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Lang v. Nissan North America8/16/2005
I. Factual and Procedural Background
The plaintiff, Frederick J. Lang, was an employee of the defendant, Nissan North America, Inc., a company which manufactures automobiles. Mr. Lang began working at Nissan's Rutherford County facility in 1985 as an assembly-line technician in the trim and chassis plant. Eventually he was promoted to line leader in trim and chassis, a position which reduced somewhat the amount of time he spent working directly on the assembly line. Over the course of Mr. Lang's lengthy employment with Nissan, his work environment has been characterized by the sound of various machinery and power tools, as well as music emanating from personal radios used by other employees.
In 1999, Mr. Lang first complained to Nissan of hearing loss, noting specifically that he could no longer hear the alarm which indicates that the assembly line has been paused. Nissan accommodated him by installing a tier light which visually indicates the assembly line's status. In 2001, at Nissan's request Mr. Lang underwent a hearing test which showed significant hearing loss. After being examined in 2002 by Wesley Moore, M.D., Nissan's plant physician, and William L. Downey, M.D., a specialist in otolaryngology , Mr. Lang filed this action seeking workers' compensation benefits from Nissan for permanent loss of hearing in both ears.
Two medical experts testifying via deposition rated Mr. Lang's permanent hearing loss based on audiograms and the American Medical Association Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment. Dr. Downey, whom Mr. Lang had selected from a panel of physicians offered to him by Nissan, assigned Mr. Lang a permanent binaural hearing loss rating of 26.6%. The defendant's expert, otolaryngologist Mitchell Schwaber, M.D., examined Mr. Lang in 2003 and assigned him a permanent binaural hearing loss of 22.5%. Although there is evidence in the record that Mr. Lang had some level of pre-employment hearing loss, Nissan does not contest causation in this appeal.
At trial, various testimony was introduced regarding the effects of Mr. Lang's hearing loss. According to Mr. Lang and his wife, Cheryl D. Lang, Mr. Lang cannot hear high-pitched sounds such as alarms and ringing telephones. He has trouble understanding another person speaking when he cannot see that person face-to-face. According to Mrs. Lang, he also tends to speak too loudly. However, Mr. Lang's area manager at Nissan, Joe Shelton, testified that he has not had trouble communicating with Mr. Lang at work. Dr. Downey testified that Mr. Lang's hearing loss not only increases the need for him to face a person who is speaking but also causes him to miss about 25% of ordinary conversation. Dr. Downey and Dr. Schwaber each determined that Mr. Lang needs hearing aids to correct his hearing loss, but they also each determined that he should not wear them while working at Nissan because doing so could further damage his hearing by amplifying industrial noise.
Mr. Lang, who was forty-three years old at the time of trial, has missed no time at work as a result of his hearing loss and has continued in his position as line leader. In fact, Mr. Lang has received excellent job -performance evaluations during his longstanding employment with Nissan. He has not sought work outside of Nissan.
Mr. Lang has a high-school education, and in 1985 he received a certificate for industrial training in trim and chassis work from the Tennessee State Board for Vocational Education. His employment history prior to working for Nissan is brief. During high school, Mr. Lang worked part-time at a restaurant as a dishwasher and at a grocery store as a bagger and meat-department assistant. After gr
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