Can the interior door handle be damaged when replacing the exterior handle?

[WyrdOne]

I had my exterior, driver's side door handle replaced on my 98 Camry on Monday. Yesterday I noticed the housing of the interior, driver's side door handle is cracked along the bottom, such that 1 in 3 times I try to open the door it simply pulls away from the door instead of opening.

Is it possible that one of the mechanics broke this part when they were replacing the exterior door handle? Do they need to do anything with or near the interior door handle to do a repair like this?

[BMR]

Yes. To replace the outer door handle, the interior door panel must be removed to get access to that handle's fasteners inside the door. Taking that panel off requires removing the bezel that surrounds the interior handle. It's possible the interior handle got broken while doing that.