A worker who injured his back on the job can collect workers’ compensation benefits despite having a history of back problems, according to an appeals court.
The Arkansas Court of Appeals found that the evidence supported the fact that the worker suffered a compensable back injury from a specific work-related incident that differentiated it from his pre-existing back problems.
Hurt lower back getting into truck
Dillon Chaulsett was a grocery delivery driver for Springfield Grocer. After making a delivery on July 19, 2021, Chaulsett suffered a back injury while getting back into his vehicle. The injury caused pain from his lower back down into his right leg and got worse the longer he sat.
Chaulsett texted his supervisor the same day and said that his lower back was giving out and that he was going to see his chiropractor as soon as he could get an appointment.
The next day, Chaulsett texted his supervisor again, telling him that he wasn’t sure how productive he was going to be considering the pain he was in. The supervisor joined him on his route and helped him get his work done.
Already being treated for pain in different part of back
A few days later, Chaulsett saw his chiropractor, Dr. Alan Alexander, who had been treating him for mild pain he’d been experiencing in the middle of his back. Dr. Alexander had also treated him for a minor back injury he suffered while working for Coca-Cola five years prior to the new injury.
Chaulsett claimed that he’d recovered from the Coca-Cola incident after only a few weeks and that his pain from the new injury was different and more severe than what he’d experienced in the past.
Cough leads to increase in pain, back surgery
After seeing Dr. Alexander for the new injury, Chaulsett’s pain didn’t go away and actually worsened after he coughed on July 24, 2021. He went to the emergency room following the cough, complaining of the same type of pain he had the day of his new injury.
On July 29, 2021, Chaulsett filed a workers’ compensation claim. However, the company’s human resources department initially discouraged him from doing so.
Chaulsett was later evaluated by two nurse practitioners before eventually undergoing surgery on Sept. 27, 2021. He returned to work on Dec. 22, 2021, although he still felt some numbness in his right leg after the surgery.
Judge, commission finds injury compensable
While Chaulsett was undergoing treatment, Springfield Grocer contested the workers’ compensation claim he filed in July.
On Jan. 26, 2022, an administrative law judge found that Chaulsett met his burden of proof proving that he’d suffered a compensable back injury on July 19, 2021. The judge said that the preponderance of medical evidence differentiated the work injury from the previous back issues Chaulsett had suffered in the past.
On appeal, the Arkansas Workers’ Compensation Commission upheld the judge’s decision. Springfield Grocer appealed the commission’s decision.
‘Substantial evidence supports specific-incident injury’
On appeal with the Arkansas Court of Appeals, the employer argued that substantial evidence did not support a finding that Chaulsett suffered a compensable injury. Springfield Grocer specifically argued that Chaulsett’s claim should have been considered a gradual injury based on the fact that he had pre-existing back pain that he’d been treated for during his employment.
The appeals court affirmed the commission’s decision granting Chaulsett workers’ compensation benefits. In its decision, the court said, “We cannot say that substantial evidence does not support the Commission’s finding that Chaulsett sustained a specific-incident injury to his lower back on July 19, 2021.”
This was because:
- Chaulsett hadn’t complained of pain that radiated into his leg until after the July 2021 incident
- the pain didn’t go away after Chaulsett saw his chiropractor, and
- the pain worsened and became extreme after Chaulsett coughed on July 24, 2021.
All of these things, and the medical evidence that supported them, differentiated the July 2021 injury from the pre-existing back issues Chaulsett was already being treated for, according to the court.
