Court Opinion

ID: 9840020
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-14 21:11:51.928689+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:43:01.008178
License: Public Domain

FILED
                                                                               September 14, 2023
                                                                                  EDYTHE NASH GAISER, CLERK
                                                                                  SUPREME COURT OF APPEALS
                                                                                      OF WEST VIRGINIA

                             STATE OF WEST VIRGINIA
                           SUPREME COURT OF APPEALS

Coronado Coal Corporation,
Employer Below, Petitioner

vs.)   No. 21-0979     (BOR Appeal No. 2057162)
                       (Claim No. 2021001095)

Roger D. Muncy Jr.,
Claimant Below, Respondent

                              MEMORANDUM DECISION

       Petitioner Coronado Coal Corporation appeals the decision of the West Virginia Workers’
Compensation Board of Review (“Board of Review”). Roger D. Muncy Jr. filed a timely
response. 1 The issue on appeal is additional compensable conditions. The claims administrator
denied the addition of cervical and thoracic sprains to the claim on October 7, 2020. The Workers’
Compensation Office of Judges (“Office of Judges”) reversed the decision in its July 23, 2021,
Order and added cervical and thoracic sprains to the claim. The Order was affirmed by the Board
of Review on November 18, 2021. Upon our review, we determine that oral argument is
unnecessary and that a memorandum decision affirming the Board of Review’s decision is
appropriate. See W. Va. R. App. P. 21.

        Mr. Muncy, an electrician, injured his right hand and fingers on July 15, 2020, when he
sustained an electrical shock in the course of his employment. He sought treatment that day from
Logan Regional Medical Center where he reported tingling in his right hand to the elbow,
involuntary left cheek movement, and pain in his right ring, middle, and index fingers. He had full
range of motion in the neck and back. The Employees’ and Physicians’ Report of Injury, completed
that day, indicates Mr. Muncy sustained a right upper extremity electrical shock.

        On July 16, 2020, Mr. Muncy sought treatment from Family Healthcare Associates for his
electrocution injury. Physical examination showed cervical muscle spasms, tenderness on
palpation of the cervical spine, and pain with range of motion of the cervical spine. He was
diagnosed with peripheral neuropathy, muscle spasm, and electrocution. On July 20, 2020, a
physical examination showed lumbar spine tenderness and decreased range of motion. The

       1
       Petitioner, Coronado Coal Corporation, is represented by Steven K. Wellman and James
W. Heslep, and respondent, Roger D. Muncy Jr., is represented by Steven S. Wolfe.
                                             1
diagnoses were neck strain, thoracic strain, peripheral neuropathy, muscle spasm, and
electrocution. The claim was held compensable for right hand electrical shock on July 23, 2020.

        Randall Short, D.O., performed a physician review on August 19, 2020, in which he
determined that the records do not support a finding of cervical or thoracic spine injuries. He noted
that the treatment notes from Family Healthcare Associates were inconsistent because Mr. Muncy
did not report cervical or thoracic spine issues. However, the physical examination showed
tenderness, spasms, and other findings.

        Mr. Muncy underwent a cervical MRI on August 21, 2020, which showed multilevel
degenerative changes with mild to moderate canal and foraminal narrowing. On August 26, 2020,
Mr. Muncy sought treatment from Robert Lewis II, M.D., for electrocution, neuropathy, and
muscle spasms. He reported numbness from his neck down his right arm. Mr. Muncy asserted that
when he was shocked, he hit his head on the roof and fell backwards into some toolboxes. Dr.
Lewis diagnosed electrocution, left arm and bilateral lower extremity numbness, weakness, and
occipital neuralgia. On October 7, 2020, the claims administrator denied the addition of cervical
and thoracic sprains to the claim.

       Prasadarao Mukkamala, M.D. performed an independent medical evaluation on January
12, 2021, in which he noted that a physical examination was normal, and Mr. Muncy had returned
to work with no restrictions. Dr. Mukkamala found that Mr. Muncy reached maximum medical
improvement and required no further treatment. In an April 19, 2021, addendum to his report, Dr.
Mukkamala opined that Mr. Muncy did not injure his cervical or thoracic spine as a result of the
compensable injury.

