Corrections officer fails to prove fall injuries
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A corrections officer in Arkansas failed to prove that multiple injuries she suffers from arose from an alleged fall at work, an appeals court ruled Wednesday in affirming two earlier rulings.
Lula Marshall filed a workers compensation claim asserting injuries to her hip, thigh, knee, shoulder, arm and head after she tumbled on concrete and hit her head on a wall, according to documents in Lula Marshall v. Arkansas Department of Correction; and Arkansas Insurance Department, Public Employee Claims Division, filed in the Court of Appeals of Arkansas, Division II, in Little Rock.
An administrative law judge deemed statements from family members and Ms. Marshall — who acknowledged in court proceedings that she had walked with a cane prior to the fall and had previously been treated for issues with her hip, thigh, knee and lower back — were not credible. “I can afford no weight to the testimony from any of the witnesses in this matter which suggests that the Claimant's present condition is related to the incident of March 5, 2013,” the judge said, according to court documents. The state Workers’ Compensation Commission affirmed on the same basis.
The appeals court similarly wrote that “Marshall contends that she sustained a compensable injury; however, there is no post-accident medical evidence to establish any of these alleged injuries with objective findings as required. While ‘tenderness’ was reported, tenderness does not amount to an objective finding.”
