VERNICE SUTTON ASHLOCK
v.
WALMART ASSOCIATES INC NATIONAL UNION FIRE INS CO OF PITTSBURG, Insurance Carrier
WALMART CLAIMS SERVICES, INC., Claim Administrator
Jurisdiction Claim No. VA00000815595
Virginia Workers’ Compensation
Virginia In The Workers’ Compensation Commission
March 18, 2021
Date
of Injury: August 6, 2013.
Claim
Administrator File No. C3491977.
Vernice Sutton Ashlock Claimant, pro se.
Peter
G. Irot, Esquire For the Defendants.
REVIEW
on the record by Commissioner Marshall, Commissioner Newman,
and Commissioner Rapaport at Richmond, Virginia.
OPINION
RAPAPORT Commissioner.
The
claimant requests review of the Deputy Commissioner’s
December 3, 2020 Opinion denying her request for physical
therapy ordered by Dr. Aldridge. We AFFIRM.
I.
Material Proceedings
The
claimant suffered a compensable injury by accident on August
6, 2013. The claimant was awarded causally related,
reasonable, and necessary medical benefits to treat her
“[r]ight hip trochanteric bursitis, traumatic –
Bursectomy.” She received temporary total disability
benefits from March 24, 2014 through March 30, 2014 and from
January 27, 2015 through June 24, 2016.
On
October 1, 2020, the claimant filed a Claim for Benefits
seeking physical therapy recommended by Dr. John W.
Aldridge.1 The defendants
submitted position statements, pursuant to the schedule set
forth in the October 22, 2020 Notice of On-the Record
Hearing. They asserted the claimant could not carry her
burden of proving causation.
The
Deputy Commissioner held an on-the-record hearing on November
24, 2020. On December 3, 2020, the Deputy Commissioner denied
the claimant’s claim. She did not find the requisite
causal connection between the claimant’s August 6, 2013
work accident and the requested authorization for physical
therapy. On December 16, 2020, the Deputy Commissioner denied
reconsideration of her opinion after reviewing the
claimant’s December 15, 2020 correspondence.
The
claimant’s December 15, 2020 correspondence was treated
as a Request for Review. She...
