LEROY CALHOUN, EMPLOYEE CLAIMANT
AREA AGENCY ON AGING, EMPLOYER RESPONDENT #1
RISK MANAGEMENT RESOURCES, INSURANCE CARRIER/TPA RESPONDENT #1
DEATH & PERMANENT TOTAL DISABILITY TRUST FUND RESPONDENT #2
No. G600346
Arkansas Workers Compensation
Before the Arkansas Workers' Compensation Commission
June 6, 2019
Hearing
before Administrative Law Judge Elizabeth W. Hogan on March
15, 2019, in Pine Bluff, Jefferson County, Arkansas.
Claimant represented by Ms. Whitney James, Attorney at Law,
Little Rock, Arkansas.
Respondent #1 represented by Ms. Karen H. McKinney, Attorney
at Law, Little Rock, Arkansas.
Respondent #2 represented by Ms. Christy L. King, Attorney at
Law, Little Rock, Arkansas.
ELIZABETH W. HOGAN ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGE.
ISSUES
A
hearing was conducted to determine the claimant’s
entitlement to payment of additional permanent partial
disability or permanent total disability benefits and
attorney’s fees.
At
issue is whether or not the claimant has suffered a loss of
earning capacity, Ark. Code Ann. §11-9-522, Ark. Code
Ann. §11-9-505, Ark. Code Ann. §11-9-102
(4)(7)(ii)(a), and Fund liability, Ark. Code Ann.
§11-9-519 and Rule 099.28.
After
reviewing the evidence impartially, without giving benefit of
the doubt to either party, Ark. Code Ann. §11-9-704, I
find the claimant is entitled to wage loss but is not
permanently and totally disabled.
STATEMENT
OF THE CASE
The
parties stipulated to an employee-employer-carrier
relationship on January 13, 2016, at which time the claimant
sustained a compensable injury to the body as a whole at a
compensation rate of $127.00/$127.00. Medical expenses,
temporary total disability benefits (until the end of the
healing period on February 27, 2017), and a twenty-four
percent (24%) anatomical impairment rating have been
accepted.
The
claimant sustained multiple injuries in a motor vehicle
accident. He seeks permanent and total disability benefits or
wage loss.
Respondents
#1 contend light duty was offered to the claimant on two (2)
occasions: March 3, 2017, and June 15, 2017. However, the
claimant refused the offers. Therefore, he is not entitled to
any benefits over his impairment rating.
The
Fund defers to the outcome of litigation.
The
following were submitted without objection and comprise the
evidence of record: the parties’ prehearing
questionnaires and exhibits contained in the transcript.
The
following witnesses testified at the hearing: the claimant,
who was polite, and Twyla Jamerson, an occupational health
nurse. The claimant used a rollator to ambulate. The rollator
is a four-wheeled device with a seat/storage box in the
middle. The claimant needed assistance to rise out of his
chair.
The
claimant, age 68 (date of birth: September 14, 1950), has one
and one-half (1 ½) years of college at University of
Arkansas at Pine Bluff, served in the...
