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Smith v. V.F. ImageWear8/15/2005
I. FACTUAL BACKGROUND
Gloria Smith, a resident of Springfield, Tennessee, was forty-one old at the time of the trial. She was employed by V.F. Imagewear sewing trim and emblems onto uniforms. She now is the primary caregiver for her two-year-old child.
Mrs. Smith strained her back in October 1999. The injury was reported to her supervisor, but no written report was made. Mrs. Smith acknowledged that when she was examined in the emergency room at NorthCrest Medical Center on October 17,1999, she stated that she had experienced lower back pain off and on for more than a year. She was examined by Dr. Ferland on October 20, 1999, and she told him she had experienced back pain three years previously. Mrs. Smith testified that after October 1999, she experienced back pain continuously, took over- the-counter medications and occasionally missed work. She asserts the pain she experienced following the October 1999 strain was not anything like it became in June 2001.
On June 26, 2001, Mrs. Smith testified she was at work lifting a forty to fifty pound box when she felt a pop and a very sharp pain in her back. She reported the incident but was not provided a panel of doctors by her employer. She went to Dr. Robert Ferland, her personal physician, who referred her to Dr. Douglas Matthews. Dr. Matthews advised surgery. She did not immediately have the operation because V.F. Imagewear fired her in October 2001, and she lost her medical insurance. After she was approved for TennCare, she had the surgery in December 2002. Dr. Matthews took bone from her left hip, fused it into her back and installed six screws, three on each side of her spine. Following surgery, she went through physical therapy. She last saw Dr. Matthews in June 2003.
Since the surgery, her life has changed drastically. She is no longer able to play with her children, clean, bend, walk or even lie down. She has pain every day. There is tingling and numbness down her right leg into the bottom of her foot. She can only sit, stand or walk for short periods of time. She has difficulty lying down in that she has to lay in certain positions in order to be comfortable. Sometimes the pain wakes her at night. She does not believe she could work at V.F. Imagewear within the restrictions placed upon her by Dr. Gaw and other physicians.
When she saw Dr. Ferland on June 27, 2001, she did not relate the popping incident that had occurred at work but merely told him she was experiencing back pain. She testified that after October 1999, on a scale of one to ten, her back pain was a seven. When she reported the current injury, she listed the date of the accident as October 1999 to June 26, 2001. When she filled out her short term disability application she also indicated that she had injured herself in October 1999. It says "October 1999, slipped disc pressed against nerve." The date of the application was July 11, 2001.
Richie Marie Ross, supervisor over the special sewing and alteration area, testified for the defendant, V.F. Imagewear. She held that position in October 1999. According to Ross, Mrs. Smith did not report an injury to her back in October 1999, nor did she ask for medical treatment as a result of a work-related injury. During the year 2000, Mrs. Smith's attendance at work was poor. Frequently, she was absent, tardy or left work early. In March 2001, Mrs. Smith was absent without giving advance notice. Ms. Ross spoke with her about the absences and was told by Mrs. Smith that they were due to problems with her back, including the absences occurring on March 26-28, 2001. She also missed June 13, 2001 and June 27, 2001 due to her back.
Stephanie Williams in Human Res
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