Ex Parte Kmart Corp.

Brenda Ridlespurge sued her employer, Kmart Corporation, seeking workers' compensation benefits under the Workers' Compensation Act, Ala. Code 1975, § 25-5-1 et seq. ("the Act"), for injuries she alleges she sustained in the course of her employment. Ridlespurge, a manager of the electronics department at a Kmart store, was injured when a shelf holding a TV/VCR combination fell and struck her right shoulder. Seven months after the incident, Ridlespurge sought treatment for pain in her neck and right shoulder. Although doctors performed three surgeries on her right shoulder, the pain…