BCM proves that petitioner who claims to have lost all her memories, except for how her accident occurred, is not permanently and totally disabled

Mark F. Vizza tried this case on behalf of the respondent. This matter involves a woman who alleges she suffered an accident arising out of and in the course of employment when coming out of the bathroom stall she tripped on a bucket and hit her head. Susan Davis vs. American Heritage Protection, 03 WC 27813. She alleges that since that day in 2003, she has no memory of any aspect of her prior life, except for how her accident occurred.

Accident and causal connection were disputed in this matter. This matter went to trial before Arbitrator Edward Lee of the Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission, and after hearing testimony from the petitioner and all the medical evidence regarding this case, awarded the petitioner 104 weeks temporary total disability benefits and 15% loss of use of the man as a whole and $20,000.00 in medical.

The petitioner had requested that she be found permanently and totally disabled, as she was claiming she was unable to return to any employment as she had forgotten all her training as a security guard and was nervous in crowds or around people after her accident. She contended that four years after the accident, she still did not remember any aspects of her life prior to the alleged accident. She did not remember her husband, her children, her sisters, or any other aspect of her life.

The treating psychologist found that as of September 2005, the petitioner was able to return to work in some capacity. He found that while she did have memory loss, she did not lose the ability to form new memories and she should have been able to return to work in some type of gainful employment.

The respondent disputed accident, given the fact that although the petitioner testified that she remembered no aspects of her former life upon regaining consciousness in the bathroom she did, however, retain one memory; that being the actual mechanism of the fall that made it a compensable injury. The treating psychologist testified that he did not believe her version of how the accident happened was reliable.

Even with that testimony, the arbitrator found her testimony regarding the facts of the accident credible and found that the petitioner sustained an accident arising out of and in the course of her employment. The arbitrator's award found that since September 2005, the petitioner has been capable of returning to gainful employment and he declined to award any temporary total disability benefits after September 2005.

Petitioner's request that she be found permanently and totally disable was denied.