Williams v. City of Jennings

• Decision Date: 28 July 2020
• Docket Number: No. ED 108393,ED 108393
• Citation: 605 S.W.3d 152
• Parties: Sabrina WILLIAMS, Respondent, v. CITY OF JENNINGS, Appellant, Treasurer of the State of Missouri as Custodian of the Second Injury Fund, Respondent.
• Court: Missouri Court of Appeals

605 S.W.3d 152

Sabrina WILLIAMS, Respondent,

v. CITY OF JENNINGS, Appellant,Treasurer of the State of Missouri as Custodian of the Second Injury Fund, Respondent.

No. ED 108393

Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, DIVISION FOUR.

Filed: July 28, 2020

Patrick N. McHugh, 217 North 10^th Street, Suite 400, Saint Louis, MO 63101, for appellants.

Mark E. Moreland, 906 Olive Street, Ste. 900, St. Louis, MO 63101, Ellen J. Hudson, PO BOX 188, St. Louis, MO 63188, for respondents.

Before James M. Dowd, P.J., Gary M. Gaertner, Jr., J., and Robin Ransom, J.

Opinion

Robin Ransom, Judge City of Jennings ("Employer") and its insurer Missouri Employers Mutual Insurance Company appeal the decision of the Labor and Industrial Relations Commission ("Commission") affirming the award and decision of the Administrative Law Judge ("ALJ") awarding permanent total disability benefits to Sabrina Williams ("Claimant"). Employer does not challenge the Commission's finding that Claimant is permanently and totally disabled, but rather it challenges the Commission's findings both that Claimant's permanent total disability was due to the work injury alone and thus that Employer was solely liable for Claimant's disability benefits rather than apportioning some of the liability to the Missouri Second Injury Fund ("Fund"). We reverse and remand for further proceedings in accordance with this opinion.

Background

Claimant began working for Employer in March of 2000 as a corrections officer. On September 7, 2010, she was physically attacked by an inmate and beaten about her face, head, and back ("work injury"). She was taken to the hospital and released the same day. Claimant filed an amended claim for compensation against Employer and the Fund, asserting a permanent total disability on the basis of her psychiatric conditions of depression and anxiety that resulted from the work injury.

At a hearing before the ALJ, Claimant testified to the following. On September 7, 2010, she was preparing meal trays for inmates in an enclosed locked vestibule with the assistance of two inmates, when one of the inmates started hitting her about the face, knocking her to the ground where the inmate continued to hit and kick her. Another corrections officer tried to unlock the door but did not have the correct keys, and the attack continued until maintenance personnel arrived. Following the attack, Claimant experienced temporary swelling of her eye and face, had to have a broken tooth removed, experienced temporary slurred speech, and received several weeks of physical therapy for back pain. As well, she received psychiatric treatment for insomnia, anxiety, depression, and anger.

Claimant further testified that, while she had received psychiatric treatment before the work injury for depression and anxiety, both were made worse by the work injury. Specifically, she used to be outgoing and to go out with acquaintances, but after the work injury she did not like to be around people and would spend days in her room. She had difficulties completing tasks, became nervous and fearful about leaving the house, especially alone, and was constantly checking to make sure doors and windows were locked. She had attempted suicide three times since the work injury.

Regarding her history of psychiatric treatment, Claimant testified she had a history of childhood trauma, including witnessing her father abuse her mother and being raped by a family member as a young teenager. She had attempted suicide one time as a teenager. Further, she testified that in 2007 and 2008 she took a year leave of absence from Employer following a stress-induced mild stroke,¹ stemming from a series of personality conflicts with various supervisors. At this time, she received diagnoses and treatment for depression and anxiety. Claimant agreed on cross-examination that she had experienced panic and anxiety attacks weekly since her teenage years through the work injury, which she had been able to deal with on her own. She also agreed that she had experienced episodes of untreated depression since a teenager through 2007, for which she would have to call in sick to work, and that she had been unable to work due to depression for two weeks prior to her stress-induced stroke in 2007. She testified that her depression and anxiety manifested in a lack of trust, conflicts with supervisors, anger, and difficulties with speech. Although she was receiving treatment for depression and anxiety between 2007 and 2010, she was able to complete tasks and leave the house alone. In the year leading up to 2010, she was on full duty with no work restrictions.

