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Collins v. Lear Seating Corp.3/7/2002
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 hearing and reporting to the Supreme Court of findings of fact and conclusions of law. The trial court found the plaintiff had suffered a work-related injury and awarded 70 percent permanent partial disability to the right arm. We reverse the judgment of the trial court and dismiss this case.
Tenn. Code Ann. § 50-6-225(e) (1999) Appeal as of Right; Judgment of the Circuit Court is Reversed and Dismissed
John K. Byers, Sr. J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which William M. Barker, J. and W. Neil Thomas, III, Sp. J., joined.
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Review of the findings of fact made by the trial court is de novo upon the record of the trial court, accompanied by a presumption of the correctness of the findings, unless the preponderance of the evidence is otherwise. Tenn. Code Ann. § 50-6-225(e)(2); Stone v. City of McMinnville, 896 S.W.2d 548, 550 (Tenn. 1995). The application of this standard requires this Court to weigh in more depth the factual findings and conclusions of the trial court in workers' compensation cases. See Corcoran v. Foster Auto GMC, Inc., 746 S.W.2d 452, 456 (Tenn. 1988).
Facts
On Monday, September 7, 1993, the plaintiff came to his place of employment to commence work at 4:00 p.m. Approximately 10 to 20 minutes after reporting to work, he went to the company nurse and reported that he had hurt his wrist.
The plaintiff was taken to the hospital and seen by Dr. Crampton Helms who determined the plaintiff had a broken right wrist.
The plaintiff was 26 at the time of this event; he was married and had no children. The plaintiff worked previously in factories. He worked as a welder for the defendant. The plaintiff described his job as welding seats for vehicles.
During the welding process the seats were held by clamps. The plaintiff testified he was attempting to remove a clamp from a seat. The clamp stuck and as he pulled on it he heard a pop and his wrist buckled.
In a pre-trial deposition, the plaintiff described the action that he took as a pulling action. At trial, he described it as a pulling downward motion.
On Saturday and Sunday prior to the injury the plaintiff testified he had worked around his father's farm. He testified he had picked tomatoes on Sunday. He testified he had not hurt his wrist prior to Monday. Several of his relatives testified the plaintiff had not hurt his wrist prior to going to work Monday.
Medical Evidence
The plaintiff was treated initially by Dr. Crampton Helms on September 7, 1993, at the Morristown/Hamblen hospital. Dr. Helms placed the plaintiff in a cast for six weeks after an x-ray suggested a fractured wrist. Dr. Helms stated that the type of broken bone suffered by the plaintiff is normally produced by a fall or trauma-by "a blow to the hand, to the hand open and the thumb extended and the elbow out." When asked if it was likely the injury could have occurred by pulling, Dr. Helms testified he "[could]n't imagine it happening that way."
The plaintiff was also treated by Dr. E. Brantley Burns, an orthopedic surgeon, who first saw the plaintiff on November 1, 1993. Dr. Burns initially continued the conservative treatment began by Dr. Helms; however, when the plaintiff's wrist failed to heal properly, Dr. Burns performed wrist fusion surgery. He opined that the plaintiff retained a permanent medical impairment of 15 percent to the right upper extremity. He testified that the i
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