Brenda Sadler (also known as and referred to as "Sue") was born on April 10, 1957. She has three adult children. She has been married for 40 years. She resides in O'Fallon, Missouri. She left school in 1973 in the tenth grade. She is right handed. She stands approximately 5'4" tall. She receives Social Security disability benefits. She is also on Medicare.
The Claimant went to work for Hussmann in 1977. Claimant believes that the last day that she worked for Hussmann was around January 21, 2012, before she went on a medical leave of absence. She believes after that date that she attempted to return to work for the Employer for approximately one week, sometime in June or July in 2012. She was hired by Hussmann as a full-time Claimant. She worked approximately 40 hours a week with occasional overtime.
She alleged a specific injury occurring at work with a specific date of December 1, 2011, as was the pleaded injury date in her Claim for Compensation. At the hearing, she testified that the incident could have occurred at the end of November or during December. At her deposition, the Claimant testified that the incident could have occurred in late November, or sometime in December. She does not recall the specific date that the injury occurred. A claim for compensation was filed with the Division of Workers' Compensation on July 9, 2012, alleging injury to the back occurring on or about December 1, 2011. The Employer/Insurer filed an answer to claim for compensation upon receipt of that claim on July 16, 2012. The Claimant pleaded that she had lifted a specific refrigeration case that caused injury. She stated that she was lifting the case with the help of a co-worker, Charles Robertson. The Claimant agreed that she could not recall the specific date the injury occurred. At her deposition, her attorney stated that they had been assigned the date of December 1, 2011 by the Division.
With respect to the accident, the Claimant testified that "basically, I felt a pull in my back. We were doing like the seven foot case I was talking about... and I felt a pull in my left lumbar, lower back area and it kind of went into the left side of - - the buttock cheek, whatever, whatever. It was just a little pain." Claimant deposition transcript pages 25 through 26.
The Claimant was familiar with the process for reporting a work injury. She had had prior Workers' Compensation Claims at Hussmann. She had hired an attorney to represent her at
WC-32-R1 (6-81)
Page 5
Issued by DIVISION OF WORKERS' COMPENSATION
Injury No.: 11-110107
least one of those prior injuries, which involved her shoulder. She stated that she did not ask for treatment following the alleged December 1, 2011 injury because she did not want to treat with doctors selected by the Employer.
The Claimant testified that she had discomfort after the incident. She placed ice on the affected area. She did not ask the Employer to send her out for treatment. She decided to seek treatment on her own. She did not want to see the Employer's doctors. Claimant testified that she wanted to control the course of her medical treatment. At the same time, the Claimant was applying for disability retirement benefits.
Claimant testified that she was working with Charles "Ronny" Robertson when the incident occurred. She states that she also reported the incident to her foreman, Tom Besancenez. She could not recall whether the incident occurred in either late November or early December 2011.
Mr. Besancenez was deposed by Claimant's counsel on February 24, 2014. He testified that he was a production supervisor for Hussmann. He had worked for Hussmann for approximately eight years when he was deposed. He testified he oversaw 16 employees and was responsible for lines 8, 34, and 53. He testified that the Claimant made shelves; she was responsible for bolting pre-assembled shelves together, and she sat in a chair while performing those activities. He testified she sat in a chair 99.9 percent of the time that she worked. He testified that he did not recall the Claimant reporting a work injury to her back when lifting a refrigeration case. He did recall her commenting about generalized back pain, and that the Claimant has difficulty from time to time with recurring back pain from a previous injury.
Mr. Besancenez testified that it was his duty and practice to prepare a report of injury when notified of a work injury. He testified he did not fill out any paperwork with respect to the Claimant's alleged work injury, as none was reported to him. He did not recall a specific incident. Mr. Besancenez testified "I recall Sue never saying she got hurt or asking to go to medical." (Besancenez deposition transcript, page 32, line 17-8). He did not recall the Claimant notifying him that she had hurt herself or was going home to take Ibuprofen. He did not know whether an investigation had been internally undertaken at Hussmann to determine whether the Claimant has