Childcare worker’s head pain from being hit by toy not compensable

The Superior Court of Delaware ruled Thursday that a childcare worker’s head pain and other symptoms could have been connected to a previous injury and not the result of a toddler’s tripping and hitting her in the head with a toy truck.

In affirming an earlier decision of the Delaware Industrial Accident Board, the appellate court said the worker “failed to establish by a preponderance of the evidence” that her medical condition was connected to the mishap while working for Jovie Childcare Reimagined in 2022. She had previously suffered a head injury in a car accident in 2015.

In the months following the later incident, the woman sought treatment for pain, vomiting and dizziness. A doctor specializing in neurology and electromyography was hired to evaluate the woman and found “no evidence of brain dysfunction.”

Comparing MRIs from 2016 and 2023, the doctor found “there was no acute change between the MRIs; rather, her injuries remain ‘longstanding and pre-existing,’” according to court documents.

The doctor concluded that the woman did not suffer a concussion in 2022 “but that she may have suffered a temporary cervical strain, which had resolved.” He attributed her description of symptoms to “pre-existing psychological and medical issues, unrelated to the alleged industrial injury.”

The board viewed conflicting medical testimony that found her concussion to be related to the work incident in 2022 as not “credible.”

The appellate court, in affirming the board’s decision, said the woman “did not offer any evidence to corroborate her description of the alleged accident, nor did she offer any witnesses to corroborate her symptoms on the day of the alleged accident, in the three weeks leading up to her treatment, or after receiving treatments from the concussion clinic.”

The case is No. N23A-12-005 SPL.