Injured Employee Only Gets One Breast Implant

Robin Martinek

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Penny M. Rumple Richardson was injured in a motor vehicle collision on May 16, 2001, while in performance of her work duties as a Certified Nursing Assistant in the employ of Maxim Healthcare/Allegis Group. Following the accident, Ms. Richardson noticed that her right breast was smaller than it had been prior to the accident and that the left breast had ripples.

Since Ms. Richardson had previously had breast implants due to a double mastectomy, she consulted Dr. David Bowers, a plastic surgeon in the Greensboro Area. Dr. Bowers found that the accident likely caused a leak in the right implant, but could not attribute the rippling effect in the left breast to the motor vehicle collision. Since Dr. Bowers could not relate the ripple effect in the left breast to the motor vehicle accident, and he did not testify as to the need for symmetry and evenly matching breasts, the North Carolina Court of Appeals found that Ms. Richardson was only entitled to have workers' compensation pay for one implant and that Ms. Richardson would be responsible for the cost of replacing the left breast implant.

Judge Wynn of the North Carolina Court of Appeals noted in a dissenting opinion that the Workers' Compensation Act is there to make the employee whole, and he could not agree with an outcome that would force an employee to accept a noticeable asymmetrical appearance resulting from a compensable workers' compensation claim.