Court Opinion

ID: 9677177
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 05:45:24.499085+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:18:52.569057
License: Public Domain

Andree LAYTON Roaf, Judge, dissenting. The majority opinion has correctly set out the relevant facts of this case, and I will not repeat them. The ALJ found that this case turned “entirely” upon Timothy Lee’s credibility, that the record was “replete” with inconsistencies and contradictions, and that Lee’s conduct was “totally inconsistent” with a work-related injury. These “inconsistencies” in essence revolve around Lee’s failure to promptly submit a workers’ compensation claim for the injury, his decision to seek medical attention from the VIA. hospital, and his fifing for and subsequent receipt of unemployment compensation. The ALJ also made much of Lee’s testimony that he worked one day on the “soft drink” side with a different supervisor; Aerosmith, Lee’s immediate supervisor during the three weeks he worked for Dr. Pepper, testified that Lee worked exclusively in delivering water. However, this so-called discrepancy is equivocal at best because the other supervisor testified at deposition only that he did not remember Lee at all and failed to testify at the hearing before the ALJ. Neither Lee’s failure to give prompt formal notice to Dr. Pepper of his claim nor his receipt of unemployment benefits is a bar to his eligibility for workers’ compensation benefits, and the Commission did not deny his claim on either basis. It instead found that Lee’s contemporaneous, precise description of the mechanism of his injury found in the medical records at the VA., and corroborated by his supervisor’s testimony, was rendered not credible by Lee’s subsequent actions in not pursuing a claim until after the seriousness of his injury was determined. This delay may have been foolish on Lee’s part, hut it has little bearing on the credibility of these earlier corroborated reports to the VA. of what was clearly a work-related injury. How this later conduct renders the earlier medical records not credible is beyond my comprehension, and the Commission certainly does not explain it other than to label it “inconsistent.” I am mindful of the fact that it is so well settled as to be axiomatic that it is the function of the Commission to determine the credibility of witnesses and the weight to be afforded their testimony. However, even credibility determinations are not completely insulated from appellate review. Where the Commission errs when it translates the evidence into findings of fact, and the error is expressly relied upon in reaching its decision, the reviewing court must reverse. Tucker v. Roberts-McNutt, Inc., 342 Ark. 511, 29 S.W.3d 706 (2000). Additionally, when fair-minded persons cannot agree that alleged inconsistencies in a claimant’s testimony constitute a substantial basis for the denial of workers’ compensation benefits, this court will reverse. Cooper v. Hiland Dairy, 69 Ark. App. 200, 11 S.W.3d 5 (2000). This is one of those rare cases where a credibility determination cannot and should not be upheld on appeal. I would reverse and remand this case for award of benefits. Neal, J., joins.