Opinion ID: 2468742
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Harless Case

Text: Plaintiff, Brenda Harless, is a high-school graduate who has held jobs as a nurse's aid, waitress, maid, druggist's assistant, and factory worker. At the time of trial, she was thirty-four years old. On January 16, 1993, Harless injured her back lifting a patient in the course and scope of her employment as a nurse's aid for defendant employer, Huntsville Manor Nursing Home. Harless was treated by Dr. Robert Finelli, a neurosurgeon, who recommended physical therapy and a work hardening program after detecting a bulging disk. On June 14, 1993, Dr. Finelli released Harless to return to work as a nurse's aid with a lifting restriction of twenty-five pounds for four weeks, followed by a return to full and regular duty. He assessed an anatomical impairment of 2 to 3% to the whole body. After Harless was released by Dr. Finelli, Huntsville Manor offered to put her back to work at the same rate of pay she was making when she was injured. Harless did not respond to this offer because she was not feeling well enough to return to work. She did, however, attempt to work as a cashier at a convenience store, a less physically demanding job than the one she had at the nursing home, but was not able to complete a full shift due to back pain. In April, 1994, Harless was referred by her lawyer to Dr. William Kennedy, an orthopedic surgeon. Dr. Kennedy saw Harless on one occasion and diagnosed a herniated disk. In Dr. Kennedy's view, a herniated disk is synonymous with a bulging one, the condition diagnosed by Dr. Finelli. Dr. Kennedy opined that Harless had not been physically able to work since her back injury on January 16, 1993. He recommended that she not return to any type of work that would require lifting greater than twenty-five pounds at a time or six pounds constantly, and that she should not do any work that would require vigorous pushing or pulling. Dr. Kennedy assigned a 14% whole body anatomical impairment rating. In addition to Doctors Finelli and Kennedy, Harless consulted with Dr. Larry Wolfe, a family practitioner. Dr. Wolfe began treating Harless on January 31, 1994, for psychiatric problems, specifically depression and anxiety. Dr. Wolfe found her extremely disabled on account of emotional difficulties stemming from the back injury and her resulting inability to work and support her family. Dr. Wolfe was unable to provide a numerical percentage of mental impairment or a percentage of anatomical impairment reflecting Harless's pain under the American Medical Association's Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment (4th ed. 1993) (AMA Guides) because the AMA Guides provide no such percentages. Two vocational experts testified as well. Dr. Norman Hankins testified that Harless was 100% vocationally disabled due to her back injury and mental condition. Dr. Craig Colvin gave Harless a 20 to 25% vocational disability rating.