Patterson Law Firm Secures Win for Local Veterinarian in Workers' Compensation Case

Attorney Kathryn A. Smith secured a win for a local veterinarian’s office, Ingersoll Animal Hospital, and its insurance carrier, Indemnity Insurance Company of North America, in a workers’ compensation claim filed by a former employee. The employee argued that she sustained a rare condition called functional neurological disorder as a result of a stressful work environment while working for the animal hospital, believing that because the onset of the condition occurred at work, it was work-related. 

The case proceeded to an Arbitration hearing in September of 2025, and after several months, Deputy Workers’ Compensation Commissioner Andrew M. Phillips found for Ingersoll Animal Hospital. Deputy Phillips found the employee’s expert opinion to be flawed, noting that the expert’s opinion failed to demonstrate a causal link between the claimed injury and the employment, especially where the employee’s treating providers did not make such determination. Further, the employee’s expert was not a neurologist and lacked the apparent knowledge and experience to opine on the employee’s alleged condition. Thus, the employee failed to carry her burden of proof that her injuries arose out of, and in the course of, her employment with Ingersoll Animal Hospital.

This decision upholds the principle that a condition that is onset at work does not automatically equal a work-related condition.