Crest Products v. Louise, 91-179
| Decision Date | 15 January 1992 |
| Docket Number | No. 91-179,91-179 |
| Parties | CREST PRODUCTS and Auto Owners Insurance, Appellants, v. Carolyn LOUISE, Appellee. 593 So.2d 1075, 17 Fla. L. Week. D289 |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Kurt Preston Hampp, St. Petersburg, for appellants.
Byron E. Townsend and Rafael Gonzales of Barrs, Williamson, Stolberg & Townsend, P.A., Tampa, for appellee.
The employer and carrier seek review of an order of a judge of compensation claims (JCC), which order awarded the claimant temporary total disability benefits, penalties, interest, past and future medical expenses, costs and attorney fees. The principal argument raised by the employer and carrier is that the finding of the JCC that the claimant's employment exposed her "to conditions that substantially contributed to the risk of injury and did in fact aggravate her preexisting condition" is not supported by competent substantial evidence. We agree and, therefore, reverse.
During the spring of 1989, the claimant began to experience neck pain and numbness in her left arm. She was eventually diagnosed by a neurosurgeon (Dr. Scott Cutler) as suffering from multilevel cervical disk disease. (No claim has been made that this was related in any way to the claimant's employment.) On September 11, 1989, Dr. Cutler performed a cervical diskectomy and fusion. This involved removing a donor bone from the claimant's left iliac crest (hip bone) for use in the neck fusion. The claimant had an unremarkable recovery and, on December 5, 1989, Dr. Cutler released her to return to work, with a 30-pound lifting restriction.
The claimant returned to work on December 11, 1989, and was assigned "light work activity." The claimant experienced some amount of pain and discomfort in her low back and left leg on a fairly regular basis after she had returned to work. The JCC found that, on January 22, 1990, the following occurred:
... [W]hile at work and after approximately 4 hours working, while pulling empty pallets, picking up bottles two at a time and putting them into a machine, the [c]laimant experienced certain symptoms in her low back and left leg of such an intensity so as to cause her to cry and which ultimately prevented her from continuing any further and necessitated her leaving the job....
The claimant was unable to offer an explanation for this sudden onset of intense pain.
The claimant went to see Dr. Cutler on February 1, 1990. Dr. Cutler testified (by deposition) that it was apparent that the claimant "was in severe pain." The claimant told Dr. Cutler that "[s]he returned to work, and approximately two weeks ago she began to experience severe low back pain, pain radiating into the left hip, down the left leg, which occurred while she was on an assembly line at work." As a result of his examination, Dr. Cutler's "diagnosis was probable acute [lumbar] disk herniation." "Not definite, but based on history and observation." He was unable to make a "precise diagnosis" without diagnostic testing. Therefore, as an...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Closet Maid v. Sykes, 1D98-660.
...sensory perception by lay witnesses. This is often the case with injuries which are not readily observable. See Crest Products v. Louise, 593 So.2d 1075 (Fla. 1st DCA 1992); Arand Construction Co. v. Dyer, 592 So.2d 276 (Fla. 1st DCA 1991); Computer Products, Inc. v. Williams, 530 So.2d 100......
-
Brasington Cadillac-Oldsmobile v. Martin, CADILLAC-OLDSMOBILE and C
...his preexisting back condition was aggravated or that he was injured while bending over at work on June 26, 1992. Crest Prods. v. Louise, 593 So.2d 1075 (Fla. 1st DCA 1992) (lay testimony alone was insufficient to support finding of causation where medical conditions--leg and low back pain ......
-
Whitehead v. City of Bradenton, the Rotary Club of W. Bradenton, Inc.
...Jones v. Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd., 12-20322-CIV, 2013 WL 8695361, at *6 (S.D. Fla. Apr. 4, 2013) (quoting Crest Prods. v. Louise, 593 So. 2d 1075, 1077 (Fla. 1st DCA 1992)). Florida courts have held that a plaintiff's back pain and other soft tissue injuries are not "readily observable......
-
Louisiana Pacific Corp. v. Harcus
...of the cause of psychiatric illness is essentially a medical question, requiring expert medical evidence); Crest Products v. Louise, 593 So.2d 1075 (Fla. 1st DCA 1992) (because the claimant's pain in her low back and leg was not the result of any readily observable medical condition, the cl......