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Ivey v. Trans Global Gas & Oil9/13/1999
o have totally and permanently lost their mental faculties. The record in this case is clear that, although the plaintiff has suffered a permanent mental injury, she has not totally lost her mental faculties. We must, therefore, conduct a de novo review of the record to determine the appropriate duration of the plaintiff's recovery. The amount of periodic benefits to be paid to the plaintiff has not been disputed in this appeal.
We have thoroughly reviewed the record in this case including the extent of the plaintiff's injury , her age and work history, her educational background, and the availability of any transferable work skills that she could utilize in future employment. The plaintiff's psychiatrists testified that the plaintiff's mental injury was chronic and likely to persist throughout the remainder of her life. Relying on an outdated AMA guideline, the psychiatrists rated the plaintiff as fifty percent anatomically impaired to the body as a whole.
On the separate question of vocational disability, the plaintiff's expert, Dr. Hankins, testified that the plaintiff's mental injury prevents her from working in jobs that require her to interact with strangers and large groups of people. Dr. Hankins determined that the plaintiff has no specialized work skills and that her limited education greatly reduces the opportunities that she might otherwise have in the labor market. After reviewing the testimony of the plaintiff's psychiatrists, Dr. Hankins concluded that the plaintiff could not engage in employment on a sustained basis. He did not express an opinion on the plaintiff's baby-sitting activities.
In view of the plaintiff's limited job training, education, considerable psychological restrictions, and the lack of transferable job skills, we agree that her ability to earn a living has been severely limited by her mental injury . Nevertheless, we also acknowledge that the plaintiff has successfully worked as a part-time babysitter and could possibly work in other capacities that accommodate her mental disorder. Having reviewed those factors together with the remaining evidence in the record, we conclude that the plaintiff's percentage of vocational disability is seventy-five percent. The duration of the plaintiff's recovery, as provided in Tenn. Code Ann. ยง 50-6-207(3)(A)(ff) and 207(3)(D), shall be three hundred weeks.
Costs of this appeal shall be taxed to the plaintiff, Carolyn Sue Ivey, for which execution shall issue if necessary.
WILLIAM M. BARKER, JUSTICE
CONCUR:
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