Kentucky Department of Highways v. Lindon

William Lindon (plaintiff) was employed by the Kentucky Department of Highways (the department) (defendant). Lindon sustained a minor, temporary injury to his foot in a work-related accident. However, due to a psychological condition, Lindon became convinced that he was instead suffering from constant foot and leg pain that rendered him unable to work. Lindon’s psychiatrist recommended that Lindon undergo treatment including a series of sodium-amytal interviews, during which the psychiatrist would give Lindon a sedative that would make Lindon more susceptible to accepting the truth about his injury through the power of suggestion. The treatment did not involve any physical suffering or discomfort. Lindon refused to undergo the treatment, and Lindon’s doctor did not believe that the sodium-amytal treatment alone would successfully cure Lindon’s condition. Lindon sought workers’-compensation benefits, and the Workmen’s Compensation Board awarded Lindon benefits for total permanent disability. The board concluded that Lindon was suffering from compensation neurosis, a medically recognized mental disability by which a person unconsciously exaggerates the physical symptoms of an injury for as long as the person continues to receive compensation. The board found that Lindon’s refusal to submit to the treatment was not unreasonable. The board further found that the sodium-amytal treatment could hinder Lindon’s recovery and that Lindon’s resistance to the treatment would prevent the treatment from working, even though there was no medical evidence before the board to support those findings. A state circuit court upheld the board’s award, and the department appealed to the Kentucky Court of Appeals.