Court Opinion

ID: 9839971
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-14 19:09:22.111139+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:42:45.627490
License: Public Domain

FILED
                                                                                  Sep 14, 2023
                                                                                 12:42 PM(CT)
                                                                               TENNESSEE COURT OF
                                                                              WORKERS' COMPENSATION
                                                                                     CLAIMS

               TENNESSEE BUREAU OF WORKERS’ COMPENSATION
              IN THE COURT OF WORKERS’ COMPENSATION CLAIMS
                               AT MEMPHIS

    KRYSTAL INGRAM,                           )      Docket No.: 2022-08-0743
            Employee,                         )
    v.                                        )
    FEDERAL EXPRESS CORP.,                    )      State File No.: 80542-2021
             Employer,                        )
    And                                       )
    INDEMNITY INSURANCE COMPANY OF            )      Judge Shaterra R. Marion
    NORTH AMERICA,                            )
             Carrier.                         )
                                              )
    ____________________________________________________________________________

                      EXPEDITED HEARING ORDER DENYING BENEFITS

        Ms. Ingram requested benefits for a hand and finger injury. Federal Express denied
the claim because her injury did not occur within the course and scope of her employment.
Ms. Ingram also seeks reimbursement for travel expenses and medical bills. The Court
holds Ms. Ingram is not likely to show that her injury occurred within the course and scope
of her employment and denies benefits at this time.

                                           History of Claim

        In June 2021, Ms. Ingram was involved in a non-work-related motor vehicle
collision. Two weeks later, she sought right hand treatment because the airbag hit her hand
and caused swelling. Ms. Ingram took medical leave after her accident but ultimately
returned to work.

       Ms. Ingram allegedly suffered a work-related injury on July 28, 2021, when boxes
struck her right hand, fingers, and knuckles. She testified she notified Michelle Morris and
an “unknown human resources specialist.” 1 After an investigation, her claim was denied,
and she was not provided a panel.

1
    No testimony explained Michelle Morris’s position with Federal Express.
       A month later, Ms. Ingram saw Dr. Henry Sherman, who noted that Ms. Ingram
injured her right hand in a motor vehicle collision in June 2021. She said she went back to
work a couple weeks ago and was “having difficulty with pain with lifting boxes.” Her x-
rays were normal, and Dr. Sherman restricted the use of her right hand.

        Eight months after her alleged work injury, Ms. Ingram had another non-work-
related motor vehicle accident. She sought treatment at the emergency room, reporting pain
in her right hand, low back, and shoulder. The records do not reference a work injury. Ms.
Ingram argued that the emergency room records were not hers because they noted her birth
date as a year off. She did admit going to that emergency room with right-hand, shoulder,
and back pain. However, she said she did tell them about her alleged work injury.

        A week after visiting the emergency room, Ms. Ingram sought additional treatment
at a clinic. The clinic records note that Ms. Ingram had minimal pain before the second
accident. After this accident, she reported a sudden onset of pain, but her x-rays were
normal. Ms. Ingram disputed reporting minimal pain before the second accident.

       Finally, over two years post her alleged work injury, Ms. Ingram saw Dr. Monsur
Ali in a telehealth visit. She told Dr. Ali she had a work-related injury to her right
hand/fingers the previous year. Dr. Ali ordered an MRI and referred Ms. Ingram to pain
management.

                             Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law

       Ms. Ingram must present sufficient evidence to show she is likely to prevail at a
final hearing. Tenn. Code Ann. § 50-6-239(d)(1) (2022). 2

       To meet this burden, she must show to a reasonable degree of medical certainty that
the box striking her right hand, fingers, and knuckles contributed more than fifty percent
in causing the need for her medical treatment, considering all causes. Tenn. Code Ann. §
50-6-102(12). Ms. Ingram may also prevail by showing that the workplace incident
aggravated a prior injury. Id. The Court finds that she did neither.

      Ms. Ingram’s claim that her injury occurred at work and that she reported the injury
to Federal Express is not sufficient to trigger benefits. The Appeals Board has explained

2
 Ms. Ingram presented several exhibits that Federal Express objected to on grounds of lack of foundation
and authenticity. These were exhibits two, three, four, five, eight, and eleven, involving text messages,
emails, written correspondence, and medical bills submitted by Ms. Ingram. The Court reserved ruling on
the admissibility until after Ms. Ingram’s testimony. In her testimony, Ms. Ingram did not provide a
foundation for these exhibits, address their authenticity, or even address these exhibits at all. For this reason,
these exhibits are inadmissible. Additionally, Ms. Ingram emailed medical records from Sunflower after
the expedited hearing. These records were not presented at the expedited hearing; therefore they are
inadmissible.
that “mere notice of an alleged workplace accident, in and of itself, does not trigger an
employer’s duty to provide medical benefits in every case, without regard to the particular
circumstances presented.” McCord v. Advantage Human Resourcing, 2015 TN Wrk.
Comp. App. Bd. LEXIS 6, at *14 (Mar. 27, 2015).

       In review of the “particular circumstances presented,” the medical evidence does
not support her testimony regarding the alleged work incident causing her injury. Despite
Ms. Ingram’s testimony, the medical evidence shows that her first motor vehicle collision
caused her right-hand injury. Ms. Ingram noted to Dr. Sherman that she injured her hand
in a June accident. She described feeling pain while lifting boxes at work but did not say a
box struck her hand, causing injury. No provider addressed whether an incident at work
aggravated Ms. Ingram’s right-hand injury.

