next morning, she had a stiff back, but she reported to work as usual. She experienced increasing pain throughout the course of that day, and eventually she reported it to a supervisor, who allowed her to leave early and to take the following day off.
Sparks' condition had not improved by April 18, 1997, and she went to see a physician recommended by the hospital. The physician prescribed muscle relaxants and bed rest. A few days later, however, Sparks experienced numbness in her right leg, and she then went to a different doctor, who ordered an MRI. The MRI disclosed that Sparks suffered from a herniated disc in the lumbar region of her spine.
On April 22, 1997, Sparks completed the employee section of a Report of Occupational Injury or Disease, and the hospital completed the employer portion of that report on April 23, 1997. The report was received by the Division on April 28, 1997, and the following day, the Di
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