Elizabeth, 011218 ARWC, G704236

• Case Date: January 12, 2018
• Court: Arkansas

JULIET ELIZABETH MORROW, EMPLOYEE CLAIMANT UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS, EMPLOYER RESPONDENT PUBLIC EMPLOYEE CLAIMS DIVISION, TPA RESPONDENT No. G704236 Arkansas Workers Compensation Before the Arkansas Workers’ Compensation Commission January 12, 2018           9/15/16          Hearing before ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGE ANDREW L. BLOOD, on December 1, 2017, at Jonesboro, Craighead County, Arkansas.           Claimant represented by the HONORABLE M. SCOTT WILLHITE, Attorney at Law, Jonesboro, Arkansas.           Respondent represented the HONORABLE CHARLES H. McLEMORE, Attorney at Law, Little Rock, Arkansas.           ANDREW L. BLOOD, CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGE.          STATEMENT OF THE CASE          A hearing was conducted in the above style claim to determine the claimant’s entitlement to workers’ compensation benefits. On September 25, 2017, a prehearing conference was conducted in the claim, from which a Prehearing Order of the same date was generated. The Prehearing Order reflects stipulations entered by the parties, the issues to be addressed during the course of the hearing, and the contentions of the parties relative to the afore. The Prehearing Order is herein designated a part of the record as “Commission’s Exhibit #1".          The testimony of Juliet Elizabeth Morrow and George Sabo, coupled with medical reports and other documentary evidence comprise the record in this claim.          DISCUSSION          Juliet Elizabeth Morrow, the claimant, with a date of birth of April 5, 1962, has a Ph.D. in Archaeology, and has worked in the archaeological field over twenty-five (25) years. The claimant is right-hand dominant. The claimant has been in archaeological studies or work since she got out of college. In describing her current mailing address, the claimant testified that same is P.O. Box 820, State University, Arkansas, and 1120 West Oak Street, noting that some of her mail gets delivered to the post office box. The claimant resides in Jonesboro, Arkansas, but works for the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville.          The claimant’s job title is Station Archaeologist, which entails managing records for lots of archaeological sites in many counties of Northeast Arkansas. The claimant continued regarding her job duties:

I didn't really finish, but that's okay. We also do field work. We also work with the public. We give lectures to various civics groups. We work with schools. We also help government agencies and farmers with resources that are of an archaeological nature on their property. So, that's what my job entails.(T. 10).

         Some of the claimant’s job duties entail some work out in the field doing actual lifting and digging. The claimant has worked for respondent since 1997.          The claimant described her general physical condition prior to September, 2016, as healthy, and denies having any sort of physical limitations that she had to deal with on a day-to-day basis. The claimant acknowledged that she formerly took medication for ADHD, which was prescribed by a physician. The claimant denies having any pain condition for which she took over-the-counter medication prior to September, 2016.          The claimant confirmed that prior to September, 2016, she occasionally dealt with some physical conditions such as shoulder pain, explaining:

Only if I over-used it in the field, but it heals. You know, if you use a muscle and it strains, then, you just let it heal.(T. 12).

         The testimony of the claimant reflects that in her archaeological duties she used a shovel occasionally as well as did lifting, noting that heavy-duty, manual labor was not foreign to her in her job.          The claimant filed a claim asserting a work-related injury of September 15, 2016. The claimant testified regarding the work she performed the day prior to September 15, 2016:

We had been doing a project where there was material that had to be processed; and so I was helping with the processing, because the field work was ongoing; so I was just helping out in the lab.

Scooping out with a coffee can. Using a coffee can to scoop soil out of a container, and then, put it into a screen and then, spray water on top of it to recover small things that had been found in the soil.(T. 12-13).

         The claimant testified regarding her work location on September 15, 2016:

I was going back and forth between a place we call Plant Sciences East, which is a building off campus and the lab where we have an outdoor facility right next to the arch -- the archaeology lab is right next to an outdoor sort of a patio and you can set up there, because there's a drain that goes to the Jonesboro Sewer Treatment Plant or where ever. Anyway, we catch all the soil there, and then, we take the soil somewhere else. So we have a screening set up in different places like that, both off the main campus, and then, also in the patio area next to the lab.(T. 13).

         The testimony of the claimant reflects that at the time she experienced symptoms in her right shoulder on September 15, 2016, she was loading up some containers of soil in the back of the pickup truck where the tailgate was down. The claimant offered that there were six (6) containers placed in the back of the truck. The testimony of the claimant reflects that by the time she placed the fourth container in the truck she experienced “maybe a little bit of strain” between her elbow and right shoulder. The claimant descried the afore sensation as like a knife going into the bone. The claimant explained that as a result of the afore she decided that she better not do anything else, but rely on the help from other people – two employees for the survey who worked at the station – Sarah Stuckey and Brandy Dacuss. The claimant’s testimony reflects that she did no further lifting.          The claimant continued:

Yes. I mean, from then on, I had to rely on them to do all the physical. I couldn't lift anything with my right arm. I could still lift light things with my left arm.(T. 16).

         The claimant testified that her symptoms progressively worsen from the time she first experienced them, offering:

Well, there was particular motions that I would do with my arm that made it painful, like, lifting my arm like this, (witness indicating), I couldn't do that.(T. 17).

         The claimant testified that the pain did not improve over time, and that she sought treatment from Dr. Jeremy Swymn within three or four weeks of the onset symptoms. As part of her treatment the claimant underwent an MRI of the right shoulder, which disclosed a full thickness tear of the tendon. On March 3, 2017, the claimant underwent surgery for the afore condition.          The claimant denied having any other accidents that affected her right shoulder between the September 15, 2016, date and the March 3, 2017, surgery, and she continued working for respondent during the afore period. The claimant testified that she had help in discharging her job duties during the afore period.          The claimant testified regarding the reporting of the right shoulder problem to a supervisor or boss with respondent. Regarding the afore, the claimant’s testimony reflects:

I went to deliver some artifacts and equipment on November 8th, and then, prior to that, on September 21st, and during that time when I was in Fayetteville, I told everyone there that was available, that I couldn't bring things in from the truck or lift anything heavy.(T. 19).

         The claimant testified that she explained the above was because her shoulder hurt. The denied that there was any follow-up inquiry from supervisory personnel about her shoulder pain.          The claimant acknowledged that she had previously filed a workers’ compensation claim with respondent:

In 2015, I had a lot of tick bites from being in the field and I called to find out what I was supposed to do, because it got so bad, I had to go to the emergency room and my – the secretary or Assistant to a Director had to call him to get approval for me to go to the emergency room, and then, I went and it took a long time for the whole process to be completed. I didn't really know anything about how to do workers' comp, and so – (T. 19-20).

         The claimant described her experience with the 2015 claim as very difficult. The claimant testified that at the time of her Fayetteville visit in late September/early November, 2016, she was fearful of not being able to do her job because of her right upper-extremity problem. Specifically, the claimant asserts that she was concern about...