The Supreme Court of Delaware found that a line cook at a Hardee’s restaurant in Delaware could not prove that his alleged slip and fall on a wet floor at work caused him to tear his rotator cuff. This was an event that occurred one month after he had fallen off a curb while he wasn’t at work, which was the likely culprit of his rotator cuff injury.

Steven Powell went to the ER after his first fall which caused a shoulder injury on November 4, 2016. He did not seek immediate care after his alleged second fall at work in December, an injury that was not documented so it did not have a date.

The state’s Superior Court affirmed a decision by the Delaware Industrial Accident Board which denied his petition for workers’ comp benefits, ruling that he had failed to establish that he injured his rotator cuff while working at Hardees.

The board concluded that testimony and evidence was not sufficient to support the finding that a Claimant’s injuries were causally related to his work for Hardees. They noted his inability to report a specific day of injury and failure to seek immediate medical treatment after the alleged incident and said that detracted from his credibility.

The board also found that though medical experts determined treatment was reasonable for a rotator cuff tear, there was not enough evidence that the rotator cuff tear occurred as a result of the alleged work incident.

The Supreme Court of Delaware affirmed these rulings, saying Powell did not have enough evidence to prove his injury was the result of a work incident.

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