        The Office of Judges reversed the claims administrator’s decision and added cervical and
thoracic sprains to the claim. It found that medical records from Family Healthcare Associates
from July 16, 2020, through October 26, 2020, document cervical muscle spasms, tenderness, and
pain with range of motion as well as lumbar tenderness, decreased range of motion, and decreased
strength. The diagnoses were cervical and thoracic strains and the Office of Judges found that there
was no cause for the conditions other than the compensable injury. The Office of Judges noted that
the employer relied on the report of Dr. Lewis, who made no assessment of cervical or thoracic
strains. However, the Office of Judges found that there is no indication that Dr. Lewis examined
Mr. Muncy for such conditions. Further, Dr. Lewis is a neurologist, and his examination would
have been searching for neurological deficits, not soft tissue injuries like a strain.

       The Office of Judges determined that Dr. Mukkamala’s evaluation and supplemental report
were unreliable for the issue at hand. There was no indication that Dr. Mukkamala examined Mr.
Muncy’s cervical or thoracic spine. Dr. Mukkamala’s opinion in his supplemental report that Mr.
Muncy did not injure his cervical or thoracic spine as a result of the compensable injury was based
on Dr. Lewis’s documentation of no muscle spasms. The Office of Judges again noted that Dr.
Lewis did not perform a complete cervical or thoracic spine evaluation.

       Regarding Dr. Short’s physician review, the Office of Judges noted that the report was
based on a review of records, not an actual physical examination of Mr. Muncy. Dr. Short’s finding
                                                 2
of no cervical or thoracic spine injuries was based on the report by Family Healthcare Associates,
which contained no complaints of cervical or thoracic spine issues. However, the Office of Judges
determined that the treatment notes dealt with the chief complaint of electrocution. The Office of
Judges found that the lack of notes detailing the secondary conditions or complaints does not defeat
the objective physical examination findings of cervical and thoracic spine symptoms. The Office
of Judges ultimately concluded that Mr. Muncy sustained his burden of proof establishing that he
developed cervical and thoracic spine strains as a result of his compensable injury. The Board of
Review adopted the findings of fact and conclusions of law of the Office of Judges and affirmed
its decision on November 18, 2021.

        This Court may not reweigh the evidentiary record, but must give deference to the findings,
reasoning, and conclusions of the Board of Review, and when the Board’s decision effectively
represents a reversal of a prior order of either the Workers’ Compensation Commission or the
Office of Judges, we may reverse or modify that decision only if it is in clear violation of
constitutional or statutory provisions, is clearly the result of erroneous conclusions of law, or is so
clearly wrong based upon the evidentiary record that even when all inferences are resolved in favor
of the Board’s findings, reasoning, and conclusions, there is insufficient support to sustain the
decision. See W. Va. Code §§ 23-5-15(c) & (e). We apply a de novo standard of review to questions
of law. See Justice v. W. Va. Off. Ins. Comm’n, 230 W. Va. 80, 83, 736 S.E.2d 80, 83 (2012).

        After review, we agree with the reasoning and conclusions of the Office of Judges as
affirmed by the Board of Review. The standard for the addition of conditions to a claim is the same
as for compensability. For an injury to be compensable it must be a personal injury that was
received in the course of employment, and it must have resulted from that employment. See Barnett
v. State Workmen’s Comp. Comm’r, 153 W. Va. 796, 172 S.E.2d 698 (1970). Mr. Muncy has met
his burden of proof showing that he sustained cervical and thoracic sprains in the course of and
resulting from his employment. His cervical and thoracic spine symptoms are well documented in
the record following the compensable injury. The Board of Review committed no reversible error
in affirming the addition of cervical and thoracic sprains to the claim.

                                                                                            Affirmed.
ISSUED: September 14, 2023

CONCURRED IN BY:
Chief Justice Elizabeth D. Walker
Justice Tim Armstead
Justice John A. Hutchison
Justice William R. Wooton
Justice C. Haley Bunn

                                                  3