Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts

In this workers’ compensation action, the employee, Thomas Hall, alleged that he sustained hearing loss due to exposure to noise in the workplace. The employer, TRW Automotive U.S., LLC,
contended that most of the hearing loss occurred after Mr. Hall began wearing hearing protection,
and was therefore not caused by his employment. The trial court awarded 75% permanent partial
disability of the hearing of both ears. TRW has appealed, arguing that the trial court erred in that
it failed to apportion the award to the body as a whole, selected an incorrect injury date, declined to
view a video recording of an evidentiary deposition, and made an excessive award of benefits. We
conclude that the award should have been assigned to the body as a whole, and that the trial court
selected an incorrect injury date. The judgment is modified accordingly.1

In this workers’ compensation action, the employee, Kimberly Wheeler, sustained repetitive trauma injuries to both arms. The injuries were accepted by her employer, Whirlpool Corporation, as compensable. After having surgery on both arms, she returned to work, initially in a light-duty
status, and later to full duty. The product line on which she worked was then shut down and moved to another location. She was offered the option of accepting a voluntary layoff or moving to another product line. She chose the voluntary layoff. Under the terms of her employment contract, she continued to be an employee although she was not working. Eventually, the entire plant closed and Ms. Wheeler was terminated at that time. The trial court found that she had meaningful return to work and voluntarily left her employment. For that reason, it limited its award of permanent partial disability benefits to one and one-half times the anatomical impairment in accordance with Tennessee Code Annotated section 50-6-241(d)(1)(B). The employee has appealed, contending that the trial court erred by applying the one and one-half times impairment cap. We agree and modify the judgment.1

This workers’ compensation appeal has been referred to the Special Workers’ Compensation
Appeals Panel of the Supreme Court in accordance with Tennessee Code Annotated § 50-6-225(e)(3) for a hearing and a report of findings of fact and conclusions of law. The employee alleged that she had sustained a permanent disability as a result of a work-related injury to her lower back. The trial court ruled that she had no permanent disability. She has appealed, contending that the trial court erred in accepting the testimony of the treating physician over that of the evaluating physician. We find no error, and affirm the judgment.

This workers’ compensation appeal has been referred to the Special Workers’ Compensation Appeals Panel of the Supreme Court in accordance with Tennessee Code Annotated section 50-6- 225(e)(3) for a hearing and report of findings of fact and conclusions of law. The employee, Barry Wayne Johnson, sought benefits for injuries he sustained in the course and scope of his employment with Raines Brothers, Inc. The employee fell fifteen to twenty feet into an air conditioning vent shaft at a construction site, shattering the left side of his pelvis and acetabulum. Following a course of treatment, the employee returned to work and was terminated after he informed his employer that he could not perform the light-duty work assigned to him due to residual and chronic pain. The trial court awarded permanent and total disability benefits. On appeal, the employer argues that the trial court erred in awarding permanent and total disability benefits. After careful review, the judgment of the trial court is affirmed.

This workers’ compensation appeal has been referred to the Special Workers’ Compensation
Appeals Panel of the Supreme Court in accordance with Tenn. Code Ann. § 50-6-225(e)(3) (2008)
for a hearing and a report of findings of fact and conclusions of law. Employee suffered a hernia as a result of his work. The trial court awarded 28.5% permanent partial disability to the body as a whole. On appeal, Employer contends that the trial court erred in basing its award upon the
testimony of Employee’s evaluating physician. We agree, and consequently modify the judgment to 4.5% permanent partial disability to the body as a whole.

Employee received an award of workers’ compensation benefits for a 1994 injury that
aggravated a pre-existing condition, Legg-Perthes disease. He received medical care for the condition thereafter through workers’ compensation. In 2007, his treating physician recommended hip replacement surgery. The trial court found that the necessity for surgery was not caused by the original injury. Employee has appealed. We affirm the judgment.1

This workers’ compensation appeal has been referred to the Special Workers' Compensation Appeals Panel of the Supreme Court in accordance with Tennessee Code
Annotated section 50-6-225(e)(3) for a hearing and a report of findings of fact and  conclusions of law. Employee injured her ankle as a result of a fall. At the time the injury occurred, she was between two portions of a split work shift. She had undertaken a personal errand at a building adjacent to her workplace, and intended to return to an employee break room at her workplace to await the second half of her shift. The fall occurred on property owned by her employer, but the property was leased to an unrelated third party. The trial court held that the injury was compensable. Employer has appealed, asserting that the trial court erred by finding that the injury arose out of and occurred in the course of the employee’s employment. We agree with Employer, and therefore reverse the judgment of the trial court.

This workers’ compensation appeal has been referred to the Special Workers’ Compensation Appeals Panel of the Supreme Court in accordance with Tennessee Code Annotated § 50-6-225(e)(3) for a hearing and a report of findings of fact and conclusions of law. The Employee alleged that she injured her back and neck as a result of an accident at work. Her authorized treating physician released her with no impairment. Employee’s examining physician assigned 10% impairment. The parties invoked the Medical Impairment Registry (“MIR”) process. The MIR physician assigned to Employee found 0% impairment. The trial court awarded benefits based upon the rating of Employee’s physician. The trial court did not explain how the opinion of Employee’s physician rebutted the MIR physician’s opinion. Upon review, we conclude that the trial court erred by not accepting the impairment as determined by the MIR doctor. The judgment for permanent partial disability benefits is reversed, and the case is remanded to the trial court for additional proceedings.

In this workers’ compensation case, the employee, Tammie Haake, sustained compensable injuries which required her to have surgery on both wrists. After the first procedure, she was able to return to work, although with modified duties. While she was temporarily disabled from the second surgery, her employer, Saturn Corporation, offered its workers an early retirement incentive program. She accepted the offer, and, as a result, did not return to work. The trial court found that her retirement was reasonably related to her work injuries, and therefore did not apply the “cap” of one and one-half times impairment contained in Tennessee Code Annotated section 50-6-241(d)(1)(A) Employer has appealed from that decision. We affirm the judgment. 1

This workers’ compensation appeal has been referred to the Special Workers’ Compensation Appeals Panel of the Supreme Court in accordance with Tennessee Code Annotated § 50-6-225(e)(3) for a hearing and a report of findings of fact and conclusions of law. The trial court found Employee to be permanently and totally disabled as a result of a compensable injury. It apportioned benefits 70% to Employer and 30% to the Second Injury Fund. Employer appealed. Employer and Employee then reached an agreement to compromise Employer’s portion of the claim for a lump sum payment. The appeal was voluntarily dismissed. Employee thereafter filed a motion requesting that the Fund  immediately commence paying its share of the judgment. The trial court granted that
motion. The Fund has appealed, contending that the order violates several provisions of the workers’ compensation law. We agree, reverse the order at issue, and remand the case to the trial court for further proceedings.