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Madlock v. Square D Co.4/22/2005
NATURE OF CASE
Amanda Madlock appeals from the judgment of a Workers' Compensation Court review panel that reversed, in part, an award entered by the trial court. The review panel found that because Madlock's foot injury (a scheduled member injury) was taken into consideration in determining her loss of earning capacity, the trial court's award of separate benefits for the member injury constituted an impermissible double recovery of benefits.
SCOPE OF REVIEW
With respect to questions of law in workers' compensation cases, an appellate court is obligated to make its own determination. Hobza v. Seedorff Masonry, Inc., 259 Neb. 671, 611 N.W.2d 828 (2000).
FACTS
On September 7, 1999, while employed by the Square D Company (Square D), Madlock was carrying a 60- to 70-pound box of circuit breakers, when the handles on the box broke and the box landed on her right foot. The parties stipulated that Madlock's injury resulted from an accident arising out of and in the course of her employment; that she suffered an injury to her right foot resulting in a permanent partial impairment of 22 percent; that she was earning an average weekly wage of $694.08 at the time of the accident; and that all benefits owed to her as a result of the foot injury, including disability and medical benefits, had been paid by Square D. The parties disagreed concerning whether back problems Madlock experienced were causally related to the accident. Madlock claimed that her gait was altered because of the foot injury, resulting in a low-back condition.
Dr. John McClellan of the Nebraska Spine Center opined that Madlock had persistent lumbar back pain caused by the residual effects of the injury to her right foot. Dr. Denise Vosik stated that the residual effects of the foot injury resulted in an injury to the body as a whole and that the chronic and recurrent sacroiliac dysfunction experienced by Madlock was caused, or at least significantly aggravated, by the work accident.
Square D offered the report of Dr. Christopher Anderson, which report stated that it was "medically possible that [Madlock's] right foot injury may have caused some secondary gait deviations, which altered the . . . biomechanics through her back, yet not to a severe degree that would cause multilevel lumbar degenerative disc disease and annular tears." Anderson opined that those conditions were "more than likely" preexistent to the foot injury, noting that Madlock was hospitalized in April 1986 for similar low-back pain.
In determining Madlock's loss of earning capacity, the trial court considered the impact of the member injury and concluded that a fair and accurate assessment of Madlock's loss of earning capacity could not be made absent the inclusion of the limitations flowing from the member injury. The trial court noted: "The impact and adverse effect of the scheduled injury upon the plaintiff's whole body injury is evident as one considers the fact that even the medical experts could not segregate the two."
The trial court found that the medical evidence documented the existence of an altered gait due to the right foot injury, that Madlock had met and carried her burden of proof on the issue of causation, and that Madlock had suffered a 10-percent loss of earning capacity. The trial court awarded her $46.26 per week for each week from and after the date of the accident for the statutorily mandated period of entitlement less those weeks during which she received or was entitled to temporary total and temporary partial disability benefits.
The trial court next addressed whether a separate award or recovery for the member injury was permi
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