A-15-1097, Debra Yost (Appellant) v. Davita, Inc. (Cross-appellant)
Nebraska Workers' Compensation Court, Judge J. Daniel R. Fridrich
Attorney for Appellant: Eric B. Brown (Atwood, Holsten, Brown & Deaver Law Firm, P.C., L.L.O.)
Attorney for Appellee: Caroline M. Westerhold (Baylor, Evnen, Curtiss, Grimit & Witt, LLP)
Civil Action: Workers' compensation
Action Taken by Trial Court: The workers' compensation court refused to order Davita, Inc. to pay for Yost's spinal cord stimulator but found that she had suffered an increase in incapacity due to her depression and that she was at MMI for that injury. The court also refused to reopen the evidentiary record for further evidence and declined to allow Davita, Inc. to make an offer of proof of the additional evidence it sought to introduce.
Assignments of Error on Appeal: On appeal, Yost asserts that the compensation court erred in finding that certain medical expenses were not reasonable.
On cross-appeal, Davita, Inc. assigns that the compensation court erred in finding that (1) Yost suffered an increase in incapacity due solely to her work-related accident and that she is at MMI for a mental injury, (2) it lacked authority to reopen the evidentiary record for purposes of allowing Davita to submit newly discovered evidence relating to fraud for the court's consideration, and (3) it lost jurisdiction over the matter once Yost filed her notice of appeal and refusing to allow Davita to make an offer of proof of the newly discovered evidence for purposes of preserving the issue for appeal.