Background
Thomas Jackson suffered a cervical spine epidural abscess in 2020, undergoing C5-T1 laminectomy and decompression surgery on September 7, 2020. He subsequently recovered, with his treating physician noting in April 2022 that his cervical radiculopathy had resolved. Jackson returned to work without restrictions and was employed as a truck driver for Haulin’ Jack Shipping Service, Inc. when the subject incident occurred.
On April 30, 2025, Jackson was driving a tractor trailer for Haulin’ Jack when he was struck from behind by another tractor trailer. He complained of neck pain at the scene and was extracted from his vehicle on a backboard by emergency medical services. Emergency department medical records documented cervical spine tenderness, and imaging showed chronic changes but no acute fractures or dislocations.
Jackson was subsequently diagnosed with cervical sprain and cervical radiculopathy by Dr. Gerard Werries and underwent physical therapy. The claim administrator denied his workers’ compensation claim on June 4, 2025, finding both the radiculopathy and sprain non-compensable. The Workers’ Compensation Board of Review reversed, holding the cervical sprain compensable and remanding for determination of radiculopathy compensability.
The Court’s Holding
The Intermediate Court of Appeals affirmed the Board’s reversal and award of compensability for the cervical sprain. Under West Virginia’s workers’ compensation statute, a claim is compensable when three elements coexist: (1) a personal injury, (2) received in the course of employment, and (3) resulting from that employment. The court found the Board’s decision supported by substantial evidence and not clearly wrong.
The Board credited Jackson’s documented complaints of neck pain immediately after the accident, his deposition testimony, and the emergency department medical records indicating cervical strain/sprain. The Board found Jackson’s testimony credible and the treating physician’s diagnosis of cervical sprain persuasive. The court noted that the Board was entitled to weigh the credibility and materiality of evidence, and that the employer’s affidavit regarding minimal vehicle damage and low impact speed did not overcome Jackson’s medical evidence and eyewitness testimony of the injury.
The court distinguished between the cervical sprain—held compensable—and the cervical radiculopathy, which the Board remanded for further factual determination because Jackson’s prior medical records documented radiculopathy complaints predating the accident. This remand was appropriate to clarify the causal nexus between the work injury and this particular symptom.
Key Takeaways
- Prompt complaints of injury at the scene of a workplace accident constitute powerful evidence supporting compensability, even when the claimant has a prior medical history involving the same body part.
- Appellate courts apply a highly deferential standard of review (“clearly wrong”), presuming the agency’s factual findings valid if supported by substantial evidence.
- Credibility determinations by the trier of fact—whether claimant or medical testimony is persuasive—are not subject to reweighing on appeal.
- Minor physical damage to a vehicle or low-impact testimony does not automatically defeat a claimed spinal injury when contemporaneous medical evidence and eyewitness reports support the claim.
Why It Matters
This decision clarifies that pre-existing medical conditions do not bar workers’ compensation recovery for a new work-related injury to the same anatomical site, provided proper causation is established. The case emphasizes the practical importance of documenting symptoms at the scene of an accident and obtaining immediate medical evaluation, as this contemporaneous evidence is given substantial weight in compensability determinations.
The holding reinforces the deferential posture appellate courts take toward agency factfinding in workers’ compensation cases. Employers challenging Board decisions must do more than offer conflicting evidence; they must identify legal error or show that the Board’s findings lack any substantial evidentiary support. Here, the employer’s circumstantial evidence regarding vehicle damage proved insufficient to overcome Jackson’s credible testimony and medical documentation.