Injured cook fails to prove alleged second injury happened at work

A line cook at a Hardee’s fast food restaurant in Delaware failed to prove that his alleged slip and fall on a wet floor at work caused him to tear his rotator cuff, an event that occurred a month after he had fallen off a curb while not at work, the Supreme Court of Delaware ruled on Wednesday.

Steven Powell sought emergency medical treatment following his first fall — which caused a shoulder injury — on Nov. 4, 2016, taking place outside of his sister’s home, but did not seek immediate care after his alleged second fall at work in December, an injury that was not documented and was therefore not assigned a date, according to records in Steven Powell v. Otac Inc., D/B/A Hardee’s, Employer, filed in Wilmington.

The latest case was an appeal of a March 5, 2019, decision by the state’s Superior Court affirming a decision by the Delaware Industrial Accident Board denying Mr. Powell’s petition for workers compensation benefits, ruling that “he had failed to establish that he injured his rotator cuff while working at Hardees,” documents state.

The board concluded that the testimony and evidence was “insufficient to support a finding that Claimant’s injuries were causally related to his work for [Hardees].” Specifically, the board “noted that both Powell’s ‘inability to report a specific day of injury’ as well as his ‘failure to seek medical treatment immediately’ after the alleged incident detracted from his credibility,” documents state.

Further, the board found that although “both medical experts agreed that (Mr. Powell’s) treatment was reasonable for his rotator cuff tear, there was insufficient evidence that the rotator cuff tear occurred as the result of the alleged work accident.”

Mr. Powell raised two issues on his appeal: he asserted that the board erred as a matter of law in denying his petition, and he claims that he did present sufficient evidence to demonstrate that his injuries occurred while working at Hardees and he asserted that the Superior Court erred in affirming the board’s decision and that it exceeded the scope of review by making findings of fact unsupported by the record.

In disagreeing with Mr. Powell’s points, the state’s highest court affirmed the earlier rulings that the man’s injury was not proven to be work-related, basing the ruling on the cook’s lack of evidence.