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Springfield v. Wal-Mart #126611/8/2002
Disposition: AFFIRMED.
After an alleged work-related back injury , Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. paid workers' compensation disability benefits to claimant, Sylvia Springfield, for various periods of time during which she was unable to work. After two physicians reported that Springfield was capable of performing light duty work, Wal-Mart advised her that she was scheduled to return to work. When Springfield failed to return to work, Wal-Mart terminated her disability benefits. Springfield then filed a disputed claim for compensation. In answering the claim, Wal-Mart denied that Springfield had been injured in a work-related accident and asserted that she had no continuing work-related disability. The Office of Workers' Compensation (OWC) ruled that Springfield had failed to establish a work-related accident and dismissed her claim. Springfield appeals. Although we affirm the OWC's denial of benefits, we reach that conclusion based on a determination that Springfield failed to prove that she was unable to work when Wal-Mart terminated her benefits. Further, Springfield failed to establish that medical expenses incurred after the termination of benefits were related to her alleged work-related back injury.
I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
Springfield began working for Wal-Mart in 1989 as a door-greeter. She was later transferred to work in the store's garden center. Her job duties included stocking shelves, watering and displaying plants, condensing the plants when new inventory was received, helping customers, and serving as a cashier. Springfield testified that in 1992, she had a work-related accident that caused a back injury and disabled her from working for a period of time. She later returned to work in the garden center. On April 22, 1994, Springfield reported to her supervisor, Janet Johannsen, that while working, she suddenly felt pain similar to what she had experienced in 1992.
Springfield testified that she reported experiencing this pain while bending down to move some plants to a lower shelf to make room for new inventory on the higher shelf. Johannsen testified that Springfield reported that she did not know how she had hurt herself but guessed that she hurt herself while pulling on a hose or bending over to pick up the hose. Johannsen did not recall that Springfield had mentioned anything about moving plants. Johannsen filled out an injury report, documenting that Springfield thought she hurt herself by pulling on the hose and reporting that there were no witnesses. Several weeks later, when Springfield filled out a workers' compensation statement regarding the incident, she reported that she was injured while moving and lifting plants in the greenhouse.
On the day of the alleged incident, Johannsen sent Springfield to the E-Med Clinic. Dr. Leonard Cheramie examined Springfield and diagnosed a lumbar strain. He advised that she should receive further medical attention before returning to work and scheduled an appointment with Dr. Kenneth Cranor, an orthopedist.
On April 16, 1994, Springfield was examined by Dr. Cranor, who also diagnosed a lumbar strain and concurred that she should not immediately return to work. Springfield's back pain persisted, and Dr. Cranor treated her conservatively, prescribing the use of a lumbar corset for support. At the end of May 1994, Dr. Cranor reported that Springfield exhibited symptoms of degenerative changes in the lower back and advised that Springfield could return to light-duty work. Wal-Mart paid Springfield disability benefits for the period of time that she was not able to work.
By December 14, 1994, Dr. Cranor found that Springfield's back problem was worse because she h
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