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Lou Grubb Chevrolet v. Industrial Commission12/31/1991
This is a special action review of an Arizona Industrial Commission award for a compensable claim. The following issues are presented:
1. whether the Arizona Supreme Court erred in failing to interpret article XVIII, section 8 of the Arizona Constitution as exclusively defining the types of risks that are to be covered by the state's workers' compensation laws;
2. whether an interpretation of article XVIII, section 8 that permits compensability for actual and positional risks results in an unconstitutional taking of property without due process of law, and
3. whether sanctions for a frivolous appeal should be imposed in this case.
We reject the constitutional challenges to the compensability of actual and positional risks and accordingly affirm the award. In the exercise of our discretion, we decline to impose sanctions.
FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
Respondent employee (claimant) was a receptionist and telephone operator for petitioner employer (Lou Grubb). She filed a workers' compensation claim for an injury that occurred while she was seated at a switchboard. In her claim, she described the circumstances surrounding her injury as follows: "I was leaning forward, answering phones. I then leaned back into my spring-back chair, turning my head at the same time. I immediately felt a sharp, pinching sensation in the area of my left shoulder blade, which became stiff." The physician's initial report which accompanied the claim stated that " atient developed sudden back pain moving at work as noted [in claimant's history] . . . ."
Respondent carrier (Argonaut) denied compensability. Claimant retained counsel, who filed a protest on her behalf. A hearing was subsequently scheduled. Pending this hearing, Argonaut's counsel filed answers to interrogatories in which he explained that compensability had been denied because " he mere turning of [claimant's] head to the left does not meet the criteria of an accident, and even if there was an accident which would produce an 'injury', the injury did not arise out of the [claimant's] employment."
At the scheduled hearing, claimant confirmed the history of her injury that she had reported in her written claim. A co-worker corroborated her account by recalling that she had exclaimed in pain while she was sitting at the switchboard on the morning that she was injured. Claimant further testified that she was turning her head to see if there were any customers who were waiting for service when the injury occurred. She denied that she had ever suffered a similar injury or that she had ever had neck or shoulder problems prior to working for Lou Grubb. She described the consequences of her injury, which included several days of disability and of physical therapy. Argonaut objected to the latter testimony, arguing that the topic was beyond the scope of the compensability hearing and that it required expert medical evidence.
Claimant went on to provide new information about her working conditions. She worked from 7:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. She usually took breaks throughout the day at two-hour intervals, but she had been unable to take her breaks for a period of time before her injury occurred because she was training a new co-employee. At her work station, claimant sat on a spring-backed office chair that had been provided by her employer. The chair had a broken adjustment mechanism, which resulted in loose back support. Consequently, claimant often leaned forward and rested her elbows on the counter in front of her. This position caused muscular tension, and she had complained to her husband
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