Title: International Paper Co. v. Kelley

State: mississippi

Issuer: Mississippi Supreme Court

Document:

562 So. 2d 1298 (1990) INTERNATIONAL PAPER Company v. Lynda Kelley. No. 07-CC-59502. Supreme Court of Mississippi. May 30, 1990. Karl R. Steinberger, Bryant Colingo Williams & Clark, Pascagoula, for appellant. Stephen G. Peresich, Page Mannino & Peresich, Biloxi, for appellee. Before ROY NOBLE LEE, C.J., and PRATHER and BLASS, JJ. ROY NOBLE LEE, Chief Justice, for the Court: Lynda Kelley filed a claim for workers' compensation benefits against International Paper Company for injuries sustained on May 17, 1978. The Administrative Law Judge found that Kelley sustained a compensable, work-related injury and awarded medical benefits, temporary total disability benefits, permanent partial disability based on 25% permanent partial disability to the body as a whole, and assessed penalties against International Paper Company (IP). The employer, a self insurer, appealed to the full Commission and Kelley cross-appealed asserting that she suffered a greater than 25% loss of wage earning capacity. The Commission approved the finding of the Administrative Law Judge that Kelley had sustained a work related, compensable injury, and that she was entitled to medical benefits, temporary total disability benefits, and penalties. The Commission reversed the finding that she suffered a loss of wage earning capacity attributable to *1299 the compensable injury. Both parties appealed to the Circuit Court of Jackson County, Mississippi, and that court affirmed the decision of the full Commission. International Paper Company has appealed from the judgment of the lower court and presents the following issues for review by this Court: Lynda Kelley has cross-appealed from the decision of the lower court and presents the following issues for review by this Court: In May 1978, Lynda Kelley was employed by International Paper Company in Gautier, Mississippi, as a trimmer operator. The machine was used to cut paper to customer specification and Kelley earned an average weekly wage of $232.40. On May 17, 1978, the # 6 trimmer, which Kelley operated, was not in use and Kelley's foreman told her to take all the garbage drums outside and empty them. While so engaged, she stepped backward off a loading dock and hit her back on a wooden skid lying on the ground approximately six feet below. She spent the remainder of her shift in the first aid office where heat was applied to her back. The following day, Kelley was in a great deal of pain and she was taken to the emergency room of the Providence Hospital in Mobile, Alabama, where she then lived. The radiological report from the hospital indicated that there was a mild compression fracture involving the superior end plate of the body at L3. It is uncontradicted that Kelley injured her back while in the course of her employment. The extent of her injury is the question which must be answered. On May 23, 1978, Kelley was examined by Dr. McGinley, an orthopedic surgeon at the Mobile Bone and Joint Center. He diagnosed her condition as lumbosacral sprain and contusion, gave her medicine for pain and recommended heat and rest. On May 26, 1978, when Kelley reported to IP that she had blood in her urine, she was sent to the company's physician, Dr. Perry Hockaday. He released her to return to work on June 5, 1987. She received compensation benefits for the period May 18, 1978, to June 5, 1978. On November 17, 1978, Kelley returned to the Mobile Bone and Joint Center because of continued severe pain in her lower back and left leg. She was treated by Dr. Andin C. McLeod who advised her not to work for five weeks. Dr. McLeod saw Kelley four times over a period of six weeks. He was of the opinion that the back pain she was experiencing was not causally related to the May 17, 1978, accident. However, he could not say with 100% certainty that her fall did not aggravate an on-going condition. On February 9, 1979, Kelley, a union representative, and the mill manager had a meeting with reference to Kelley's condition. At that meeting, Kelley indicated that in November 1978, she had been having trouble with a "pulled disc" which Dr. McLeod had said was due to a previous mill injury, not to the May 17th injury. Kelley filed a claim with her health insurance and received disability payment benefits of $206.00 for every week that she did not work because of her condition. In 1979, Kelley worked almost the whole year without any serious complaints. In 1980, she missed 106 days of work due primarily to non-work-related illness and surgery. Dr. Winstead performed a surgical procedure for treatment of an inguinal hernia and he referred Kelley to Dr. Robinson *1300 for additional surgery, e.g., a laparotomy, a hysterectomy, an appendectomy and a resection of the ovaries. Dr. Robinson released her to return to work in December 1980. Kelley worked most of 1981. In November 1981, she consulted Dr. James B. Martin and requested him to refer her to Dr. Drake for treatment of hip and low back pain. She did not work from November 22, 1981, until January 10, 1982, and, during that time, she received disability benefits from her personal