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Saylor v. Lakeway Trucking11/29/2005
The plaintiff, William H. Saylor ("Saylor"), was employed as a truck driver for the defendant, Lakeway Trucking, Inc. ("Lakeway"). On June 15, 1999, Saylor was transporting hazardous liquid in a flatbed trailer truck to Clive, Utah. Saylor contends that the liquid splashed on him while he was investigating a leak in the pods containing the liquid. Following the incident, Saylor was diagnosed with post- traumatic stress disorder, chronic depression, fatigue, and anxiety.
Saylor filed a workers' compensation claim against Lakeway contending that he suffered mental injuries as a result of the incident. At the conclusion of trial, the trial court found that Saylor sustained emotional and psychological trauma to his mental faculties as a result of the June 1999 incident arising out of and occurring in the course of Saylor's employment with Lakeway. The trial court further found Saylor 100% permanently disabled as to his mental faculties.
Lakeway appealed, and the appeal was referred to the Special Workers' Compensation Appeals Panel pursuant to Tennessee Code Annotated section 50-6-225(e)(3) (2005). Following oral argument before the Panel, the case was transferred to the full Court for review.
ANALYSIS
To be compensable under the workers' compensation statutes, an injury must arise out of and occur in the course of employment. Tenn. Code Ann. ยง 50-6-102(12) (1999). The phrase "arising out of" refers to the cause or origin of the injury, and "in the course of" relates to the time, place, and circumstances of the injury. Hill v. Eagle Bend Mfg., Inc., 942 S.W.2d 483, 487 (Tenn. 1997). An accidental injury arises out of and is in the course of employment if it has a rational connection to the employment and occurs while the employee is engaged in work the employee was employed to perform. Guess v. Sharp Mfg. Co. of Am., 114 S.W.3d 480, 484 (Tenn. 2003).
During trial, testimony was presented by Saylor and Lloyd Orrick ("Orrick"), another truck driver employed by Lakeway, regarding the June 1999 events. According to their testimony, on June 14, 1999, Saylor and Orrick each drove a flatbed trailer truck with pods containing hazardous liquid from Tennessee to a disposal site in Clive, Utah. The workers at the disposal site refused to accept either load and ordered Saylor to transport the material from the area due to fears that the material would explode.
Saylor and Orrick drove their trucks containing the hazardous material to a nearby truck stop, where they remained overnight. The following day, Orrick drove his truck back to the disposal site while Saylor remained at the truck stop. When the workers at the disposal site again refused to accept the material, Orrick returned to the truck stop and parked his truck at the end of the parking lot at a distance from the restaurant. Saylor testified that he moved his truck beside Orrick's truck because workers at the disposal site had expressed fears that the hazardous material in his truck would explode. At this point the testimony of Saylor and that of Orrick diverge.
Saylor testified that as he was backing his truck into the parking space, he saw Orrick standing near the trailer and waving his arms. Saylor did not observe anything behind his truck, so he continued to back the truck into the parking space. When Saylor stopped his truck, Orrick opened the passenger door and informed Saylor that one of the pods in his truck was leaking hazardous material. The material had splashed on Orrick's shirt. Saylor stated that he exited the truck and ran to the back of the trailer where the liquid material "sloshed" on him. Saylor testified that the liquid went in his mouth and on the side
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