Court Opinion

ID: 9387898
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-04-19 13:11:32.183378+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:18:16.077465
License: Public Domain

FILED
                                                                                  Apr 11, 2023
                                                                                  12:36 PM(CT)
                                                                               TENNESSEE COURT OF
                                                                              WORKERS' COMPENSATION
                                                                                     CLAIMS

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

 DULKA BRDJANIN,                             )   Docket No. 2022-06-0446
                                             )
               Employee,                     )
 v.                                          )
 HOSPITAL HOUSEKEEPING                       )   State File No. 13018-2021
 SYSTEMS, LLC,                               )
           Employer,                         )
                                             )
 SAFETY NATIONAL CASUALTY                    )   Judge Joshua Davis Baker
 CORP.,                                      )
          Carrier.                           )

                           EXPEDITED HEARING ORDER

       The Court held an expedited hearing on March 23, 2023, to decide Ms. Brdjanin’s
entitlement to benefits for an injury she suffered in a fall. Because an idiopathic condition
caused her to faint, and her employment did not present a special hazard that caused or
exacerbated her injuries, the Court holds she is unlikely to prevail at a final hearing and
denies her request.

                                      Claim History

       Ms. Brdjanin fell while cleaning a hospital room for Hospital Housekeeping
Systems. However, her accounts differed over time about what caused her fall. One
account, which was documented in the first two days after her injury, described fainting.
The other version, which appeared only recently in her declaration and testimony,
explained she tripped over something in the room.

       Ms. Brdjanin, who speaks no English, went to the emergency room where her adult
children interpreted for her. They relayed to the medical staff that she had fainted and
injured her left arm and face.

                                             1
       Dr. Malcolm Steele examined her and wrote, “[Patient] states . . . today she was
cleaning a room when she blackout [sic] and fell” and “hurt her arms, face, mouth and
eyes.” He attributed her injuries to an accidental fall from “syncope and collapse[,]” and
he referred her “to ER for fainting.”

        Hospital staff explained, “[Earlier this morning [she] was working here at
Centennial where she got lightheaded and passed out. She then awoke with significant pain
to her left arm.” Apparently, Ms. Brdjanin had “heart palpitations and then blacked out and
fell.” Staff further reported, “History is obtained from her son as she is from Bosnia and
doesn’t speak English. She felt the room spin and become black and fell hitting her
face/landing on wrist . . . We have been consulted for syncope.”

      After HHS denied the claim as an idiopathic injury, Ms. Brdjanin filed a petition in
which she wrote, “I don’t know how but I faild [sic] and hit the bed with my forehead.”

       By the time she filed her hearing request with a declaration, Ms. Brdjanin claimed
she had tripped. She wrote in her declaration, “I tripped and fell[.] I hit my head on the bed
and busted my forehead[.] I also broke my arm [in] the fall.” Likewise, she testified at the
hearing that she tripped over something in the room and fell but did not mention hitting the
bed.

                        Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law

       Ms. Brdjanin must present sufficient evidence that she is likely to prevail at a final
hearing to receive benefits. Tenn. Code Ann. § 50-6-239(d)(1) (2022); McCord v.
Advantage Human Resourcing, 2015 TN Wrk. Comp. App. Bd. LEXIS 6, at *9 (Mar. 27,
2015).

       To prevail at a final hearing, she must prove that she suffered a work-related injury.
Not all injuries that happen at work are work injuries. Rather, a work injury is defined as
“an injury by accident . . . arising primarily out of and in the course and scope of
employment, that causes death, disablement or the need for medical treatment[.]” Tenn.
Code Ann. § 50-6-102(12).

       Of the two accounts of injury, the Court finds first one more credible. Ms. Brdjanin
had the help of her daughter and son’s interpretation, and neither she nor they had any
motive to mislead medical staff. In fact, they had every reason to be truthful so that she
could receive appropriate medical help. Further, medical staff had nothing to gain by mis-
recording her account. Therefore, the Court finds Ms. Brdjanin fainted, which resulted in
an idiopathic injury.

      An idiopathic injury is one that has “an unexplained origin or cause, and generally
does not arise of the employment unless some condition of the employment presents a

                                              2
peculiar or additional hazard.” Veler v. Wackenhut Servs., No. E2010-00965-WC-R3-WC,
2011 Tenn. LEXIS 78, at *9 (Tenn. Workers’ Comp. Panel Jan. 28, 2011).

        An injury that occurs from an idiopathic condition is compensable “if an
employment hazard causes or exacerbates the injury.” Phillips v. A&H Constr. Co., 134
S.W.3d 145, 148 (Tenn. 2004). The focus is on the causal link between the employment
and the accident or injury, rather than a causal link between the employment and the
idiopathic episode. McCaffery v. Cardinal Logistics, 2015 TN Wrk. Comp. App. Bd.
LEXIS 50, at *11 (Dec. 10, 2015). In this context, cause means that the accident originated
in the hazards to which the employee was exposed as a result of her work. Id. at *10.

       For Ms. Brdjanin to prevail at a final hearing, she must prove her work presented a
special hazard that caused or exacerbated her injuries when she fainted. For instance, if
employment required a worker to be on a ladder or to use a dangerous tool, those would be
special hazards that could cause or exacerbate a worker’s injuries if she fainted. But here,
Ms. Brdjanin did not present any evidence that her injuries were caused by a particular
hazard in the room where she fell. Without that proof, the Court cannot find that her injuries
were any more caused or exacerbated by her employment than if she had fainted while
cleaning her room at home.

       Therefore, the Court holds that she is unlikely to prevail at a final hearing in proving
she suffered a compensable work injury and denies her request at this time.

IT IS ORDERED as follows:

   1. The Court denies Ms. Brdjanin’s requested relief at this time.

   2. The Court sets this claim for a scheduling hearing on Monday June 19, 2023, at
      9:30 a.m. Central Time. The parties must call (615) 741-2113 or toll-free at (855)
      874-0474 to participate. Failure to call might result in a determination of the issues
      without the party’s participation.

ENTERED April 11, 2023.

                                    ___________________________________
                                    Joshua Davis Baker, Judge
                                    Court of Workers’ Compensation Claims

                                              3
                                            APPENDIX

Exhibits

   1.   Medical records
   2.   Rule 72 declaration of Ms. Dulka Brdjanin
   3.   HHS personnel records
   4.   HHS Medical History Questionnaire

Technical Record

   1.   Petition for Benefit Determination
   2.   Dispute Certification Notice
   3.   Request for Expedited Hearing
   4.   Request for Status Hearing
   5.   Order Setting Status Conference
   6.   Motion for Extension of Deadline to file a Prehearing Statement
   7.   Order Granting Motion for Extension
   8.   Employer’s Prehearing Statement

                                  CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

        I certify that a copy of this Order was sent as indicated on April 11, 2023.

  Name                        Certified   Via      Via Service sent to:
                               Mail       Fax     Email
  Dulka Brdjanin,                                  X    amersshoping@yahoo.com
  Employee
  Neil McIntire,                                   X       nmcintire@howell-fisher.com
  Employer’s Attorney

                                    ____________________________________________
                                    Penny Shrum, Court Clerk
                                    Court of Workers’ Compensation Claims
                                    Wc.courtclerk@tn.gov

                                              4
                                              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