STATE OF WEST VIRGINIA 

SUPREME COURT OF APPEALS 

FILED NAOMI STATON, June 22, 2016 

Claimant Below, Petitioner RORY L. PERRY II, CLERK 

SUPREME COURT OF APPEALS 

OF WEST VIRGINIA 

vs.) No. 15-0620 (BOR Appeal No. 2050083) 

(Claim No. 2013018978) 

INTEGRATED RESOURCES, INC., 

Employer Below, Respondent 

MEMORANDUM DECISION 

Petitioner Naomi Staton, by Stephen P. New, her attorney, appeals the decision of the 

West Virginia Workers’ Compensation Board of Review. Integrated Resources, Inc., by Jeffery 

B. Brannon, its attorney, filed a timely response. 

This appeal arises from the Board of Review’s Final Order dated May 20, 2015, in which 

the Board affirmed a December 1, 2014, Order of the Workers’ Compensation Office of Judges. 

In its Order, the Office of Judges affirmed the claims administrator’s May 30, 2013, decision to 

grant a 0% permanent partial disability award. The Court has carefully reviewed the records, 

written arguments, and appendices contained in the briefs, and the case is mature for 

consideration. 

This Court has considered the parties’ briefs and the record on appeal. The facts and legal 

arguments are adequately presented, and the decisional process would not be significantly aided 

by oral argument. Upon consideration of the standard of review, the briefs, and the record 

presented, the Court finds no substantial question of law and no prejudicial error. For these 

reasons, a memorandum decision is appropriate under Rule 21 of the Rules of Appellate 

Procedure. 

Naomi Staton, a personal care service aide for Integrated Resources, Inc., was injured 

while moving a patient on January 17, 2013. Ms. Staton reported to the emergency department at 

Beckley Appalachian Regional Hospital with groin pain and interior thigh pain on January 21, 

2013. She was examined and diagnosed with a ligamentous sprain. She was prescribed 

medication and discharged. On January 29, 2013, Ms. Staton underwent an x-ray examination of 

her right hip. It revealed no fracture or traumatic subluxation. A review of her lumbar spine 

demonstrated osteoarthritis and degenerative disc disease with no findings to suggest a fracture. 

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On February 22, 2013, the claims administrator held the claim compensable for a right leg and 

groin sprain. 

Marsha Bailey, M.D., found that Ms. Staton had reached maximum medical improvement 

and suffered no whole person impairment in her April 11, 2013, independent medical evaluation. 

Dr. Bailey indicated that this injury had long since resolved and that Ms. Staton’s ongoing 

complaints of chronic lower back and bilateral knee pain were not related to the compensable 

injury but rather to her condition of obesity. The claims administrator granted a 0% permanent 

partial disability award on May 30, 2013. 

On February 21, 2014, an independent medical evaluation performed by Bruce 

Guberman, M.D., found that Ms. Staton had reached maximum medical improvement and 

suffered from 8% whole person impairment. He opined that the majority of the pain in her right 

hip resulted from radiation of her low back pain. He indicated that Ms. Staton demonstrated 

abnormalities in her range of motion of her right hip. However she also had range of motion 

abnormalities in her uninjured left hip. Therefore, Dr. Guberman opined that the range of motion 

abnormalities in the right hip were unrelated to the compensable injury. For the lumbar spine, Dr. 

Guberman found 8% whole person impairment utilizing the American Medical Association’s 

Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment (4th ed. 1993) and West Virginia Code of 

State Rules § 85-20-C (2006). 

The Office of Judges affirmed the claims administrator in its December 1, 2014, Order. It 

found that Ms. Staton did not suffer any ratable impairment related to the injury. Both Dr. 

Guberman and Dr. Bailey submitted independent medical evaluations. Dr. Guberman found 8% 

whole person impairment but noted that it was related to the lower back. Dr. Bailey found 0% 

impairment. The Office of Judges noted that no lower back injury has been held compensable in 

this claim. The Office of Judges also noted that Dr. Guberman found no impairment related to 

the hip. Because both doctors found 0% whole person impairment related to the hip and the back 

was not a compensable condition of the claim, the Office of Judges concluded a 0% permanent 

partial disability award was appropriate. The Board of Review adopted the findings of the Office 

of Judges and affirmed its Order on May 20, 2015. 

After review, we agree with consistent decisions of the Office of Judges and Board of 

Review. The record is clear that there was no whole person impairment attributable to a 

compensable condition in the claim. As a result, it was not in error for the Office of Judges and 

Board of Review to grant a 0% permanent partial disability award. 

For the foregoing reasons, we find that the decision of the Board of Review is not in clear 

violation of any constitutional or statutory provision, nor is it clearly the result of erroneous 

conclusions of law, nor is it based upon a material misstatement or mischaracterization of the 

evidentiary record. Therefore, the decision of the Board of Review is affirmed. 

Affirmed. 

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ISSUED: June 22, 2016 

CONCURRED IN BY: 

Chief Justice Menis E. Ketchum 

Justice Robin J. Davis 

Justice Brent D. Benjamin 

Justice Margaret L. Workman 

Justice Allen H. Loughry II 

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