Opinion ID: 1060403
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Summary of Proof

Text: The employee, Ralph D. Richards, age 43, was employed by B.F. Goodrich for over twenty years and at the time of the alleged injury worked in the maintenance department. Richards testified that sometime in the spring of 1998, he was working the second shift, i.e., 3:30 p.m. to midnight, when he tried to lift a large wooden door near the tow motor shop. He said that when he bent over at the waist to grab the door handle, he injured his back and fell to the floor. According to Richards, the shift supervisor, John Davidson, saw him moments after the injury occurred. He said he worked the remainder of his shift following the injury, although he tried to take it easy. Richards testified that he had never had a similar injury, other than muscle pulls, and that he thought that the injury would get better after a few days. Richards testified that a couple of weeks after the door lifting incident, he injured his hip and leg when he fell into a coolant tank at work. He also said that he did not decide to see a doctor until several weeks later when he injured his back while trying to put on a swimsuit. Richards further testified that he could not identify the exact date that the injury occurred and agreed that although his complaint alleged that the injury occurred on May 15, 1998, while lifting a metal object, he could not recall hurting his back while lifting a metal object. Moreover, Richards admitted that he had made a prior statement that the coolant tank incident occurred in late March or early April of 1998, and that it occurred after the injury from lifting the door. Finally, Richards acknowledged that he did not tell Dr. Richard Cole, his physician, or Dr. Lana Cook, a chiropractor, that he had suffered a work-related accident and that he never filed a written injury report with his employer. James Bowers testified that he saw Richards hurt his back while trying to lift the large door near the tow motor room. [1] He could not recall the precise date the incident occurred, but he believed it took place while he and Richards were working second shift after the employee supper break. He testified that the shift supervisor, John Davidson, saw that Richards had been injured and that he told Davidson that the door needed to be replaced. Bowers said that he had made similar complaints about the door to other supervisors on prior occasions. He agreed that he and Richards had been both work and social friends for twenty years. On May 26, 1998, Richards went to the office of Dr. Cole [2] and told Cole's assistant that he had been hurting for a few weeks and that he had hurt his back while stepping into a swimsuit. Cole advised Richards to take several days off from work and referred him to Dr. Cook, a chiropractor, whom Richards saw on several occasions. When Richards' pain persisted, Dr. Cole sent him for an MRI and referred him to Dr. Gregory Lansford, a neurosurgeon. Deborah Richards, the employee's wife, testified that her husband told her that he injured his back while lifting a door at work. She could not recall the exact date it occurred, nor how much time elapsed after the injury before Richards went to the doctor. She testified that her husband rarely complained and was reluctant to go to the doctor for any illness or injury. The first witness for the defense was John Davidson, the maintenance supervisor, who testified that on April 28, 1998, he saw Richards wearing a back brace on a work project and inquired about whether he had hurt his back on the job. Richards responded No, I don't know where I did it. Davidson testified that he had not previously seen Richards wearing a back brace, that he never saw Richards injure his back, and that he never received any information about Richards being injured while lifting a door or falling into a coolant tank. [3] Davidson also testified that it was his responsibility to fill out accident reports and that Richards had never reported a work-related back injury to him. Continuing with the defense proof, Donna Fielding, human resources supervisor and registered nurse, testified that Richards never filed a complaint for a work-related injury of any kind in 1998, much less one stemming from the lifting of a door or falling into a coolant tank. In May, June, and July of 1998, she received numerous work excuse forms on behalf of Richards from Dr. Cole's office for an injury which was not identified as work-related. Although Richards told Fielding that he hurt his back, he also told her that he did not know how or where the injury happened and that he may have hurt his back while putting on a swimsuit. Fielding said that she had no information that Richards claimed he suffered a work-related injury until she received a letter from Richards' attorney on July 17, 1998. She then completed a report stating that Richards had lower back pain and that the cause was unknown. She testified that all employees received information on filing claims for work-related injuries and that the information was also posted in the workplace. Fielding also introduced time sheets for April and May of 1998, which demonstrated that Richards and Bowers did not work the same shift during those months. She concluded that the large door near the tow motor room had been replaced in November of 1998 following a safety committee walk-through. Finally, Dr. Gregory Lansford testified by deposition that on July 9, 1998, he examined Ralph Richards, who presented with a history of back and radicular right leg pain which [Richards] stated began after pulling a heavy spring-loaded door at work. Dr. Lansford said that an MRI revealed a ruptured disc consistent with complaints of back and leg pain [4] and, as a result, he performed surgery on July 31, 1998. Dr. Lansford said that Richards did extremely well following surgery and physical therapy, and he allowed him to return to work on October 14, 1998, with common-sense restrictions on lifting, bending, and stooping. Dr. Lansford testified that, based on the history he was given, the injury was work-related, and he assigned a ten percent impairment rating to the body as a whole. The trial court dismissed the complaint after finding that Richards' back injury did not arise out of and in the course of his employment. The Special Workers' Compensation Appeals Panel disagreed, holding that the injury arose out of and in the course of employment and remanding for calculation of benefits. We granted review to address these issues.