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Howe v. Jones Plastic and Engineering Company3/6/2002
Mailed December 7, 2001
This workers' compensation appeal has been referred to the Special Workers' Compensation Appeals Panel in accordance with Tennessee Code Annotated § 50-6-225(e)(3) for hearing and reporting to the Supreme Court of findings of fact and conclusions of law. In this appeal, Defendant asserts: (1) the trial court erred in not limiting Plaintiff's permanent partial disability award to two and one-half (2-1/2) times her medical impairment rating of ten percent (10%) as provided by Tenn. Code Ann. § 50-6-241(a)(1); (2) the trial court's award of seventy-five percent (75%) disability, a multiple of seven and one half (7-1/2) times her impairment rating, should be reduced when there are no specific findings supported by clear and convincing evidence of at least three of four factors contained in Tenn. Code Ann. § 50-6-242; and (3) the trial court erred in granting Plaintiff temporary total disability benefits from May 20, 1999 until November 30, 1999. After a review of the entire record, applicable law and as discussed below, the Panel affirms in part, reverses in part, and remands to the trial court for specific findings with respect to permanent partial disability benefits.
Tenn. Code Ann. § 50-6-225(e) (1999) Appeal as of Right; Judgment of the Circuit Court is Affirmed in Part, Reversed in Part and Remanded.
L. Terry Lafferty, Sr. J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which Joe C. Loser, Sp. J., and Janice M. Holder, J., joined.
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Plaintiff, Tamatha Marie Howe, was thirty-one years old at the time of her injury and had worked for the employer, Camden Plastics, for three months. Plaintiff completed the 10th grade and has been attempting to obtain her GED. Her prior work history consisted of dishwashing, cooking and building furniture. Plaintiff worked for Defendant as a machine operator. On April 19, 1999, Plaintiff slipped on some grease at work and injured her back when it struck a metal bar. On April 20, 1999, x-rays at the Camden General Hospital emergency room reflected no fracture, subluxation or bony destruction. No significant degenerative changes were noted. Plaintiff was given pain medication and referred to her primary doctor. On April 21, 1999, Plaintiff was seen by Dr. Jesse Sewell with complaints of pain in her lower back radiating down her right thigh and leg. Plaintiff was seen by Dr. Sewell several times between April 21, 1999 and May 17, 1999. Dr. Sewell performed an MRI and treated Plaintiff conservatively. Plaintiff was treated by Dr. Sewell until June 2000, when she was seen by other doctors. According to company policy, Plaintiff provided Defendant with Dr. Sewell's certificates for return to work/appointments. Plaintiff acknowledged that she did not return to work after receiving a letter from Defendant one day stating, "no show, no call, she was fired."
At time of trial, Plaintiff stated that she has not worked since her accident, her back hurts, she cannot lift, bend or hardly walk and is currently on pain medication prescribed by her doctor. Plaintiff's husband corroborated his wife's testimony concerning her difficulties in performing her housework and physical complaints. Plaintiff has attended a school offering vocational assistance, but she complained that the jobs all required lifting. Plaintiff acknowledged that she did not see a doctor after May 20, 1999, because she had been fired and assumed her medical treatment would not be covered.
Stacy King, a receiving clerk and Plaintiff's supervisor, testified on behalf of Defendant. She recalled Plaintiff's injury in April 1999, as Plaintiff reported the injury to her. Ms. King was also aware that Plaintiff w
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