Background
Cody Melsop sought workers’ compensation benefits after injuring his right knee while carrying a tote of supplies weighing at least forty pounds on December 21, 2023. The claim administrator denied his request for temporary total disability benefits and later denied his request to add a right knee medial meniscal tear as a compensable condition.
The Board of Review reversed both denials, crediting the opinion of Melsop’s treating physician and surgeon, Darren Frank, M.D. The Intermediate Court of Appeals affirmed. The City of Wheeling appealed, arguing that the reviewing physician, Jerry Magone, M.D., more persuasively concluded that the tear was degenerative and unrelated to the work injury.
The Court’s Holding
The Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia affirmed the Intermediate Court of Appeals in a memorandum decision. Applying de novo review to legal questions and deferring to the Board of Review’s factual findings unless clearly wrong, the court found no reversible error.
The decision leaves in place the Board of Review’s determinations that Melsop’s right knee medial meniscal tear is compensable and that he is entitled to temporary total disability benefits. The court summarily affirmed under West Virginia Rule of Appellate Procedure 21(c).
Key Takeaways
- The court upheld the addition of a right knee medial meniscal tear as a compensable condition.
- The court also upheld the award of temporary total disability benefits.
- The Board of Review’s credibility assessment between medical opinions was not clearly wrong.
Why It Matters
The decision underscores the deference appellate courts give to the Board of Review’s factual findings in West Virginia workers’ compensation matters. An employer’s competing record-review opinion did not establish reversible error where the Board credited the claimant’s treating physician and surgeon.