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Carlisle v. Watkins Motor Lines5/25/2005
NOT DESIGNATED FOR PUBLICATION
Herbert Carlisle appeals from the denial of workers' compensation benefits. He argues that the Workers' Compensation Commission erred in determining that he failed to prove that his carpal-tunnel syndrome and ruptured cervical disk were causally related to his work. We hold that the Commission's order contains a substantial basis for its decision denying benefits. Therefore, we affirm the Commission's order.
Because appellant's employer, appellee Watkins Motor Lines, Inc., controverted appellant's claims, a hearing was held before an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ). The following evidence was adduced. Appellant, who was fifty-seven years old at the time of the hearing, was employed as a truck-driver for appellee from 1990 until he resigned on May 9, 2002. Initially, he drove an 18-wheeler tractor-trailer rig cross-country. However, beginning in 1996 or 1997, he primarily drove a bob-truck and was based out of West Memphis, Arkansas. His job consisted of driving the truck and unloading freight weighing between one and one-hundred pounds. Appellant spent approximately half of his time driving in "city traffic," which required the repetitive, manual shifting of gears with his right hand, and approximately half of his time unloading freight, which required the use of both hands. Occasionally, he was required to use a pallet jack or a forklift to deliver the heavier loads. Appellant claims that this work-activity led to his need for treatment for carpal-tunnel syndrome.
In addition, he also alleged that he suffered a specific-incident injury to his neck on July 12, 2001. He testified that three to four months before July 12, 2001, he began experiencing numbness in his hands and arms. Inconsistently, he also said that he experienced numbness in his hands three to six months prior to 2001. Appellant reported his hand and arm problem to Mary Rea, who processed injury claims for appellee. However, he never reported a neck injury to his employer.
Because appellee did not send appellant to a physician, appellant, on his own, sought medical treatment from Dr. James Calandruccio on June 26, 2001. His primary reason for seeking treatment was for pain in his feet, but appellant also reported tingling in his left arm. Appellant reported a medical history of heart disease, hypertension, open-heart surgery, a motor-vehicle accident in 1974 which crushed his left hand (requiring surgery), and an injury to his left foot resulting from a fall, for which he received no treatment. Dr. Calandruccio noted that appellant had experienced progressive problems with his arm over the past several months to a year, and that he had experienced numbness and tingling over his left forearm that radiated into his left shoulder but not his neck.
In addition to appellant's alleged carpal-tunnel injury , he also asserted that he injured his neck on Thursday, July 12, 2001, while he and an employee of the place to which he was making a delivery attempted to unload rolls of labels weighing approximately 400 pounds. The labels were moved onto a pallet jack which hit the "lip" of the dock plate and stopped. At that point, appellant claimed that he felt a "pulling" in his neck unlike any pain he had ever experienced. Appellant was concerned that he was having a heart attack and telephoned his employer. He spoke with Jeff Kennedy, a dispatcher. Appellant told Kennedy that he was hurting, but both parties apparently related the pain to appellant's pre-existing heart condition. Appellant returned the truck and went home. He next reported to work the following Monday or Tuesday.
Before he returned to work, appellant sought medical treatment on July 16, 2001,
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