insurance. In 1982, Dr. Drake performed a diskectomy at L5-Sl. The surgery gave her some relief but after she returned to work, other employees helped her with her work, according to Kelley. In July 1983, Kelley returned to Dr. Drake, complaining of back pain she had not previously experienced. He performed a fusion of L2 and L3 and she was unable to work from July 13 to April 1, 1984. As with all treatment subsequent to 1979, Kelley filed for and received benefits from her personal disability insurance, indicating that the treatment was not for a work related condition. Kelley testified that she had been able to work fully since Dr. Drake performed the operation; that she was able to do her job but that it hurt her to do the work; that she was fully able to function; that she was carrying her load; that she did what they needed her to do at the plant. The Administrative Law Judge made the following findings of fact: The Commission entered an order affirming the Administrative Law Judge's finding as to compensability, the assessment of penalties, the award of temporary total disability benefits and medical benefits but reversed as to the finding of a 25% loss of wage earning capacity attributable to the compensable injury. The Commission ordered: It is conceded by the parties that Kelley fell and injured herself on May 17, 1978. Subsequently, over a period of years, she had back problems and other physical ailments, most of which were not related to her May 17 accident. Dr. David Skagerberg, an orthopedic surgeon in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, testified for the claimant as an expert witness. A digest of that testimony follows: The principle is well established in this state that, if a decision of the Mississippi Workers' Compensation Commission is based on substantial evidence, the circuit court and this Court are bound by the finding of fact made by the Commission. Davis v. Scotch Plywood Co. of Mississippi, 505 So. 2d 1192 (Miss. 1987); Sperry-Vickers, Inc. v. Honea, 394 So. 2d 1380 (Miss. 1981); Segar v. Garan, Inc., 388 So. 2d 164 (Miss. 1980); Gray v. Poloron Products of Mississippi, 347 So. 2d 363 (Miss. 1977); Miss. Federated Cooperatives v. Jefferson, 224 Miss. 150, 79 So. 2d 723 (1955). After reviewing the testimony of all physicians and the lay testimony, we are of the opinion that the finding of the Mississippi Workers' Compensation Commission is supported by substantial evidence. The lower court is affirmed on this issue. Miss. Code Ann., § 71-3-37 (1972), which deals with penalties, provides: Miss. Code Ann. § 71-3-37(5), (6) (1972). In J.H. Moon & Sons v. Hood, 244 Miss. 564, 144 So. 2d 782, (1962), this Court, in interpreting the above section, then Miss. Code Ann., § 6998-19 (1942), said: J.H. Moon & Sons v. Hood, 244 Miss. 564, 572, 144 So. 2d 782, 784 (1962). The statute defines compensation as "the money allowance payable to an injured worker or his dependents as provided in the chapter, and includes funeral benefits provided therein." We are of the opinion that the Mississippi Workers' Compensation Commission and lower court erred in assessing penalties against unpaid medical expenses. The judgments of the lower court and the Mississippi Workers' Compensation Commission are reversed and rendered on this issue. Kelley contends that the Mississippi Workers' Compensation Commission and the lower court erred in failing to award her permanent partial disability benefits on the basis of the 25% impairment to the body as a whole, as assessed by Dr. Drake and Dr. Skagerberg. She further contends that they erred in declining to award her permanent partial disability benefits in excess of the 25% loss. The Mississippi Workers' Compensation Commission recognized in its order that Kelley had suffered a 25% permanent impairment to the body as a whole but stated that permanent partial disability benefits are not awarded for physical injury but rather "a loss of earning power in whole or in part." The Mississippi Workers' Compensation Commission made the following finding of fact: In Agee v. Bay Springs Forest Products, Inc., 419 So. 2d 188 (Miss. 1982), the medical evidence established claimant as having a 5% to 10% disability to the body as a whole. The Mississippi Workers' Compensation Commission denied permanent partial disability benefits and on appeal from the lower court, this Court said: Id. at 189. See also Piper Industries, Inc. v. Herod, 560 So. 2d 732 (Miss. 1990). On direct appeal, we affirmed the Commission's finding of a 25% permanent partial disability. We are also of the opinion that the finding of the Mississippi Workers' Compensation Commission that Kelley did not establish a loss of wage earning capacity attributable to the compensable injury and is not entitled to the award of permanent disability benefits is supported by substantial evidence. The judgment of the lower court is affirmed on this cross appeal. AFFIRMED IN PART AND REVERSED AND RENDERED IN PART ON DIRECT APPEAL. AFFIRMED ON CROSS APPEAL. REMANDED TO THE MISSISSIPPI WORKERS' COMPENSATION COMMISSION. HAWKINS, P.J., and DAN M. LEE, P.J., and PRATHER, ROBERTSON, SULLIVAN, ANDERSON, PITTMAN and BLASS, JJ., concur.