The Wyoming Supreme Court ruled that an injured nurse who failed to seek suitable employment was not entitled to permanent partial disability benefits.

Mary McBride was working as a registered nurse when she suffered injuries to her back and hip while moving a patient in 2015. While the Department of Workforce Services approved medical coverage for treatment Ms. McBride attended physical therapy and continued working for a time, but her pain increased. By late 2016, her treating physician recommended she retire, according to McBride v. State ex rel. Department of Workforce Services, filed Friday in Cheyenne.

Ms. McBride retired and began receiving temporary total disability benefits in December 2016. In 2018, Ms. McBride underwent an independent medical evaluation, in which a doctor noted that she had low back pain without evidence of radiculopathy or myelopathy and opined that she had a 2% whole person impairment, and that she had reached maximum medical improvement.

The doctor recommended work restrictions of not lifting more than 20 pounds and changing positions every five to 10 minutes. Follow up examinations led to increases in her impairment rating up to 12%, which the Workers’ Compensation Division used to award a permanent partial impairment.

In April 2020, Ms. McBride applied for permanent partial disability benefits, which was denied since she admitted she was not actively seeking suitable work.

The Office of Administrative Hearings reversed, finding she had made a tangible effort to find work, considering her health, education, training and experience.

A district court judge then reversed, finding Ms. McBride did not present sufficient evidence that she actively sought work and did not present expert medical testimony showing she was incapable of working.

The Wyoming Supreme Court affirmed, stating she did not meet the legal bar for searching for work, adding that since no medical provider opined that Ms. McBride was unable to work without diminishing her physical state or causing additional injury, the court said, she did not establish by a preponderance of the evidence that there was no suitable work, given her health, the ruling said.

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