 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Taylor v. Athens Paper Company8/17/2000
Mailed - July 17, 2000
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 of findings of fact and conclusions of law. The employer contends the trial court erred in finding the employee did not intentionally misrepresent his physical condition to the employer, and in finding a causal connection between the June 1998 accident and the October 1998 surgery and permanent impairment, and in finding employer responsible for "unauthorized" medical benefits. The panel has concluded that the judgment of the trial court should be affirmed on all issues.
Tenn. Code Ann. § 50-6-225(e)(3) Appeal as of Right; Judgment of the Chancery Court Affirmed.
Turnbull, Sp . J., delivered the opinion of the court in which Drowota, J., and Loser, Sp. J. joined.
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Facts
The employee, Walter Taylor, Jr., was forty-one years old at the time of trial. He has a high school education and has been employed at a number of jobs since graduating from high school, all labor related and not requiring specialized training. The employee began working for the employer, Athens Paper Company, Inc., in August 1997.
In 1994, the employee injured his lower back while working for a previous employer and filed a workers' compensation claim. The employee suffered a herniated disk at L5-S1 which resulted in a laminectomy surgery in July 1994. After the surgery, the surgeon, Dr. Stanley Hopp, put the employee on permanent restrictions of not lifting more than twenty-five pounds and also gave the employee a 10% impairment rating. Dr. Hopp also filled out a C-32 Department of Labor Form restricting pushing and pulling to one-hundred and fifty pounds if using rollers and on level ground. The employee testified that after the surgery he rehabilitated himself with a weight lifting program and had jobs where he worked beyond his restrictions.
On August 18, 1997, the employee filled out an application for employment as a truck driver with Athens Paper. The employee checked the "no" box in response to a question that stated, "Do you have any physical limitations that preclude you from performing any work for which you are being considered?" The employee was interviewed separately by Ron Crecelius, operations manager, and Donald Jenkins, then president and now chairman of Athens Paper Company, Inc. The employee and employer differed in their testimony over whether the employee was specifically asked by Crecelius or Jenkins during the interviews if the employee suffered from any back problems. The testimony of both parties also conflicted on whether the employee volunteered his past history of back problems to Jenkins and Crecelius and if Crecelius or Jenkins told the employee that the truck driver position required heavy lifting.
The employee suffered two injuries while working for the employer. The first was on November 5, 1997, when the delivery truck the employee was driving was struck from behind resulting in injuries to his cervical spine, neck, right arm, and lumbar spine. The employee sought medical treatment for neck pain on November 5, but did not take off work. The employee saw Dr. Hopp on February 5, 1998, complaining of leg and lower back pains that Dr. Hopp eventually determined was related to the November 1997 accident.
The second accident occurred on June 9, 1998, when the employee slipped and fell in the back of a truck while trying to unload its contents, resulting in pain in his lumbar spine. On June 23 and July 7 of 1998, the employee saw Dr. Thomas J. O'
Page 1 2 3 4 Tennessee Personal Injury Attorneys
Personal Injury Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|