        Ms. Ingram’s medical records reflect that her first mention of an alleged work injury
to a doctor occurred two years later when she saw Dr. Ali. Additionally, Dr. Ali’s records
suggest that her injury occurred in 2022, the year of her second motor vehicle accident, not
2021, when her alleged work injury occurred. Therefore, the Court holds Ms. Ingram is not
likely to prevail at a hearing on the merits that she is entitled to benefits.

       IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED as follows:

   1. Ms. Ingram’s request for medical and temporary disability benefits is denied.

   2. The Court sets a status conference on October 24, 2023, 1:00 p.m. Central Time.
      The parties must call (866) 943-0014 to participate. Failure to call might result in a
      determination of the issues without the party’s participation.

       ENTERED September 14, 2023.

                                   ________________________________________
                                   Judge Shaterra R. Marion
                                   Court of Workers’ Compensation Claims
                                     APPENDIX

Exhibits:
   1. Medical Records Submitted by Employer
   2. For Identification Only: Text Messages and Emails Submitted by Employee
   3. For Identification Only: Email with Work Note Submitted by Employee
   4. For Identification Only: Chain of Emails Submitted by Employee
   5. For Identification Only: Written Correspondence with Human Resources
       Submitted by Employee
   6. Notice of Denial
   7. Letter from Sedgewick Dated March 28, 2022
   8. For Identification Only: Medical Bills Submitted by Employee
   9. Letter from Sedgewick Dated October 19, 2021
   10. Medical Records Submitted by Employee
   11. For Identification Only: Medical Bills Submitted by Employee
   12. For Identification Only: Police Report from Employee’s Motor Vehicle Collision
       on February 18, 2022
   13. For Identification Only: W-2 Tax Forms from MGM Resorts Mississippi LLC and
       First Student Management LLC Submitted by Employee
   14. For Identification Only: Pay Stub and W-2 Tax Forms from Federal Express
       Submitted by Employee
   15. Medical Records from Teladoc Submitted by Employee
   16. For Identification Only: Blank Bureau of Workers’ Compensation Forms
       Submitted by Employee
   17. Photographs of Employee’s Hand and Arm Submitted by Employee

Technical Record:
   1. Petition for Benefit Determination
   2. Dispute Certification Notice with Additional Issues
   3. Hearing Request, along with Affidavit of Krystal Ingram, filed January 12, 2023
   4. Order on Status Hearing, dated June 2, 2023
   5. Employee’s Exhibit and Witness List
   6. Employer’s Prehearing Brief
                         CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

    I certify that a copy of the foregoing was sent as indicated on September 14 , 2023.

Name                      Mail     Via Service sent to:
                                  Email
Krystal Ingram,            X        X   P.O. Box 465
Employee                                Robinsville, MS 38664
                                        krystyle11@yahoo.com
Stephen Miller,                     X   smiller@mckuhn.com
Joseph Baker,                           jbaker@mckuhn.com
Employer’s Attorneys                    mdoherty@mckuhn.com

                                       _____________________________________
                                       Penny Shrum, Court Clerk
                                       Court of Workers’ Compensation Claims
                                       WC.CourtClerk@tn.gov
                                              NOTICE OF APPEAL
                                      Tennessee Bureau of Workers’ Compensation
                                        www.tn.gov/workforce/injuries-at-work/
                                        wc.courtclerk@tn.gov | 1-800-332-2667

                                                                                  Docket No.: ________________________

                                                                                  State File No.: ______________________

                                                                                  Date of Injury: _____________________

         ___________________________________________________________________________
         Employee

         v.

         ___________________________________________________________________________
         Employer

Notice is given that ____________________________________________________________________
                         [List name(s) of all appealing party(ies). Use separate sheet if necessary.]

appeals the following order(s) of the Tennessee Court of Workers’ Compensation Claims to the
Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board (check one or more applicable boxes and include the date file-
stamped on the first page of the order(s) being appealed):

□ Expedited Hearing Order filed on _______________ □ Motion Order filed on ___________________
□ Compensation Order filed on__________________ □ Other Order filed on_____________________
issued by Judge _________________________________________________________________________.

Statement of the Issues on Appeal
Provide a short and plain statement of the issues on appeal or basis for relief on appeal:
________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________

Parties
Appellant(s) (Requesting Party): _________________________________________ ☐Employer ☐Employee
Address: ________________________________________________________ Phone: ___________________
Email: __________________________________________________________
Attorney’s Name: ______________________________________________ BPR#: _______________________
Attorney’s Email: ______________________________________________ Phone: _______________________
Attorney’s Address: _________________________________________________________________________
                           * Attach an additional sheet for each additional Appellant *

LB-1099 rev. 01/20                              Page 1 of 2                                              RDA 11082
Employee Name: _______________________________________ Docket No.: _____________________ Date of Inj.: _______________

Appellee(s) (Opposing Party): ___________________________________________ ☐Employer ☐Employee
Appellee’s Address: ______________________________________________ Phone: ____________________
Email: _________________________________________________________
Attorney’s Name: _____________________________________________ BPR#: ________________________
Attorney’s Email: _____________________________________________ Phone: _______________________
Attorney’s Address: _________________________________________________________________________
                              * Attach an additional sheet for each additional Appellee *

                                             CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I, _____________________________________________________________, certify that I have forwarded a
true and exact copy of this Notice of Appeal by First Class mail, postage prepaid, or in any manner as described
in Tennessee Compilation Rules & Regulations, Chapter 0800-02-21, to all parties and/or their attorneys in this
case on this the __________ day of ___________________________________, 20 ____.

                                                           ______________________________________________
                                                            [Signature of appellant or attorney for appellant]

LB-1099 rev. 01/20                                 Page 2 of 2                                        RDA 11082