On July 20, 2018, an employee sued his employer over injuries sustained while lifting a garbage can at work on November 24, 2017. The employee claimed he hurt his left shoulder, neck, and lower back when the can was knocked over by a robotic arm on his truck. The trial court recognized these injuries under the Workers' Compensation Act, but the employer appealed the decision, especially concerning the neck and back injuries.
To qualify for compensation, the Workers' Compensation Act mandates the establishment of both legal and medical causation. While the employer accepted the shoulder injury's validity, they questioned the cause of the neck and lower back injuries. Medical reports showed that on the day of the accident, the employee experienced sharp pain from his shoulder to hand and later reported neck swelling and leg weakness. Dr. Charles Hartzog identified a tear in the employee's shoulder resulting from the incident and surgically repaired it. Dr. Jeff Pirofsky later found disc issues in the employee's neck but couldn't confirm if the garbage can incident caused them. Dr. Hartzog also indicated a prior automobile accident might have contributed to the neck issues.
Dr. Michael E. Davis noted the employee's symptoms in 2019 but didn't conclusively link them to the 2017 incident. Despite the compelling evidence for the neck injury resulting from the 2017 accident, data regarding the lower back injury was inconclusive. The court, therefore, upheld the compensation for the neck injury but dismissed the lower back injury claim.
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