Lavinder v. Food Lion #2174 Delhaize America, LLC, 032321 VAWC, VA00001555209

Case DateMarch 23, 2021
CourtVirginia
BOBBIE LAVINDER
v.
FOOD LION #2174 DELHAIZE AMERICA, LLC, Insurance Carrier
DELHAIZE AMERICA, LLC, Claim Administrator
Jurisdiction Claim No. VA00001555209
Claim Administrator File No. 2018159614
Virginia Workers’ Compensation
Virginia In The Workers’ Compensation Commission
March 23, 2021
          Date of Injury: December 31, 2018           Connor S. Bleakley, Esquire For the Claimant.           Travis T. Kline, Esquire For the Defendants.           REVIEW on the record by Commissioner Marshall, Commissioner Newman, and Commissioner Rapaport at Richmond, Virginia.           OPINION           NEWMAN Commissioner          The defendants request review of the Deputy Commissioner’s October 29, 2020 Opinion finding the claimant’s left hip replacement and resulting disability were causally related to her December 31, 2018 workplace accident. We AFFIRM.          I. Material Proceedings          The claimant suffered a fall on December 31, 2018, sustaining a left hip injury for which she was awarded medical benefits on October 7, 2019.[1] Before us are claims seeking a total left hip replacement and various periods of wage loss benefits.[2] The defendants disputed the left hip replacement and associated disability were related to the accident.          In awarding the claim, the Deputy Commissioner ruled that Dr. John F. Sloboda, the claimant’s treating surgeon, who opined that the claimant’s accident aggravated her pre-existing left hip arthritis, was entitled to more evidentiary weight than the contrary opinion of the defense independent medical examination (“IME”) performed by Dr. Brian A. Torre. The Deputy Commissioner likewise rejected the defendants’ argument that the claimant’s work for a subsequent employer aggravated her pre-existing condition.          The defendants request review.          II. Findings of Fact and Rulings of Law          The claimant suffered her December 13, 2018 fall while working as a fry cook for the employer. She was stepping onto a cart to reach a box of chicken when the cart moved, causing her to fall and strike her hip on the cart before landing on the concrete floor. The claimant felt immediate pain in her left hip. She went to an Urgent Care Center (“Velocity Care”) for medical treatment at the request of the employer, was diagnosed with a pulled muscle, and was taken out of work for a week. Although the injury was reported to the Commission, the claimant was not offered a panel of physicians. The claimant continued to feel hip pain which increased in the months following the accident, eventually interfering with her daily activities. She attempted to treat the pain on her own because her employer did not provide health insurance and she was unaware of her right to medical treatment.          The claimant resigned from Food Lion in February of 2019. She started working as a sander at Frank Chervan, a furniture maker, in July of 2019, a job that required her to stand throughout an eight-hour shift. Her symptoms worsened until she “couldn’t take the pain anymore.” The claimant’s new employer provided health insurance, and she returned to Velocity Care on September 16, 2019 where she was referred to Dr. Michael W. Wolf, who later referred her to Dr. Sloboda. Dr. Sloboda advised the claimant that she would need a total hip replacement, a procedure he performed on January 16, 2020.          During cross-examination, the claimant stated that between the date of her accident and September 16, 2019, she sought treatment at Velocity Care for various ailments such as the flu and a...

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