Ex Parte Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., seeks a writ of mandamus directing the trial court to rescind its order which allowed the employee in a workers' compensation action to proceed with surgery not recommend-ed by her currently authorized treating physician, and which directed the employer to pay for the surgery by an out-of-state physician. We grant the petition.

The plaintiff, Barbara J. Bishop f/k/a Barbara J. Trapp, claims to have suffered a back injury while working for the defendant, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., on January 6, 1998. Although Wal-Mart disputes the compensability of the plaintiff's alleged…