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Reddick v. Murray9/19/2001
Mailed July 16, 2001
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) for hearing and reporting to the Supreme Court of findings of fact and conclusions of law. In this appeal, the plaintiff insists the trial court erred in dismissing her claim at the close of her proof. As discussed below, the panel has concluded the judgment should be reversed and the cause remanded for full trial of all issues fairly raised by the pleadings.
Tenn. Code Ann. § 50-6-225(e) (2000) Appeal as of Right; Judgment of the Chancery Court Reversed; Remanded.
Joe C. Loser, Jr., Sp . J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which Janice M. Holder, J., and Robert L. Childers, Sp. J., joined.
MEMORANDUM OPINION
The employee or claimant, Marilyn Reddick, is 47 years old with a high school education and no vocational training. Her employment history consists exclusively of manual labor. She began working for the employer, Murray, approximately four years before her claimed injury by accident on May 6, 1997. Her initial duties consisted of installing components on lawn mowers on the assembly line. For the two years immediately preceding her claimed injury, she built lawn mower seats.
At trial she testified that when she arrived at work on May 6, 1997, she began performing her usual duty of building seats. During the day, she said, she received instructions to cease building seats and to sweep and clean the area. She obeyed and swept debris into a pile on a large piece of cardboard. When she bent over to pick up the debris, she testified that she heard a pop and felt severe and immediate back pain. She was unable to straighten up and began yelling in pain. Two co-workers, Chris McLean and Recia Cole assisted her. The claimant's testimony was corroborated by Cole.
She immediately reported the accident to her employer. She completed her shift with pain, then drove to a walk-in medical clinic, where she received pain medication. The next day she called in and again reported she was not able to work because of her injury . When she was not offered medical care, she sought out a primary care physician, whom she had seen before, and was eventually referred to a neurological surgeon, Dr. Glenn Barnett, whom she had previously seen in 1992.
She initiated this civil action to recover workers' compensation benefits, averring her injury was one by accident arising out of and in the course of employment. In its answer, the employer, Murray, Inc., denied all material allegations of the complaint, averred that it had paid all benefits to which the claimant was entitled as of June 10, 1998 and contended the complaint should be dismissed for failure to give "proper notice," because it was barred by "the applicable statute of limitations," because the injury did not arise out of and in the course of employment and because the claimant was not permanently disabled.
At the trial on June 21, the claimant was aggressively cross examined as to whether her injury actually occurred while she was moving furniture at home, as to her previous injuries and claims and as to when she first learned that the employer was claiming that she was not injured at work. She admitted to discrepancies concerning prior injuries and when she first learned of the nature of the employer's defense, but adamantly insisted that her present injury occurred at work on May 6, 1997 and that she verbally reported it to a supervisor, Gina Purdue. Recia Cole testified she helped Ms. Reddick walk to the office immediately following the accident and helped h
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