Earlier this week, a court of appeals in Mississippi decided that the state Workers’ Compensation Commission had wrongly dismissed the case of a former Boyd Biloxi Casino dealer who claimed that the specific repetitive arm movements tied to the job caused her shoulder injury.
Thousands of Moves
The appeals court ruled the commission had mistakenly dismissed the Sandra Thompson v. Boyd Biloxi LLC case as untimely, reversing and remanding the dismissal of the dealer’s claim.
Thompson, who worked for Boyd Gaming Corporation’s subsidiary as a casino dealer and supervisor, filed an initial petition to controvert two years ago, in July 2024.
The former card dealer and roulette croupier alleged that the repetitive movements from dealing cards and spinning the wheel eventually caused a series of injuries to her right shoulder as well as her upper extremity.
The Two-Year Satute of Limitation Matter
The Workers’ Compensation Commission established that the woman’s claim was barred by the two-year statute of limitations, arguing that the ex-dealer knew that the very nature of her work had aggravated the pain in her shoulder by July 2021.
The court of appeals did not agree with the ruling, considering that the compensable nature of the woman’s injury was not reasonably obvious until an MRI that showed a labral tear and potential biceps tendon tearing.
A doctor later linked the damage revealed by the MRI in 2024 to the woman’s duties as a dealer. A different physician went on to recommend she undergo surgery, according to the ruling.
The court explained that the previous treatment that the former casino dealer used for her shoulder impingement, including anti-inflammatories and cortisone injections, did not trigger the statute of limitations since progressive injury claims do not accrue until the disabling and, therefore, compensable nature of the injury is reasonably apparent.