Barbara L. Potter v. Patrick S. McCulla, Hartford Underwriters Insurance Company, Tracy N. Garcia, D.D.S., L.L.C., and First Comp Insurance Company

Summary

The Nebraska Supreme Court affirmed a Workers’ Compensation Court decision awarding Barbara Potter benefits for a repetitive trauma neck injury sustained during her career as a dental hygienist. The court held that competent evidence connected the injury to her employment, including employment with the appellant employer, and that the injury manifested on February 11, 2009, when Potter first missed work and sought medical treatment. The court declined to overrule its precedent defining when a repetitive trauma injury occurs “suddenly and violently.”

Holdings

1. Potter proved by competent evidence that her repetitive trauma injury arose from the risks within the scope or sphere of her employment as a dental hygienist, and she was not required to prove that the injury arose specifically from employment with Garcia.
2. Under Nebraska law, a repetitive trauma injury manifests at an identifiable point in time when the employee has both sought medical treatment and missed or discontinued work because of the injury.
3. The court declined to overrule its precedent requiring both medical treatment and missed or discontinued work to identify the manifestation date of a repetitive trauma injury.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Potter proved a causal connection between her repetitive trauma injury and her employment as a dental hygienist, including her employment with Garcia.
2. Whether the date of Potter's repetitive trauma injury was February 11, 2009, when she first missed work because of the injury.
3. Whether the Nebraska Supreme Court should reconsider or overrule its precedent defining when a repetitive trauma injury manifests under the statutory requirement that an accident happen suddenly and violently.

Disposition

affirmed