WORTHINGTON v. WESLEY HEARTHSTONE/WESLEY ACRES THE VILLAGE
Page 1
before the iowa WORKERS’ COMPENSATION commissioner
______
:
GLORIA WORTHINGTON, :
:
Claimant, :
:
vs. :
: File Nos. 5037754/5037755
WESLEY HEARTHSTONE/WESLEY :
ACRES THE VILLAGE, :
: A P P E A L
Employer, :
: D E C I S I O N
and :
:
ACCIDENT FUND INSURANCE :
COMPANY OF AMERICA and :
ARGENT INSURANCE, :
: Head Note No.: 1100
Insurance Carrier, :
Defendants. :
______
Claimant, Gloria Worthington, appeals from an arbitration decision filed June 3, 2013, in which the presiding deputy commissioner found that claimant had failed to prove she sustained permanent disability as a result of a work injury on December 17, 2008 or that she sustained a work injury on June 28, 2011 which arose out of and in the course of her employment. The presiding deputy awarded claimant $2,350.00 for reimbursement of an independent medical examination pursuant to Iowa Code section 85.39. Claimant asserts that the presiding deputy commissioner erred in failing to find claimant’s neck and back problems were causally related to her alleged June 28, 2011 work injury and in failing to award benefits and assess a penalty pursuant to Iowa Code section 86.13. Defendants, Wesley Hearthstone/Wesley Acres The Village and Argent & United Heartland, assert that the finding of the presiding deputy commissioner should be affirmed on appeal. The arguments of the parties have been considered and the record of evidence has been reviewed de novo.
Pursuant to Iowa Code sections 86.24 and 17A.15, I affirm and adopt as the final agency decision those portions of the proposed arbitration decision filed onJune 3, 2013 that relate to issues properly raised on intra-agency appeal. The presiding deputy commissioner found that claimant had failed in her burden of proof as to an injury on June 28, 2011 primarily due to inconsistencies in her explanation of the precise mechanism of alleged injury when manipulating a heavy rolling door on a semi-truck used to store food products. On appeal, the undersigned concludes that claimant has failed to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that she sustained a work injury on June 28, 2011 as claimant’s medical evidence fails to explain or account for claimant’s serious work injury in the days preceding June 28, 2011. As defendants correctly assert, claimant seriously injured her back just days prior to her alleged date of injury in the pending matter and this prior injury resulted in claimant missing several days of work and requesting a change in her job duties upon her return to work. The supportive medical opinions upon which claimant relies upon appeal fail to acknowledge this significant prior event in addition to much of claimant’s well-documented medical treatment for back and neck problems prior to her alleged injury dated June 28, 2011. For such reasons the arbitration decision is affirmed.
ORDER
IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that the arbitration decision of June 3, 2013 is AFFIRMED.
Claimant shall pay the costs of the appeal, including the preparation of the hearing transcript.
Signed and filed this ___19th ______day of December, 2013.
Copies To:
Mr.Randall P. Schueller
Attorney at Law
1000 73rd St., Ste 24
Des Moines, IA 50324-1321
Mr. Nathan R. McConkey
Attorney at Law
2700 Westown Pkwy., Ste. 170
West Des Moines, IA 50266-1411
Mr. Lee P. Hook
Attorney at Law
6800 Lake Dr, Ste 125
Des Moines, IA 50266-2504