{"id":"alj-H302298-2024-01-23","awcc_number":"H302298","decision_date":"2024-01-23","opinion_type":"alj","claimant_name":"Nicholas Long","employer_name":"Simmons Prepared Foods","title":"LONG VS. SIMMONS PREPARED FOODS. AWCC# H302298 JANUARY 23, 2024","outcome":"unknown","outcome_keywords":[],"injury_keywords":[],"pdf_url":"https://labor.arkansas.gov/wp-content/uploads/LONG_NICHOLAS_H302298_20240123.pdf","source_index_url":"https://labor.arkansas.gov/workers-comp/awcc-opinions/administrative-law-judge-opinions/","filename":"LONG_NICHOLAS_H302298_20240123.pdf","text_length":7118,"full_text":"BEFORE THE ARKANSAS WORKERS' COMPENSATION COMMISSION \n \n WCC NO. H302298 \n \nNICHOLAS LONG, Employee CLAIMANT \n \nSIMMONS PREPARED FOODS, Employer RESPONDENT \n \nSEDWICK CLAIMS MANAGEMENT, Insurance Carrier/TPA RESPONDENT \n \n \n \n OPINION FILED JANUARY 23, 2024 \n \nHearing  before  ADMINISTRATIVE  LAW  JUDGE  ERIC  PAUL  WELLS  in  Fort  Smith, \nSebastian County, Arkansas. \n \nClaimant unrepresented and appearing PRO SE. \n \nRespondents represented by R. SCOTT ZUERKER, Attorney at Law, Fort Smith, Arkansas. \n \n STATEMENT OF THE CASE \n \n On  October  26,  2023,  the  above  captioned  claim  came  on  for  a  hearing  at  Fort  Smith, \nArkansas.    A  pre-hearing  conference  was  conducted  on  October  2,  2023,  and  a  Pre-hearing \nOrder  was  filed  on  October  3,  2023.      A  copy  of  the  Pre-hearing  Order  has  been  marked \nCommission's Exhibit No. 1 and made a part of the record without objection. \n At the pre-hearing conference the parties agreed to the following stipulations: \n 1. The Arkansas Workers' Compensation Commission has jurisdiction of this claim. \n 2. The relationship of employee-employer-carrier existed between the parties on June 19, \n2022. \n 3. The claimant sustained a compensable injury in the form of a laceration above his left \neye on June 19, 2022. \n \n\nLong – H302298 \n \n-2- \n By agreement of the parties the issues to litigate are limited to the following: \n 1.  Whether  Claimant  is  entitled  to  compensation  for  facial  disfigurement  that  resulted \nfrom a compensable laceration above his left eye under A.C.A. §11-9-524. \n The claimant's contentions are as follows: \n“On  6/19/2022  I  was  sent  inside  the  oven  to  remove  chicken.  I \ncomplained  about  the  frozen  floor  and  approximately  two  hours \nafter  cleaning  out  freezer   I  slipped  on  ice  and  had  a  facial \nlaceration by my left eye. I have a 1.5-inch scar.” \n \n The respondents’ contentions are as follows: \n“Respondents  contend  that  all  appropriate  benefits  have  been  or \nwill be paid.” \n \n The claimant in this matter is a 28-year-old male who sustained a compensable laceration \nabove  his  left  eye  on  June  19,  2022,  while  employed  by  the  respondent.  The  claimant  testified \nthat he was working to remove chickens from a freezer that was not functioning when he slipped \non some ice. The claimant’s face hit a freezer rack causing a compensable laceration to his face. \nThe  respondent’s  on-site  facility  nurse  took  the  claimant  to  an  emergency  department  in  Van \nBuren, Arkansas, and he was treated by Dr. Lee Morgan Johnson.  \n A medical record from that visit dated June 19, 2022, was introduced into evidence and is \ncomprised  of  four  pages  found  at  Claimant’s  Exhibit  1.  Dr.  Johnson  reported  the  claimant’s \ncompensable  laceration  in  the  left  temple  area  to  be  a  1cm  laceration.  A  photograph  of  the \nclaimant’s  laceration  prior  to  it  being  treated  is  found  at  Respondent’s  Exhibit  1,  page  1. The \nclaimant’s laceration was not stitched by Dr. Johnson; however, it was closed using glue.  \n The   claimant   has   asked   the   Commission   to   determine   whether   he   is   entitled   to \ncompensation  for  facial  disfigurement  that  resulted  from  his  June  19,  2022,  compensable \nlaceration above his left eye under A.C.A. §11-9-524. A.C.A. §11-9-524 states:  \n\nLong – H302298 \n \n-3- \n(a) The    Workers’    Compensation    Commission    shall    award \ncompensation    for    serious    and    permanent    facial    or    head \ndisfigurement  in  a  sum  not  to  exceed  three  thousand  five  hundred \ndollars ($3,500). \n \n(b)  No  award  for  disfigurement  shall  be  entered  until  twelve  (12) \nmonths after the injury. \n \nThe  claimant’s  compensable  laceration  occurred  on  June  19,  2022.  