DIVISION III
ARKANSAS COURT OF APPEALS
NOT DESIGNATED FOR PUBLICATION
DAVID M. GLOVER, Judge
LOIS WASHINGTON
APPELLANT
V.
UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS at
MONTICELLO and PUBLIC
EMPLOYEE CLAIMS
APPELLEES
CA 05-1211
May 10, 2006
APPEAL FROM THE ARKANSAS
WORKERS’ COMPENSATION
COMMISSION [F202082]
REVERSED AND REMANDED
Appellant, Lois Washington, suffered an admittedly compensable injury on
February 15, 2002, while working for appellee University of Arkansas at Monticello. She
worked as a custodian and fell down ten to twelve stairs when she tripped while carrying
a vacuum cleaner. She received medical expenses and temporary-total disability benefits
until August 12, 2002, when Dr. Bruce Safman determined that she was at maximum-
medical improvement and assigned her a zero-percent disability rating. Prior to the
August 12, 2002 assessment by Dr. Safman, appellant was involved in a motor-vehicle
-2-
accident on July 26, 2002. The ALJ concluded that the motor-vehicle accident was an
independent intervening cause that “severed appellees’ liability.” The Commission
affirmed and adopted the ALJ’s decision. For her sole point of appeal, appellant contends
that there is no substantial evidence to support the decision of the Arkansas Workers’
Compensation Commission dismissing the appellant’s claim for additional temporary-
total disability benefits. We reverse and remand this case to the Commission for
proceedings consistent with this opinion.
The hearing before the ALJ was held on August 12, 2004. Appellant testified that
she had worked for the university about a year prior to falling down the stairs on February
15, 2002. She stated that she landed on her back after falling down ten or twelve steps.
She said that she was initially treated in the emergency room at the hospital in
Monticello; that the ER doctor reported to Dr. Maxwell that she had a cracked vertebra;
and that Dr. Maxwell told them to send her to the hospital in Pine Bluff where a Dr. P. B.