JAMES IVY
v.
MEMPHIS LIGHT GAS & WATER DIVISION
No. W2019-00104-SC-R3-WC
United States District Court, W.D. Tennessee
Supreme Court of Tennessee, Special Workers’ Compensation Appeals Panel, Memphis
January 31, 2020
Session October 21, 2019
Mailed
December 30, 2019
Appeal
from the Circuit Court for Shelby County No. CT-000632-17
Felicia Corbin Johnson, Judge
Employee
fell onto his buttocks during the course and scope of his
employment with Employer and experienced left hip and
shoulder pain that later radiated to his right leg. After a
course of treatment, the selected treating physician and a
second-opinion physician opined Employee’s pain was
attributable to a degenerative condition rather than to his
work injury and assigned no impairment. Because the pain
persisted, Employee’s personal physician referred him
to an orthopedic surgeon who opined Employee’s fall
ruptured a synovial cyst which aggravated his pre-existing
spine condition. The orthopedic surgeon performed surgery and
later assigned a twelve percent (12%) impairment rating. A
physician who conducted an independent medical records review
at Employer’s request sided with the selected physician
as to causation and impairment; however, a physician who
performed an independent medical examination at
Employee’s request agreed with the orthopedic surgeon.
Following a trial, the court awarded benefits having
determined that Employee met his burden of establishing
causation and overcame the statutory presumption afforded the
selected physician’s causation opinion. Employer
appealed. The appeal has been referred to the Special
Workers’ Compensation Appeals Panel for a hearing and a
report of findings of fact and conclusions of law pursuant to
Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 51. We affirm the trial
court’s judgment.
Tenn.
Code Ann. § 50-6-225(e) (2014) (Applicable to injuries
occurring prior to July 1, 2014) Appeal as of Right; Judgment
of the Circuit Court Affirmed
Sean
A. Hunt, Memphis, Tennessee, for the appellant,
Memphis Light Gas & Water Division William Steven Taylor,
Memphis, Tennessee, for the appellee, James Ivy
Robert
E. Lee Davies, Sr. J., delivered the opinion of the court, in
which Holly Kirby, J, and Don R. Ash, Sr. J., joined.
OPINION
ROBERT
E. LEE DAVIES, SENIOR JUDGE
Factual
and Procedural Background
James
Ivy (“Employee”), age 53, is employed as a meter
reader for Memphis Light, Gas & Water. On June 10, 2014,
while reading meters in the rain, Employee fell onto his
buttocks and left shoulder when he attempted to jump over a
puddle of water. Employee reported the incident to his
supervisor and finished his route. Employer sent Employee to
Baptist Minor Medical, where he was x-rayed and given
medication.
Employee
described his fall and the initial pain he experienced in his
left hip and shoulder that later “adjusted” to
his right side. After receiving treatment at Baptist Minor
Hospital, Employee ultimately selected Dr. Riley Jones, an
orthopedic surgeon as his authorized treating physician from
a list provided by Employer. He recalled that Dr. Jones
ordered an MRI and eventually sent Employee for a nerve
block, which provided only a few hours of relief.
After
his course of testing and treatment, Dr. Jones opined that
Employee’s complaints were attributable to degenerative
changes rather than to a work injury. Dr. Jones referred
Employee to Dr. Fereidoon Parsioon, a neurosurgeon, for a
second opinion. Dr. Parsioon also attributed Employee’s
back and leg pain to degenerative processes. Dr. Jones
assigned a zero percent (0%) impairment rating and released
Employee to full duty.
When
Employee continued to experience pain after his release from
Dr. Jones’ care, Employee’s family physician
referred him to Dr. Glenn Crosby, a neurosurgeon. Employee
recalled that Dr. Crosby reviewed with him the MRI scan
ordered by Dr. Jones and used a pen to point to the source of
his pain on the scan. When Dr. Crosby viewed the MRI scan
previously ordered by Dr. Jones, he too noted degenerative
changes, but he also observed a synovial cyst rupture,
causing compression of the nerve root. Dr. Crosby confirmed
the cyst rupture in a follow-up MRI, and he performed surgery
in August 2015.
The
surgery provided some degree of relief; however, Employee
continued to experience pain inside his leg down to his toe.
Dr. Crosby opined that Employee’s injuries were caused
by his June 2014 fall, noting that the fall “at the
very least” aggravated the underlying spine problems.
Dr. Crosby assigned a twelve percent (12%) impairment rating
to the whole body.
Dr.
Jeffrey Hazlewood performed an independent medical records
review at Employer’s request. He agreed with Dr. Jones
that Employee’s pain was not caused by his work injury.
Dr. Hazlewood also assigned a zero percent (0%) impairment
rating.
Dr.
Apurva Dalal conducted an independent medical examination at
Employee’s request. Dr. Dalal opined that the work
injury caused an aggravation or acceleration of a
pre-existing condition, and he assigned an impairment rating
of twelve percent (12%) to the body as a whole.
The
deposition testimony of Drs. Crosby, Dalal, Jones, and
Parsioon was read into the record, and the video deposition
of Dr. Hazlewood was viewed in the courtroom.
Dr.
Glenn Crosby
Dr.
Crosby, a board-certified neurosurgeon, saw Employee on March
23, 2015, as a referral from Employee’s personal
physician. Employee reported that he had fallen on his
backside and left shoulder while reading meters for Employer.
Employee indicated his back had been hurting and that he had
developed a radiating symptom in his right leg to the calf,
including tingling in his foot. When Dr. Crosby examined the
July 2014 MRI scan ordered by Dr. Jones, he observed
degenerative changes in Employee’s spine, but he also
detected a synovial cyst rupture on Employee’s right
side, causing compression of the nerve root. Dr. Crosby
ordered a follow-up MRI scan which confirmed “the
synovial cyst rupture to the right causing severe
neuroforaminal stenosis.” Dr. Crosby offered Employee
surgery to decompress or remove the cyst. On August 25, 2015,
Dr. Crosby performed a “right-sided L5-S1
hemilaminectomy and resection of synovial cysts.” Dr.
Crosby opined, to a reasonable degree of medical certainty,
that Employee’s injuries were fifty-one percent (51%)
or more due to the fall during his work and “at the
very least aggravated an underlying problem in
[Employee’s] lumbar spine.” He added that the
synovial cyst became symptomatic as a result of the fall. Dr.
Crosby assigned a 12 percent (12%) impairment rating.
Dr.
Apurva Dalal
Dr.
Dalal, a board-certified orthopedic surgeon, saw Employee for
an...
