Angela Bond v. Site Line Surveying

SLS, employee performed many duties associated with the business. Employee's job duties included: performing office work, preparing bids, organizing jobs, communicating with clients, addressing any problems with any jobs, and conducting the general daily business of SLS.

On May 17, 2007, employee alleges she was walking through the SLS office when she tripped over a telephone cord, causing her to fall to the ground. At the time of this alleged fall, employee stated she was delivering files to her assistant's desk. Employee claims that she landed on the right side of her body and immediately felt pain in her right wrist and her head.

The following employees were present at SLS when employee allegedly fell: Mary Pat Young (employee's aunt), Jennifer Renner (employee's mother), and Warren Bond (employee's brother). Ms. Young testified that, at approximately 4:15 or 4:20 p.m. on May 17, 2007, she was sitting at her desk facing the opposite direction of where employee fell. Ms. Young stated she could sense employee coming down the hallway and then heard the phone on her desk behind her kind of jiggle and hit the floor. Ms. Young testified that after she heard the phone hit the floor, she then heard employee hit the floor.

Ms. Young testified that nobody saw employee fall, but that she and Ms. Renner were in the same room/area. According to Ms. Young, Mr. Bond was in the break room at the time of the alleged fall.

Ms. Young testified that after she heard the fall, she turned around and saw employee laying on the floor on her right side moaning. Ms. Young initially testified that employee complained of only her head and arm hurting, but later testified that employee also complained that her wrist hurt as well. Ms. Young stated that she and Ms. Renner comforted employee on the floor and that Ms. Renner told employee she should go home. Although Ms. Renner was employed by SLS at the time of this incident, she is also a registered nurse. Employee took Ms. Renner's advice and left work.

Ms. Young testified that after employee left SLS that afternoon, Conley Stamper, a business affiliate of SLS and employee's mother's ex-boyfriend, stopped by SLS looking for employee because he had some contracts he needed employee to review and sign. They informed Mr. Stamper that employee had gone home for the day. Mr. Stamper's visit at SLS took place around 5:00 p.m.

After employee left work on May 17, 2007, she alleges she stopped by Picture This! (PT), a photography business that employee often did work for as a subcontractor. Employee alleges that she stopped by PT because she was scheduled to photograph a wedding on May 19, 2007, and wanted to inform the owner of PT, Angela Needs, that she would not be able to do so due to her wrist.

Ms. Needs testified that she and employee shared strictly a professional relationship, but also stated that they were friendly whenever they worked events together. When

Ms. Needs was asked to identify employee at the hearing, she pointed at employee and stated that she was the "blonde bombshell" sitting right there.

Ms. Needs testified that employee showed up at her place of business in the afternoon of May 17, 2007, and dropped off some photographs from a previous event she had worked. Ms. Needs also stated that employee informed her that she would not be able to photograph the May 19, 2007, wedding because of her injured wrist. Ms. Needs recalled looking at employee's right wrist and it appeared swollen, discolored, and mangled. Ms. Needs noticed employee was favoring her wrist and was restricting its movement. Ms. Needs stated that employee had told her that she had fallen and that she had come directly from work with her mom. Ms. Needs later testified that employee came to PT by herself and that her mom was not with her.

After Mr. Stamper had been informed that he missed employee at SLS, he stopped by employee's house with the aforementioned contracts. Mr. Stamper testified that employee answered the door and appeared shaken, in pain, and holding a frozen vegetable pack against her right arm near her wrist. Mr. Stamper stated that employee appeared "beaten up emotionally [and] physically." Mr. Stamper noticed some swelling and noticed she was favoring her right arm with her other arm for support. Mr. Stamper was at employee's home no longer than 5 minutes.

Mr. Stamper testified that he had previously worked at SLS from 1996-2006 and at one point was "romantically involved" with employee's mother, Ms. Renner.

Employee testified that she went to bed the night of May 17, 2007, at about 9:00 p.m. Employee further testified that she thinks she fell out of bed backwards and landed on her rear that night. She denied injuring or re-injuring her right wrist when this fall occurred.

