Case details

Head injury caused cognitive and emotional changes: teacher

SUMMARY

$3400000

Amount

Settlement

Result type

Not present

Ruling
KEYWORDS
brain, brain damage, brain injury, cognition, impairment, mental, psychiatric, psychological, traumatic brain injury
FACTS
On March 11, 2015, applicant Cindy Moon, 31, a teacher, was conducting a school pep rally in a gym at a school in Chino. When the music began, she jumped up to dance to the beat, but the top of her head struck a television that was bolted to the wall in the gym. Moon claimed to her head. Moon filed a workers’ compensation claim against her employer, Chino Valley Unified School District. She brought a claim against the respondent in an attempt to recover workers’ compensation benefits., After striking her head, Moon did not lose consciousness. However, she claimed she had an altered state of consciousness for a brief period after she fell to the ground. She also reported feeling disoriented and confused. She subsequently presented to her primary care provider, and was discharged home. The following day, Moon was nauseous and sought medical attention. She was ultimately diagnosed with post-concussion syndrome. Thus, Moon claimed she suffered a mild traumatic brain injury and that she has been diagnosed with post-traumatic seizure disorder. Moon claimed that since the injury, she has experienced severe working memory deficits, cognitive deficits characterized by decreased mental flexibility, delayed processing speed, and some executive functioning deficits. Moon’s counsel noted that Moon had thrived prior to the injury and that Moon had received numerous college degrees and several accolades in her role as a teacher. Counsel contended that Moon was a high-functioning individual that excelled in her field and in life in general, and to say that she was an overachiever, would be an understatement. However, Moon claimed that since the subject traumatic brain injury, despite the “mild” characterization, she experiences extreme physical and emotional symptomology that has left her completely disabled. Multiple experts have allegedly declared Moon permanently and totally disabled. Moon was also evaluated by some agreed upon medical evaluators in psychiatry, who all found symptomology consistent with a traumatic brain injury. In October 2016, Moon was admitted to a transitional living center for multidisciplinary neurorehabilitation. Upon discharge, Moon was receiving some provision of home health care supervision. Moon’s treating physicians stated that despite some pre-existing history of medical diagnoses prior to the subject accident, Moon’s symptoms had not been labor disabling up until the subject injury. They further opined that as a result of the traumatic brain injury, Moon would be incapable of returning to work as a school teacher and that Moon’s syncopal spells placed her at risk for further injury.
COURT
Workers' Compensation Appeals Board, CA

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