In South Dakota, a waitress who broke up a fight suffered a severe brain injury in the process and has been fighting for benefits. Her case made its way to the state’s Supreme Court.

Sarah Sorenson worked for the Harbor Bar when she tried to break up a fight there on New Year’s Eve in 2009. She ended up getting hit in the process and finished out her shift even though she said she had a headache and was developing black eyes. The fight was reported January 3^rd, 2010.

A week after the fight she began to feel serious headaches and started vomiting. She went to the hospital where they found a serious hemorrhage in her brain and she had brain surgery on January 8^th. Dr. Asfora did three different surgeries on her brain to drain fluids and reconnect blood vessels. In his second surgery he discovered she had moyamoya disease which closes main blood vessels in the brain. Since they are closed, the smaller blood vessels in the brain do their best to supply the brain with blood but they are not very stable and can leave a person at risk for brain bleeding. He performed the third surgery to address that.

Sorenson called on another physician, Dr. Packard, who testified that she suffered from memory loss and should qualify for Social Security Disability as she found it difficult to manage her life. Dr. Asfora also testified that she had the moyamoya disease before the event but it was asymptomatic until the blow from the fight caused her to hemorrhage.

The employer’s physician, Dr. Starzinski, had never treated Sorensen but did not think the fight was the cause of the hemorrhage. He thought that an alleged “rough housing” session that several witnesses say they saw at the bar between Sorensen and her brother was to blame for the hemorrhage. The details of that event were sketchy at best and Sorenson’s argument was that her employer had paid witnesses to make up another traumatic brain event. The Labor Department ruled with Sorenson and said that her work related injury was the major cause of her hemorrhage and her disabilities. If the fight happened at all, they said it took place before the New Year’s event anyway. They did not think her third surgery was compensable as that was purely to address her pre-existing moyamoya disease, but still made sure her expenses were paid for.

Her employer appealed since they did not think they should pay for the third surgery, and her award was reduced. Her employer appealed again saying that the court was wrong in determining the rough housing took place after the New Year’s fight, and that they were wrong in determining that New Year’s fight was the major cause of her injury. The South Dakota Supreme Court ruled that there was no other rough housing incident, and that the New Year’s Eve injury was the major cause of Sorenson’s hemorrhage and resulting disability. They upheld the ruling that Sorenson could claim workers’ compensation and lost income.