Claimant is a 51 year old woman who was hired by Employer in 1983. She worked at their plant in Huntsville Alabama, which manufactured electronic panels for their vehicles. There is no evidence the work Claimant did for Employer in Huntsville, Alabama involved heavy lifting or excessive use of her back. In February 2005, Claimant moved to St. Louis to work for Employer, and began working at their assembly plant in Fenton on February 21, 2005, and worked there until she left on October 19, 2006. Claimant retired from Employer in May 2008.
After Claimant transferred to the Fenton plant, she was classified as a Tech III. The first department she was assigned to was the Body Shop, where they assembled all of the metal pieces of the mini vans which were then welded together by a robot. Her title in the Body Shop was Floater, which meant she filled in as needed in the body shop department. She worked in the body shop from February to October, 2005. Her first job was putting rear quarter panels on a rack. There were 19 panels weighing 23 pounds on a rack, and she had to step up onto a rack that was one foot off the ground and pick up a panel, back out of the rack, and then set it down. She had to load about 25-50 panels an hour. There was a big metal box on a platform on the floor, and she had to tilt it towards her and pull large pieces of metal which weighed 2 to 5 pounds apiece out of a box. She picked up as many at a time as she could. This required her to bend at the waist. She worked eight to nine hours a day, with twelve minute breaks in the morning and afternoon, and 30 minutes for lunch.
Shortly after Claimant began working at that job, she began to have pain in her low back which radiated into her right buttocks and down her right leg. Claimant saw her primary care physician, Dr. Allen, on April 28, 2005, complaining of low back pain. Claimant told Dr. Allen she had been lifting a lot at work, and had a stiff back from the birth of her daughter. Dr. Allen prescribed physical therapy. She gave Claimant a work restriction of no lifting over ten pounds, and then released her to full duty after one week. Claimant called Employer and told them she would be off work on medical leave for one week. When she returned to work, Employer required a medical release from Dr. Allen. Claimant testified she told the plant medical department she had done a job on Friday and hurt her back and that was why she was off for one week. Claimant testified Employer did not offer her any medical treatment. She testified she reported the incident to her supervisor, and told him the job she was on hurt her back, and he said he would take care of it. According to Claimant, she never heard from him again.
The plant medical records indicate Claimant reported to the medical department on May 5, 2005. The records indicate she was absent since April 25, 2005, and was released by Dr. Allen. The diagnosis was lateral epicondylitis, back pain, and anxiety. The records state Claimant was there to reinstate and she gave a long history of back pain, ever since her daughter was born in 1992. Claimant indicated her pregnancy caused lower back pain, and that her last MRI had been done two years before.
After working in the body shop, Claimant transferred to the inspection department as a floater. Claimant worked in the inspection department from October 15 until she left in 2005. Claimant testified her back flared up when she was doing a job called "lock and latch".
Claimant has a long history of low back problems. In 2002 Claimant had an MRI of her lumbar spine. The clinical history she gave at that time was low back pain radiating to both lower extremities. The MRI was performed to evaluate for herniated disc. The MRI was essentially unremarkable.
On September 27, 2006, Claimant saw Dr. Petkovich for an orthopedic consultation. Claimant's chief complaint was of pain in her low back and right lower extremity. She denied any specific history of injury. She indicated it had been bothering her for the past several months. Claimant denied any prior problems with her lower back. Dr. Petkovich diagnosed muscular and ligamentous lumbosacral strain with prior vascular disease and possible lumbar
discogenic component. He recommended an MRI and physical therapy. An MRI was performed on October 5, 2006. The clinical history given was of back pain and bilateral lower extremity discomfort and bilateral lower extremity weakness. Claimant reported having had low back pain for the previous 14 years, with no specific injury. The MRI revealed degenerative disc disease at L4-5 with desiccation and signal loss with a large central protrusion, which prolapsed slightly below the level of the interspace. There was no significant interspace narrowing at that location.
When Claimant saw Dr. Backer on December 19, 2006, she have a history of low back complaints on and off for 14 years, more severe at times than others. Dr. Backer examined Claimant, and did not find signs of radiculopathy. He noted her MRI showed a bulging disk at L4-5 with a small central and inferior herniation. He discussed with Claimant the uncertainties of outcome with back surgery for just degenerative disk disease. He discussed the possibility of a lumbar diskogram with the knowledge that if she went on to have a back surgery based on the results of the diskogram that the success rate is somewhere between 60 to 70 % with a 30 to 40 % failure rate.
On January 5, 2007, Claimant s