The Freibott Law Firm was successful in prosecuting a very contentious case involving a resident caregiver at HCR Manor Care. Our client was injured on August 23, 2011 when she was helping a resident. Our client complained of pain in her low back and pain radiating down her right leg. Our client went to a local emergency room facility and presented the bill to her employer. The employer refused to pay her bill. Because the Claimant was a new employee at HCR Manor Care, she continued to work through her pain that continued in her low back and down her right leg. The employer terminated our client on or about November 21, 2011. However, our client was in need of further medical care and she began treating with a neurosurgeon. It was the opinion of the neurosurgeon that our client had sustained a herniated disc in her low back that was in need of surgery. The employer denied that our client injured herself that badly in August of 2012 and further denied the need for surgery.
After a long hearing, the Industrial Accident Board found that our client was in fact injured on August 23, 2011; that our client’s injury to her low back was causally related to the work injury of August 23, 2011; that our client’s proposed surgery was reasonable, necessary, and related to the work injury of August 23, 2011; and that our client was totally disabled from January 24, 2012 through the current time period. Moreover, the Industrial Accident Board ordered the employer to pay for the reimbursement of our client’s medical expert witness fee as well as the payment of an attorney’s fee. (Moon v. HCR Manor Care dba Arden Court Nursing Home, Hearing No.: 1382891 and 1382576, Order date of October 10, 2012.)