Employee stated that on May 18, 2007, at about 8:00 a.m., she and her boyfriend at the time, Scott Paulsen, had an argument. Employee testified that she and Mr. Paulsen lived together, but slept in separate rooms. She stated that the argument concerned Mr. Paulsen's drinking the night before. Employee claims that Mr. Paulsen was not home when she went to bed and she could smell alcohol on him the next morning. During this exchange, employee alleges she told Mr. Paulsen about her wrist injury at work and about her fall at night.

Employee testified that she occasionally has nocturnal seizures. She stated that when she has them she generally does not remember them, but when she wakes up she discovers that she has bitten her tongue, has swollen bloodshot eyes, and feels flu-like symptoms. Employee claims that she did not have any of these symptoms on the morning of May 18, 2007, or that she told Mr. Paulsen that she had a seizure that night.

The Truman Medical Center (TMC) records show that Mr. Paulsen called Dr. Lehr's office for employee on the morning of May 18, 2007. The office note states, "fiancée called, [patient] had [seizure] last night and possibly has fracture[d] wrist." Employee

Improvee: Angela Bond

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testified that past seizures had caused her to break her ribs. Mr. Paulsen also testified that employee once had a seizure that caused her to suffer fractures in her back.

Upon arriving at TMC's emergency room, the records reveal that employee presented "with chief complaint that she fell out of bed last night and hurt her wrist." Employee testified that she does not "think" she gave that history to the ER doctor. All records at TMC state as the cause of employee's injury, her falling out of bed.

There are some inaccuracies in TMC's records with regard to the date of the surgery, employee's age, and the wrist the surgery was performed on.

Employee later saw Dr. Brannon on May 23, 2007, and the history states "[p]atient slipped and fell on Thursday of last week." Employee gave this history to Dr. Brannon with her mom present.

The medical records reveal that employee suffered two fractures in her right wrist. The bones were impacted, or driven into each other.

Mr. Paulsen and employee broke up approximately six months after the alleged incident. Mr. Paulsen provided deposition testimony after they had broken up. Mr. Paulsen stated that on the night of May 17, 2007, employee came in and woke him up in the early morning hours and was very lethargic. He stated that employee acted the way she normally did after she had one of her nocturnal seizures. Mr. Paulsen stated that after she had these seizures she generally acted lethargic and like she was "drunk or something."

Mr. Paulsen testified that after employee woke him up, she showed him her wrist and it looked "kind of goofy" and was already swelling up. He stated that he knew she had a seizure based on past experiences with her seizures. Mr. Paulsen stated he then went in employee's room to lay with her until she went back to sleep.

Dr. Brannon surgically repaired employee's wrist on May 25, 2007. Employee's follow up care was shifted to Dr. Reed. In a letter dated October 4, 2007, Dr. Reed documented employee's loss of motion in her wrist, radiographic evidence of angular deformity and rated employee's disability at 10% permanent partial impairment to the upper extremity. Dr. Reed later evaluated employee and recommended an EMG.

On February 24, 2009, employee was evaluated by Dr. Pazell. Dr. Pazell recommended an EMG and an MRI scan of her right shoulder.

Employee testified that she continues to experience numerous physical problems from her injury.

Employee's claim for compensation was filed on August 20, 2007. The date of the injury listed on said claim for compensation is May 18, 2007. Employee's description of how the injury occurred states, "[e]mployee, while in the course and scope of her employment, was moving office furniture when she tripped."

First of all, it is important to note that employee is alleging that her accidental injury occurred on May 17, 2007. Therefore, this case falls under the purview of the 2005 amendments to Missouri Workers' Compensation Law.

Section 287.120 RSMo Supp. (2007) ${ }^{1}$ "requires employers to furnish compensation according to the provisions of the Workers' Compensation Law for personal injuries of employees caused by accidents arising out of and in the course of the employee's employment." Gordon v. City of Ellisville, 268 S.W.3d 454, 458-59 (Mo. App. 200