The  hearing  in  this \nmatter was conducted on October 26, 2023. More than 12 months have passed as A.C.A. §11-9-\n524(b)   requires.   Section   (a)   of   §11-9-524   states   in   part, “The   Workers’   Compensation \nCommission    shall    award    compensation    for    serious    and    permanent    facial    or    head \ndisfigurement....”  The  claimant  testified  that  the  scar  from  his  compensable  laceration  has \nremained  the  same  since  its  existence.  I  had  the  opportunity  to  view  the  claimant’s  scar  at  the \nhearing and the close-up photograph of the claimant’s scar taken just prior to the hearing in this \nmatter,  found  at  Joint  Exhibit  1,  page  1.  I  do  find  that  the  claimant’s  1cm  scar  is  permanent  as \nrequired by A.C.A. §11-9-524(a). \n The  claimant  must  also  prove  that  the  facial  or  head  disfigurement,  here,  a  scar,  is \n“serious.” I have reviewed case law and was unable to find suitable precedent regarding A.C.A. \n§11-9-524’s  term  of “serious”  facial  or  head  disfigurement.  Black’s  Law  Dictionary  defines \nserious as: \nSERIOUS. Important; weighty; momentous, grave, great, as in the \nphrases “serious bodily harm,” “serious personal injury,” etc. Ward \nv. State, 70 Tex.Cr.R. 393, 159 S.W. 272, 282; McKee v. State, 93 \nTex.Cr.R. 217, 246 S.W. 1035, 1036. \n \n In  my  personal  viewing  of  the  claimant’s  scar  at  the  hearing  in  this  matter,  I  found  it \ndifficult  to  discern  the  presence  of  the  scar,  even  when  I  understood  its  location.  The  close-up \nphotograph  of  the  claimant’s  scar,  found  at  Joint  Exhibit  1,  does  make  the  scar  much  easier  to \n\nLong – H302298 \n \n-4- \ndiscern. However, I do not believe that the scar above the claimant’s left eye rises to the level of \n“serious” even though it is permanent; as such, the claimant is unable to prove his entitlement for \ncompensation for facial or head disfigurement under A.C.A. §11-9-524. \n From a review of the record as a whole, to include medical reports, documents, and other \nmatters properly before the Commission, and having had an opportunity to hear the testimony of \nthe  witness  and  to  observe  his  demeanor,  the  following  findings  of  fact  and  conclusions  of  law \nare made in accordance with A.C.A. §11-9-704: \n FINDINGS OF FACT & CONCLUSIONS OF LAW \n 1.  The  stipulations  agreed  to  by  the  parties  at  the  pre-hearing  conference  conducted  on \nOctober  2,  2023,  and  contained  in  a  Pre-hearing  Order  filed  October  3,  2023,  are  hereby \naccepted as fact. \n 2. The claimant has failed prove his entitlement to compensation for facial disfigurement \nthat resulted from his compensable laceration above his left eye under A.C.A. §11-9-524. \n ORDER \nPursuant to the above findings and conclusions, I have no alternative but to deny this \nclaim in its entirety. \nIf  they  have  not  already  done  so,  the  respondents  are  directed  to  pay  the  court  reporter, \nVeronica Lane, fees and expenses within thirty (30) days of receipt of the invoice. \n IT IS SO ORDERED. \n \n \n \n                                ____________________________                                              \n       HONORABLE ERIC PAUL WELLS \n       ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGE","preview":"BEFORE THE ARKANSAS WORKERS' COMPENSATION COMMISSION WCC NO. H302298 NICHOLAS LONG, Employee CLAIMANT SIMMONS PREPARED FOODS, Employer RESPONDENT SEDWICK CLAIMS MANAGEMENT, Insurance Carrier/TPA RESPONDENT OPINION FILED JANUARY 23, 2024 Hearing before ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGE ERIC PAUL WELLS in Fort Smith, Sebastian Co...","fetched_at":"2026-05-19T22:58:36.154Z","links":{"html":"/opinions/alj-H302298-2024-01-23","pdf":"https://labor.arkansas.gov/wp-content/uploads/LONG_NICHOLAS_H302298_20240123.pdf","source_publisher":"https://labor.arkansas.gov/workers-comp/awcc-opinions/administrative-law-judge-opinions/"}}