LUIS RODRIGUEZ
v.
EL PALA DULCE, INC.
DBA EL PASO MEXICAN SELECTIVE WAY INS CO, Insurance Carrier
SELECTIVE INS. CO. OF AMERICA, Claim Administrator
TRUCK INSURANCE EXCHANGE, Insurance Carrier
FARMERS INS. EXCHANGE, Claim Administrator
Jurisdiction Claim Nos. VA00001575800, VA00001715984
Virginia in the Workers' Compensation Commission
May 17, 2021
Date
of Injury February 12, 2019
Date
of Injury January 20, 2020
Claim
Administrator File No. 22108755, 22088961
Daniel
Renfro, Esquire K. Brent Jones, Esquire For the claimant.
Megan
Kerwin Clark, Esquire For the employer, Truck Insurance
Exchange, and Farmers Ins. Exchange in JCN VA00001575800
Brian
Frame, Esquire For the defendants in JCN VA00001715984; and
the employer, Selective Way Ins. Co, and Selective Ins. Co.
of America in JCN VA00001575800
Opinion by MARSHALL Commissioner
REVIEW
on the record by Commissioner Marshall, Commissioner Newman,
and Commissioner Rapaport at Richmond, Virginia.
The
claimant requests review of the Deputy Commissioner's
December 31, 2020 Opinion finding he failed to prove a
compensable injury by accident on either February 12, 2019 or
January 20, 2020. We AFFIRM.
I.
Material Proceedings
In JCN
VA00001575800, the claimant filed a February 14, 2020 claim
for benefits alleging an injury by accident to his left knee
occurring February 12, 2019. He sought medical benefits and
temporary total disability from February 13, 2019 to October
14, 2019 and from January 21, 2020 to the present and
continuing.
Selective
Way Insurance Company and Truck Insurance Exchange agreed
they were jointly liable if the claim in JCN VA00001575800
was compensable. Subject to their defenses, they stipulated
the claimant was totally disabled from February 13, 2019 to
October 14, 2019. They disputed the claim on the grounds
that: there was no injury by accident arising out of and in
the course of the employment; there was no causal connection
between the injury and medical treatment; there was no causal
connection between the injury and disability; and the
claimant was not disabled to the extent alleged. Truck
Insurance Exchange Company also asserted the claimant
unjustifiably refused medical treatment from May 2, 2019
through January 19, 2020, and was not entitled to indemnity
during that period. They also alleged the claimant suffered a
new compensable injury by accident on January 20, 2020, and
any benefits awarded on or after that date were the sole
responsibility of Selective Way Insurance Company.
In JCN
VA0000171584, the claimant filed an April 1, 2020 claim for
benefits alleging an injury by accident occurring January 20,
2020. He sought medical benefits for injuries to the left
knee, left leg, and left lower extremity, authorization for
left knee surgery recommended by the treating physician, and
temporary...
