Scooter Crash No One Saw Leads to Successful Worker's Comp Claim

New Iberia, LA (WorkersCompensation.com) – Just because no one saw an accident doesn’t mean a worker can’t obtain workers’ compensation benefits for the injuries he sustained.

If a tree falls in the woods, did it really happen? You could ask the same question about an employee who rides a scooter to an empty room and then crashes it.

As shown in Buckner v. Dialysis Clinics, Inc., No. WCA 22-96. (La. Ct. App. 11/23/22), the key to the outcome of an unwitnessed accident case, aside from the employee’s own testimony, is whether subsequent events and medical treatment reveal that the accident happened.

In Buckner, a supervising nurse manager in a dialysis clinic got on his knee scooter to go check—for the second time that day—the clinic’s water filtration system in the water room. That system was essential for patient safety since it removed the chlorine from the city water. 

The manager later reported that the front wheels of the scooter locked after hitting an uneven surface and grate area in the water room, throwing him over the handlebars. He landed forehead first on the floor, he said. No one was present to see it happen. 

While lying on the ground, the manager used his cell phone to call coworkers. He was then transported to the hospital. He was diagnosed with a right foot injury, a cervical spine injury, and an aggravation of a pre-existing low back injury.

The employer challenged a workers’ compensation judge’s determination that the manager established a workplace injury. The employer didn’t believe the accident happened, especially because the manager recently said he wanted to quit.

The court explained that with respect to an unwitnessed accident, a worker can establish that he experienced a workplace accident with his testimony alone if: 1) no other evidence discredits or casts serious doubt upon his version of the accident; and 2) his testimony is corroborated by the circumstances following the alleged incident. 

The court found that the manager met his burden. First, it pointed to the records of the doctor who treated him shortly after the incident. That doctor noticed that changes had occurred in the manager’s preexisting condition since the last x-ray, including a new fracture. 

The court acknowledged that the manager informed his supervisor one day prior to the accident that he no longer wanted to work in his position. “Although [the manager] freely acknowledged that this assertion is true, this admission alone does not demand that we reject the WCJ's finding that a compensable workplace accident had occurred,” the court wrote. 

The court affirmed the WCJ’s finding that the manager established that he was in a workplace accident.

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