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Brocas v. Mirage Hotel & Casino6/22/1993
Per Curiam:
This workers' compensation case arises from two separate claims for industrial insurance benefits filed by appellant Kathy Brocas (Brocas) with her self-insured employer, respondent Mirage Hotel & Casino (the Mirage). We conclude that substantial evidence supported the denial of Brocas's industrial claim for her December, 1989, back injury. However, we conclude that the appeals officer and the district court erred in denying Brocas benefits for the neck injury of July and August, 1990, as Brocas presented sufficient evidence of a compensable work-related injury. Facts
Brocas began working as a housekeeper at the Mirage when it opened in November of 1989. Brocas testified that she injured her back while making a hotel bed the following month, in December of 1989. However, she did not report an industrial injury at that time. On April 12, 1990, Brocas completed a SIIS C-4 form for the claimed back injury and submitted it to the Mirage, together with medical bills for her treatment with Dr. Jerald Malone (Dr. Malone). The Mirage refused to pay the medical bills, as Brocas had not previously filed an employee accident report with the Mirage. It was not until October 10, 1990, that Brocas submitted an employee accident report for the December, 1989, injury. The Mirage then denied Brocas's claim. On February 15, 1991, the hearing officer determined that Brocas had not established that she sustained a compensable industrial injury, and additionally, that her claim was untimely.
On August 24, 1990, Brocas completed a SIIS C-4 form for a neck injury sustained while changing a hotel shower curtain in July of 1990. She further indicated her neck hurt when she changed the hotel beds, lifted her vacuum, and pushed her house-keeping cart. Brocas filled out an employee accident report the same day stating that she injured her neck while lifting a vacuum off of her cart. The Mirage refused this claim, finding that Brocas had not established a disability arising out of the course of employment. On September 17, 1990, the hearing officer affirmed the denial, stating that the alleged neck injury was contraindicated.
Brocas appealed the hearing officers' determinations, of September 17, 1990, and February 15, 1991, which were then consolidated. After an evidentiary hearing, the appeals officer concluded that Brocas had not established that an injury by
[109 Nev. 579, Page 582]
accident had occurred in December of 1989, or in July or August of 1990.
The appeals officer found that: (1) Brocas did not timely report or file a claim for an industrial injury occurring in December of 1989; (2) Brocas had not adequately described, nor did the medical documentation support, an industrial injury by accident occurring in December of 1989; and (3) Brocas's neck and shoulder problems pre-existed the alleged shower and vacuum incidents of July and August, 1990, as: (a) treatment for a cervical problem began in February of 1990; (b) the medical documentation states the etiology for the chronic neck and back pain complained of on July 25, 1990, is unclear; (c) Brocas's symptomatology was stated to be out of proportion to radiographic findings; and (d) Brocas could not give a date for the incidents allegedly causing her pain. Brocas filed a petition for judicial review of the appeals officer's decision with the district court, which affirmed the appeals officer's decision. Discussion
This court's role in reviewing an administrative decision is identical to that of the district court: to review the evidence presented to the agency in order to determine whether the agency's decision was arbitrary or capricious and was thus an abuse
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