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Roberson v. Insurance Co. of the State of Pennsylvania12/8/1999
AFFIRMED IN PART, REVERSED IN PART AND REMANDED
OPINION
This workers' compensation appeal was referred to the Special Workers' Compensation Appeals Panel of the Supreme Court pursuant to Tennessee Code Annotated § 50-6-225(e)(3) for hearing and reporting to the Supreme Court of findings of fact and Conclusions of law.
This case arose out of an automobile accident on February 1, 1996, in which the plaintiff, Lila Roberson, suffered fractures to her lower right leg and injured her face. The trial court found that the plaintiff suffered these injuries during the course and scope of her employment with the defendant's insured, the National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB). The court awarded the plaintiff a 40 percent permanent partial disability to the right leg and a 15 percent disability to the body as a whole for the injuries to her jaw. The defendant appeals this decision and raises the following issues: (1) whether the trial court erred in finding that the plaintiff carried her burden of proof to show by expert medical testimony that her jaw injury was compensable; and (2) whether the trial court erred in the amount of vocational disability benefits awarded the plaintiff for her foot injury.
Our standard of review on appeal in workers' compensation cases is de novo on the record with a presumption of correctness of the trial court's findings, unless the evidence presented preponderates otherwise. Tenn. Code Ann. § 50-6-225(e)(2); Henson v. City of Lawrenceburg, 851 S.W.2d 809, 812 (Tenn. 1993). Under this standard of review, we are required to conduct an in-depth examination of the trial court's findings of fact and Conclusions of law to determine where the preponderance of the evidence lies. See Thomas v. Aetna Life & Cas. Co., 812 S.W.2d 278, 282 (Tenn. 1991) (quoting Humphrey v. David Witherspoon, Inc., 734 S.W.2d 315 (Tenn. 1987)); King v. Jones Truck Lines, 814 S.W.2d 23, 25 (Tenn. 1991). When oral testimony is presented at trial, we must give particular deference to the trial court's assessment of such live testimony; however, when medical testimony is presented by deposition, this Court may draw its own Conclusions about its weight, credibility, and significance. Townsend v. State, 826 S.W.2d 434, 437 (Tenn. 1992); Thomas, 812 S.W.2d at 283. With these principles in mind, we turn to the facts of this case.
At the time of the trial on November 17, 1998, the plaintiff was a thirty-four year old woman with a bachelor of science degree in psychology and social work, and a master's degree in counseling and personnel services. Prior to her employment with defendant's insured, the National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB), the plaintiff had worked as a secretary, a donut shop employee, a spaghetti restaurant hostess, cook, and waitress, as a night counselor for the West Tennessee School for the Deaf, and a social worker with the Department of Human Services (now the Department of Children's Services). The plaintiff admitted to having a prior head injury in 1986, a mid-back injury in the summer of 1995, and popping accompanied by pain in her left jaw before the car accident that is the subject of this suit.
The plaintiff began working for the NFIB in November of 1995 as a territory manager, recruiting members in thirteen counties. The position required the plaintiff to travel extensively and make approximately twelve to fifteen calls on businesses per day while carrying a thirty pound briefcase. While on company business on February 1, 1996, the plaintiff's car collided with a truck that pulled out in front of her on Highway 70 in Madison County. Plaintiff hit her head and was rendered unconscious. During
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