Springdale, Arkansas – The Law Office of Jason M. Hatfield has obtained a workers’ compensation award for a Carroll County sheriff’s corporal who injured his right knee while searching an abandoned property for a suspected escaped inmate, according to an opinion from the Arkansas Workers’ Compensation Commission.
In Dakota Papa v. Carroll County Judge and AAC Risk Management Services, WCC No. H505910, Administrative Law Judge Eric Paul Wells found that Corporal Dakota Papa sustained a compensable right knee injury while acting in the line of duty.
The ruling orders the insurance company to pay for medical treatment related to Papa’s right knee, reimburse out-of-pocket expenses, including mileage, and provide temporary total disability benefits.
Body camera footage used as evidence showed Papa ascending an exterior wooden staircase to back up Deputy Usery when a step gave way. Papa testified that as he fell through his right knee struck the intact step in front of him causing injuries to his right knee. An MRI revealed edema underneath his kneecap, and Corporal Papa’s surgeon opined that the only way the injury could have occurred was a direct impact to the kneecap.
The Arkansas Association of Counties insurance adjuster denied that Corporal Papa injured his right knee in the incident. The insurance adjuster testified that she did not take Corporal Papa’s statement, request his medical records, or request his personnel file before denying his work comp benefits.
Both Deputy Usery and the sheriff’s administrative assistant testified at the trial. Deputy Usery testified that he was present when Corporal Papa was injured falling through the step and was immediately aware of the injury. The sheriff’s administrative assistant testified that Corporal Papa immediately reported the injury to her before going to the emergency room. The insurance adjuster admitted that she failed to interview either of these witnesses before denying Corporal Papa’s work comp benefits.
In assessing Corporal Papa’s entitlement to temporary total disability benefits, the opinion cited medical restrictions limiting him to a sit-down job, prohibiting climbing, kneeling, and squatting, and capping lifting at ten pounds, conditions that the judge found incompatible with his duties as a corporal. Testimony from the sheriff’s administrative assistant indicated that Papa exhausted his sick and vacation time while off work during the disputed period.
After reviewing the testimony, medical records, and additional evidence, Judge Wells concluded that Corporal Papa had “proven by a preponderance of the evidence” that his right knee injury was compensable, that his treatment was reasonable and necessary, and that he was entitled to temporary total disability benefits and statutory attorney’s fees on the unpaid wages. Under Arkansas law, attorneys are not entitled to fees on denied medical benefits. So insurance carriers will continue to deny medical treatment to legitimately injured Arkansas workers until the law is changed to penalize them for these unjustified denials of benefits.
CASE INFORMATION
Arkansas Workers’ Compensation Commission
Dakota Papa v. Carroll County Judge & AAC Risk Management Services
Case No. WCC No. H505910
At the Law Office of Jason M. Hatfield, P.A., we are seasoned veterans of the Arkansas legal system. We have families who are proud to live, work, and play in Northwest Arkansas – from Fayetteville to Bentonville.
Law Office of Jason M. Hatfield, P.A.
1025 E Don Tyson Pkwy
Springdale, AR 72764
(479) 888-4789
Press Contact : Jason Hatfield
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