Rogers v. Chrysler Motors Corp., 2900247
| Decision Date | 02 August 1991 |
| Docket Number | 2900247 |
| Parties | Brenda Ann ROGERS v. CHRYSLER MOTORS CORPORATION. 2900247. |
| Court | Alabama Court of Civil Appeals |
v.
Court of Civil Appeals of Alabama.
Aug. 2, 1991.
David H. Meginniss of Hornsby, Watson & Meginniss, Huntsville, for appellant.
Dennis Riley of Morring, Schrimsher & Riley, Huntsville, for appellee.
This is a workers' compensation case.
After ore tenus proceedings held in September and December 1990, the trial court determined that Brenda Ann Rogers (employee) had suffered an injury to her right upper extremity as a result of a work-related accident occurring while she was in the employ of Chrysler Motors Corporation (employer). The court then found that the employee had suffered a 5% decrease in her ability to earn wages as a result of the injury. Contending that her loss of ability to earn is greater than that found by the trial court, the employee appeals. We affirm.
The dispositive issue on appeal is whether the trial court erred in finding that the employee suffered only a 5% decrease in her ability to earn wages.
At the outset we note that appellate review in workers' compensation cases is a two-step process. First, this court will look to see if there is any legal evidence to support the trial court's findings. If such evidence is found, this court will then determine whether any reasonable view of that evidence supports the trial court's judgment. Ex parte Eastwood Foods, Inc., 575 So.2d 91 (Ala.1991).
The record reveals that the employee is 35 years old, has obtained a GED, and has earned a degree in electronic assembly from a trade school. Prior to her work with the employer, she was employed as an electronic technician and quality control inspector. She has worked for the employer since 1983 and has performed various jobs, most of which are on an assembly line. She testified that these jobs typically require repetitive lifting and twisting motions with her hands and wrists as she assembles small computer components.
The employee avows that she first began to feel cramping in her wrists and experience numbness in her hands while at work in August 1987. Over the next three months, the numbness persisted and the pain grew progressively worse in her right arm, extending to her elbow. On November 18, 1987, she left work and went to a hospital emergency room for treatment. She testified that at the time she entered the hospital, her right arm was swollen and she had no feeling in three fingers of her right hand. The emergency room doctor advised the employee not to work and referred her to Dr. Charles Morley, an orthopedic surgeon.
Dr. Morley, who, like the other medical experts in this case, testified by deposition, stated that the employee informed him that she had experienced slight numbness in her hands prior to August 1987. After performing a rheumatology study and a neurological evaluation of the employee, he was unable to find objective indications of the pain and tenderness of which she complained. He concluded that her symptoms indicated a mild rheumatoid arthritis, a condition he believed to be unrelated to the employee's work. When the employee continued to complain of pain, Dr. Morley suggested that she take time off from work and referred her to another orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Philip A. Maddox.
Dr. Maddox first saw the employee in December 1987. The employee indicated to Dr. Maddox that the pain and swelling in her right arm had subsided to a degree since she had been away from work. Dr. Maddox then suggested that she return to work because he wanted to see if the condition would recur at her job. The employee testified that when she returned to work her problems began anew. She returned to see Dr. Maddox in January 1988. At that time Dr. Maddox concluded that the pain and numbness could possibly be symptoms of an "overuse syndrome" that resulted from repetitive use of the hands. Dr. Maddox put the employee's right arm in a cast to limit movement and restricted her from working at her job with the employer. When the employee continued to complain of pain, Dr. Maddox ordered a bone scan and a nerve conduction test; both studies showed results within normal limits. Dr. Maddox testified that by treating the employee's arm with electrical stimulation, he was able to alleviate some of her pain. However, the employee continued to experience pain over the next 3 months.
In May 1988 Dr. Maddox decided that the employee could return to work but that she needed to restrict her movements if she wished to avoid exacerbating her symptoms. However, the employee testified that the employer's safety director would not allow her to work with the medical restrictions prescribed by Dr. Maddox. The employer then sent the employee to a neurosurgeon, Dr. Swaid N. Swaid. After performing several neurological tests on the employee, Dr. Swaid ruled out neurological injuries; however, he said that the scope of these tests was limited to detecting neurological deficits.
The employee testified that she tried repeatedly to return to work during the summer of 1988, but that each time she did, the pain from her injury prevented her from performing her job. Dr. Ray Fambrough, an orthopedic surgeon who examined the employee in September 1988 when she continued to complain of persistent pain, testified that if the employee's pain recurred every time she returned to work, he would recommend that she seek employment that did not require lifting and repetitive twisting of the wrist.
Dr. Robert Hunt, a rheumatologist, saw the employee in January 1989 and performed neurological and musculoskeletal examinations. According to Dr. Hunt, some of the employee's responses to the tests were typical of a "thoracic outlet syndrome," a constriction affecting the blood or nerve supply to the arm; however, Dr. Hunt testified that such responses are not dispositive of the condition and frequently occur in people without the condition. He also indicated that the condition could be caused by...
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