Clark v Dairy Farmers of America
2018 MO APP. LEXIS 56 SD 34826
January 25, 2018
The employer appealed on the narrow issue whether the claimant suffered an unexpected traumatic event or unusual strain when she was performing her regular duties stirring cheese and she heard a pop in her ribs. Employer claims the claimant must prove a traumatic event as a prerequisite to accident.The court of appeals finds substantial evidence to support the finding that claimant sustained an unusual strain by mixing cheese curds and proved she had an accident.
The Court noted 287.120.1 requires proof in a disputed accident whether claimant sustained an unexpected traumatic event or an unusual strain. The commission did not expressly identify what was the "accident" and what was the "injury" and the court felt it was "unduly restrictive" for the employer to infer the Commission meant the injury was only the "pop" as an "unexpected event."
The court noted the facts supported claimant sustained an "unusual strain" and had an unordinary act of excessive physical or mental tension, difficult exertion, or violent or overtaxing effort. The court found an unusual strain could occur from regular activity and does not require something distinguishable from and in addition to routine work. Claimant testified it took a lot of force to use a 35 to 40 pound shovel when she was precariously balanced. These facts support an act of physical tension or unusual strain to fracture her rib even though the employer argued the Commission muddled its findings of what is an injury and what is an accident.
The court relied upon White v Conagra, 2017 MO Lexis 585, for the proposition that the Commission does not commit reversible error if it can identify the key issue in the case if the accident was the prevailing factor in causing the injury, even when the commission fails to accurate identify the accident. Similarly, the court notes Young v Boone Electric Coop, 462 S.W.3d 783 (Mo. App. 2015) held an award can be supported by an accident from an unusual strain even though it is not an unexpected event.
Clamant fractured a rib in the course of her duties. Claimant had a lytic lesion which can cause bone weakness.
The court limited its discussion of facts to the narrow issue regarding the interpretation of accident and whether the Commission reached the right result even if it gave a wrong or insufficient reason for its ruling without mentioning the elephant in the room that the fight was over $84,000 in bills that far exceeded customary medical bills for a rib fracture because claimant had a rare malignant lesion that was treated at the same time.
