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Trucks Inc. v. Trowell

The trial court erred in finding that the claimant's disability stemmed from a change in condition, since she never previously received an award of workers' compensation benefits or a voluntary payment of income benefits from her former employer or insurer for her initial April 2006 job-related injury.

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Trucks, Inc. and its insurer, Great West Casualty Company, appeal the superior court’s order affirming an award of benefits by the Appellate Division of the State Board of Workers’ Compensation the “State Board” in favor of Marion Trowell, who injured her right shoulder while employed at Trucks. In affirming the award, the superior court found that Trowell’s disability resulted from a “change in condition” rather than a “new accident.” While the superior court erred in making this finding, we affirm under the principle of right for any reason because there was evidence that Trowell’s disability was solely attributable to her initial work-related injury rather than to a gradual worsening of the injury caused by her continuing to work. In reviewing a workers’ compensation award, we construe the evidence in the light most favorable to the party prevailing before the State Board. Ray Bell Constr. Co. v. King , 281 Ga. 853, 854 642 SE2d 841 2007. So viewed, the evidence shows that Trowell worked full time as a truck driver for Trucks, Inc. Her job duties included driving a tractor-trailer rig to and from Florida and manually hooking and unhooking trailers to the rig. In order to hook and unhook the trailers, she was required to use a hand crank which rolled down the landing gear of the trailers. On April 18, 2006, Trowell was rolling down the landing gear of a trailer when she felt a burning sensation in her right shoulder.

Trowell continued working at regular duty, but she sought medical treatment for pain in her neck and right shoulder. She timely notified Trucks of the April 18 incident, and Trucks and its insurer, Great West Casualty Company, accepted her claim as compensable under the Workers’ Compensation Act, OCGA § 34-9-1 et seq., as a “medical-only” claim and initially paid for her medical treatment while she continued to work.

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