SHAWN HUFF, EMPLOYEE CLAIMANT
GLOBAL FOODS GROUP, INC., EMPLOYER RESPONDENT
STANDARD FIRE INSURANCE CO., INSURANCE, CARRIER RESPONDENT
No. G900248
Arkansas Workers Compensation
Before the Arkansas Workers’ Compensation Commission
October 3, 2019
Hearing
before Administrative Law Judge, James D. Kennedy on the
3
rd day of September, 2019, in Conway, Arkansas.
Claimant is represented by Andy L. Caldwell, Attorney at Law,
Little Rock, Arkansas.
Respondent is represented by Guy A. Wade, Attorney at Law,
Little Rock, Arkansas.
JAMES
D. KENNEDY, Administrative Law Judge.
STATEMENT
OF THE CASE
A
hearing was conducted on the 3
rd day of September,
2019, to determine the issues of compensability, TTD for the
period of December 23, 2018, to February 20, 2019, as
clarified at the start of the hearing, in addition to
reasonable and necessary medical and attorney fees. A copy of
the Pre-hearing order was marked “Commission Exhibit
1” and made part of the record without objection. The
Order provided that the parties stipulated that the Arkansas
Workers’ Compensation Commission has jurisdiction of
the within claim and that an employer/employee relationship
existed on November 15, 2018, the date of the injury in
question. At the time of the hearing, the parties were able
to agree and stipulate that the claimant earned a weekly wage
of $448.20, sufficient for a TTD rate of $299.00 per week and
a PPD rate of $224.00 per week. The respondents contend that
the claimant did not sustain a compensable work-related
injury, that the claimant failed or refused to timely report
his injury, that he had been treating on his own, and further
that he refused a drug test. The claimant contends that he
suffered a compensable work-related injury to his right hand
on November 15, 2018, and that he is entitled to TTD for the
dates as stated above, and for reasonable and necessary
medical, and attorney fees.
The
claimant’s and respondent’s contentions are set
out in their respective responses to the Pre-hearing
Questionnaire and made a part of the record without
objection. The three witnesses that testified in regard to
this matter are the claimant Shawn E. Huff, and two witnesses
for the respondent, Rhonda Brown, and Robert Monroe. From a
review of the record as a whole, to include medical reports
and other matters properly before the Commission, and having
had an opportunity to observe the testimony and demeanor of
the witness, the following findings of fact and conclusions
of law are made in accordance with Ark. Code Ann. §11-9-704.
FINDINGS
OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
1. The
Arkansas Workers’ Compensation Commission has
jurisdiction over this claim.
2. That
an employer/employee relationship existed on or about
November 15
th, 2018, the date of the injury.
3. The
claimant earned an average weekly wage of $448.20, sufficient
for a TTD/PPD rate of $299.00/$224.00 per week.
4. That
the claimant has failed to satisfy the required burden of
proof to show that he sustained a compensable work-related
injury on or about November 15
th, 2018.
5. That
the remaining issues are moot.
6. If
not already paid, the respondents are ordered to pay for the
cost of the transcript forthwith.
REVIEW
OF TESTIMONY AND EVIDENCE
The
claimant, Shawn E. Huff, testified that he was born on July
7, 1969, graduated from Conway High School, and then went to
vocational school where he obtained a degree in welding. He
was working for the respondent back on or about November 15,
2018, where he had worked for about four months in the
department of sanitation. He moved to a supervisor position
after about two months. (Tr. 8) He testified that he worked
the third shift, normally going to work about 10:00 and
working until about 8:00 the next morning. At the time of the
injury, he was working in the dough room which was very
congested and messy and where they used a chemical to clean
the area with pressure washers and degreasers. He stated that
there is a bottle marked degreaser and a bottle marked
cleaner and he accidently knocked over the bottle of
degreaser, which got on his right hand, ate through his
glove, and immediately his finger felt like it was on fire.
(Tr. 9) “I came out of my glove as fast as I could and
I started showing people what was happening. What happened is
it turned my fingernail black and I was in excruciating pain.
I told 10 or 11 people that night.” The claimant was
then shown a photo of his hand and finger and he stated that
he took the picture that night. The photo was admitted as
respondent’s first exhibit. (Tr. 10) The claimant
further testified that he specifically reported the injury to
Robert Monroe and Mrs. Brown along with a lot of folks in the
bakery. Additionally, James Smith assisted him by obtaining
hydrogen peroxide for the injury. (Tr. 11)
The
claimant denied filling out any paperwork and denied anyone
sending him to the doctor that day and he further provided
that he did not go to the doctor. Later, he had another
incident at work which occurred while he was attempting to
expand the forks on a forklift to pick up trash. The claimant
testified that he smashed his finger and “some green
stuff” came out of his finger and he was hurting even
more. (Tr. 12) He then first went to the Doctor, who was
located at the Ozark Hospital in Clinton on December
19
th, and used his Medicaid to pay for it.
Ultimately, the tip of his finger was amputated. (Tr. 14) The
claimant testified that he was still currently receiving
treatment from his orthopedic surgeon and his PCP, and still
taking medications for it. He also stated that he was fired
from his employment somewhere around December
21
st. (Tr. 15)
Claimant
also testified that he later told Mr. Monroe that he was
having problems with his hand and left work and was told that
he was terminated because he missed a meeting, with his last
day of work being where he clocked out at about 7:30 a.m. on
Friday, December 21. The claimant further stated that he
never went to the meeting due to pain and that he never
returned to work for the respondents after that. (Tr. 16) He
also testified that his doctor told him that he could return
to work on February 20
th, 2019. He did not go back
to work immediately, but he did return to work on June
14
th, 2019, when he went to work for HRI. (Tr. 17)
Under
cross examination, the claimant admitted that after the
alleged event on November 15
th, he worked light
duty until December 21
st. (Tr. 20) Claimant also
admitted a previous work related injury to his right thumb at
a previous employer, which happened back in April of 2017.
(Tr. 21) He also admitted that he received a 28 percent
disability rating at that time and that these issues were
present when he went to work for the respondent. (Tr. 22) The
claimant also testified that the respondent either makes or
packages food and that he became the supervisor over the
people of the third shift who clean the facility only a few
weeks prior to the event in November. (Tr. 23) The incident
in question occurred at about 3:00 a.m. when the claimant was
cleaning mildew from the curtains that separated the dough
room from the hallway. The claimant admitted using three
different types of chemicals, a sanitizer, a soap, and a
degreaser.
The
following cross examination then occurred:
Q. Now, I know you told us today that you were using the
degreaser, but when I took your deposition you started out
telling me it was the sanitizer, didn’t you?
A. I might have made a mistake.
Q. Okay. So if you said it was the sanitizer, that was not
right?
A. I assumed that it was the degreaser, yes sir.
Q. Okay. Well, at first when I took your deposition you said
you didn’t know which chemical it was. Do you remember
that?
A. It’s hard to recall.
Q. Okay. Hard to recall that you didn’t know which one
or hard to recall which one? (Tr. 25)
A. Well, I know which one I used, the degreaser, sir. (Tr.
26)
The
claimant admitted that he claimed that the bottle tipped over
and landed over on his right ring finger and middle knuckle
and that he had two sets of gloves on, a plastic latex glove
and a cotton glove over that. The claimant also admitted that
he had used these same chemicals since September as far he
knew. (Tr. 27) He also agreed that the gloves went to his
wrist. He admitted that the chemicals in question poured from
the wrist down past his hand onto his ring finger, burning
it. The claimant also denied having burns on his pointer
finger and his middle...