Claimant submitted the deposition testimony of Jennifer Brockman, M.D. ("Dr. Brockman"), in which Dr. Brockman testified to the following. After examining Claimant, Dr. Brockman diagnosed Claimant with post-traumatic stress disorder ("PTSD") from the work injury; Major Depressive Disorder-Recurrent, which meant there had been multiple episodes during her lifetime; General Anxiety Disorder; Panic Disorder with Agoraphobia ; and Conversion Disorder, Resolved, which referenced the physical manifestation in 2007 of Claimant's stress through stroke symptoms. Dr. Brockman testified Claimant had a permanent total disability from her psychiatric diagnoses stemming from a combination of the work injury and her pre-existing psychiatric conditions, noting Claimant's prior suicide attempt, her repeated conflicts with people in Employer's workplace, and her overall view and description of her employment prior to the work injury.

While Dr. Brockman noted that Claimant's pre-existing depression and anxiety had shown clinical improvement without intensive treatment and required minimal professional help, and that Claimant was comparatively better able to work and conduct normal life activities before the work injury, Dr. Brockman also noted that Claimant's patterns of occupational and personal conflict and negativity revealed pre-existing and ongoing psychological issues that impaired her ability to maintain employment before the work injury. Specifically, Dr. Brockman testified that Claimant's pre-existing depression and anxiety, her irritability, her social avoidance, and her personality had led to prior work conflicts or job changes in the past, including her 2007-2008 leave of absence from Employer. Dr. Brockman also agreed that Claimant's traumas in her childhood made her more likely to develop psychiatric symptoms after another trauma, in part because she had a very limited support network to help her cope with later traumas.

Claimant also submitted Dr. Brockman's Independent Medical Examination ("IME"), in which Dr. Brockman opined Claimant was "permanently and totally disabled from a psychiatric standpoint alone as a result of her symptoms." Dr. Brockman opined the work injury was both the prevailing factor in Claimant's PTSD and Panic Disorder with Agoraphobia and the prevailing factor in the exacerbation of her pre-existing psychiatric conditions, including Major Depressive Disorder-Recurrent and Generalized Anxiety Disorder. Dr. Brockman further opined Claimant had a pre-existing permanent partial disability due to her Major Depressive Disorder-Recurrent and her Generalized Anxiety Disorder. Dr. Brockman opined that all of the above conditions represented hindrances or obstacles to employment or reemployment.

At the hearing, Employer offered medical records evidence from Gregg Bassett, M.D., ("Dr. Bassett"), which established the following. Dr. Bassett is a psychiatrist who treated Claimant following her work injury. Dr. Bassett performed an IME in December 2010, and a supplemental IME in August 2012. In his 2010 IME, he opined that Claimant's work injury was the prevailing factor in her diagnosis of PTSD and in triggering the reactivation of her pre-existing propensity to develop conversion symptoms, specifically slurred speech, and also that she had a pre-injury history of Depressive Disorder and Anxiety Disorder. In his 2012 supplemental IME, Dr. Bassett opined that, as a consequence of the combination of pre-injury psychopathology and work-injury-related psychopathology, Claimant had an overall 40% psychiatric permanent partial disability, 75% of which was attributable to the work injury and 25% of which was attributable to the pre-existing psychopathology.

The ALJ determined Claimant was a credible witness, and it found Dr. Brockman to be more persuasive than Dr. Bassett in creating an informed opinion of Claimant's current psychological condition. In an amended decision, the ALJ awarded benefits after finding Claimant was rendered permanently and totally disabled due to her work injury alone. The ALJ determined Claimant's work injury resulted in her pathologies of PTSD and Panic Disorder with Agoraphobia, which, taken in isolation, rendered Claimant permanently and totally disabled. The ALJ acknowledged Claimant's pre-existing psychiatric conditions but found she had been able to maintain work and conduct normal life activities before the work injury. Moreover, the ALJ determined the work injury itself was so traumatic that the pre-existing psychiatric disability need not be considered because Claimant's psychiatric condition following the work injury "completely supplant[ed] her condition prior to the attack." The ALJ denied Claimant's claim against the Fund.

Employer appealed the decision, and the Commission affirmed the amended award and decision of the ALJ, which was attached and incorporated by reference, finding it was supported by competent and substantial evidence.² One member of the Commission dissented on the issue of Fund liability, arguing the ALJ should have also apportioned liability against the Fund. This appeal follows.

Standard of Review

We review the Commission's decisions for whether they are supported by competent and substantial evidence. White v. ConAgra Packaged Foods, LLC , 535 S.W.3d 336, 338 (Mo. banc 2017). We will reverse only if: (1) the...