The Tennessee Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board will hear oral arguments in three cases in Nashville on June 9.

Up first is Howell v. 501K Recycling, where the trial court ordered an employer to furnish additional treatment to an employee who alleged a work-related aggravation of the preexisting arthritis in his back. The trial court weighed competing medical opinions and concluded that the employee’s expert was more persuasive and overcame the authorized physician’s presumption of correctness.

Next, an employee used the name and documentation for another person to get his job and later became injured at work. The employer contended that by misrepresenting his name, the employee voided the employment contract, and the employer raised a misrepresentation defense. The trial court rejected both arguments and declined an invitation to create new law. The case is Torres Atunez v. MG Dyess, Inc.

Lastly, in Harris v. Express Employment Professionals, the Board will consider whether the trial court erred by rejecting defenses of willful misconduct and an employee’s drug use, as well as whether the judge should have credited an authorized physician’s opinion that referrals made by an earlier authorized doctor need not be honored. The trial court awarded medical benefits and granted attorney fees at the interlocutory stage.

The arguments will be held in-person in Nashville at the Tennessee Supreme Court starting at 1:00 p.m. Central Time. The docket is here.