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Simmons Industries v. Hartman12/11/1990
Rehearing Denied January 14, 1991.
Certiorari Denied March 12, 1991.
SIMMONS INDUSTRIES AND OWN RISK, PETITIONERS,
v.
RONALD HARTMAN AND THE WORKERS' COMPENSATION COURT, RESPONDENTS.
Susan Witt Conyers, Sturm & Brawner, Oklahoma City, for petitioners.
Sean P. Sullivan, Frasier & Frasier, Tulsa, for respondents.
AFFIRMED
The opinion of the court was delivered by: BRIGHTMIRE, Chief Judge.
Did the Workers' Compensation Court three-judge panel err in affirming the trial court's award of additional temporary total disability benefits and medical expenses of the claimant for a neck injury arising out of the same job -related accident which caused a previously compensated back injury? We hold that it did not.
I
On October 22, 1986, the claimant, Ronald Hartman, was employed as a manual laborer for the employer, Simmons Industries. The claimant's job involved shoveling ice to other parts of a storage compartment from a place where it accumulated near an ice-making machine. While standing on a large hill of ice, the claimant slipped and lost his balance, falling backward and sliding approximately twenty-five feet down the hill, injuring his back, neck and right arm. Immediately after the accident, the claimant experienced pain " rom up between shoulder blades down back, around side and around through groin and down leg, real bad, and from down in back a little lower it [came] around side and [came] down to groin and pain all down the backs of legs."
The claimant was examined by the employer's doctor several days after the accident, and was advised that there was nothing wrong and that he could return to work. The pain persisted, however, so the claimant sought the advice of his family doctor, who proceeded to refer the claimant to several specialists.
On July 1, 1987, the claimant filed a Form 3 alleging an injury to his back arising out of an on-the-job accident October 22, 1986.
On March 1, 1988, a hearing was held on the issue of temporary total disability. The claimant stated that prior to the accident he had had no trouble with his back or neck. The medical evidence consisted of two reports by physicians, both of whom mentioned the claimant's work-related accident and his complaints of neck and back pain.
The claimant's expert, Dr. Hallford, opined that the claimant had been temporarily totally disabled since June 3, 1987, due to "severe neck and back problems which have resulted out of the injuries he sustained on October 18, 1986 , during the course of his employment with Simmons Industries." He added that the claimant "has symptoms of radiculitis in both his right arm and right leg and could very well have a ruptured disc in both regions, but [the claimant] has objective evidence of sensory loss and weakness in his right arm and hand indicative of C7/C8 radiculitis." Dr. Hallford concluded that the claimant's condition may require "surgical intervention" and noted that the claimant was scheduled to see a neurosurgeon the following week.
The employer, on the other hand, introduced a report by Dr. Chesnut who concluded that the claimant had no temporary or permanent impairment due to the fall. He stated that the claimant "has cervical spondylosis with spinal stenosis at C5-C6 level, possibly C6-C7." Referring to the accident on October 22, 1986, as the "alleged injury," the physician stated that the claimant's pathological "changes are primarily due to osteophyte formation and he
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