Court Opinion

ID: 9668096
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 02:02:13.212045+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:15:42.988132
License: Public Domain

ROBERT L. Brown, Justice, dissenting. The majority ustice, on technical grounds, even though the critical issue presented in this case is squarely before us. Ms. Matthews makes these points in the argument portion of her appellant’s brief: 1. The test for affirmance of the Commission’s opinion is substantial evidence, and there is no credible evidence supporting the Commission’s findings. 2. The Administrative Law Judge found that Ms. Matthews’s job duties involved rapid, repetitive motion.1  3. Dr. Lyde’s findings constitute objective findings of carpal tunnel syndrome. 4. Dr. Lyde’s surgery removed Matthews’s symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome. 5. The decision of the full Commission should be reversed. Though she employs an economy of words, the argument she mounts is sufficient for this court to address the issue of whether the Commission’s decision is supported by substantial evidence. I would reverse the Workers’ Compensation Commission’s denial of benefits in this case. Try as I might, I can find no evidence to support a conclusion that Ms. Matthews’s carpal tunnel syndrome arose out of any conduct other than her typing at work. Her testimony before the Administrative Law Judge evidenced this work history: •Human Resources Department Typed 3 to 4 hours a 1989- 1990 day •Respiratory Therapy Typed 5 to 6 hours a 1990- 1992 day •Davis Care Facility Typed 2 to 3 hours a 1992-1996 day That Ms. Matthews suffered from carpal tunnel syndrome is not an issue. It is a given. Nor is the fact that Ms. Matthews did considerable typing at work for over seven years an issue. The only questions before the Commission were whether her condition arose out of her employment and whether her condition was established by objective medical findings. See Kildow v. Baldwin Piano & Organ, 333 Ark. 335, 969 S.W.2d 190 (1998). This brings into play the testimony of Dr. John O. Lytle, Ms. Matthews’s surgeon, who concluded in his medical reports that her “long history of being a typist” rendered her carpal tunnel syndrome a work-related problem. In a split decision with one member dissenting, the Commission dismissed Dr. Lytle’s opinion out of hand because it said that Dr. Lytle “misunderstood” Ms. Matthews’s work duties. The reason for this dubious conclusion is that she did tasks in addition to typing in her last employment at Davis Care Facility. Those other tasks included answering the telephone, filing, paperwork, interviewing, and running errands. Even still, her typing duties between 1992 and 1996, according to the Commission, comprised 25% to 40% of her work time. Why the Commission concluded that her carpal tunnel syndrome did not arise from typing at work simply because she had other duties to perform is beyond me. Next, the majority and the Commission make much out of the fact that on cross-examination Ms. Matthews testified that she experienced pain and numbness in her right hand while walking on a track at the Wellness Center in 1994. On direct examination, she had testified that in February 1996, she would lie in bed and her right arm would go numb, and she would have pain shoot from the top part of her right shoulder down through her right arm and hand. Her right hand, she testified, would go completely numb, and she would wake up and have to shake it in order to go back to sleep. In November 1996, the pain had become so bad that she went to see Dr. Lytle, after conferring with her supervisor. To me, this describes the gradual progression of an insidious ailment from 1994 to 1996. What other explanation is there? The time in which her condition began to manifest itself is certainly not evidence that her condition was caused by anything other than typing. Nor does it diminish her credibility in any way that I can see. The Jefferson Hospital Association counters in its brief that Ms. Matthews did much less typing than the average secretary and engaged in other work activities. Thus, it concludes that her carpal tunnel syndrome is not work related, and it hypothesizes that a cystic mass may have caused it. There is absolutely no proof in the record that the mass caused the carpal tunnel syndrome, and this was certainly not Dr. Lytle’s opinion. He concluded that her condition was caused by her typing. Nor is there proof offered by the Association of any other cause of the carpal tunnel syndrome other than typing. I agree with Ms. Matthews that substantial evidence supporting a Commission’s decision must involve some credible evidence. The Commission dismissed Dr. Lytle’s opinion after speculating that he must not have known what she really did on the job. Using this springboard, the Commission then lept to the conclusion that the injury was not work related. More must be shown to invalidate this claim in my judgment. I am convinced that fair-minded persons would not have reached the same conclusion as the Commission. For these reasons, I respectfully dissent. Thornton, J„ joins.   The decision of the ALJ denying the claim was reached before this court decided Kildow v. Baldwin Piano & Organ, 333 Ark. 335, 969 S.W.2d 190 (1998).