By Jane Salem, staff attorney, Nashville Last week, the Appeals Board held that, under section 50-6-226(a)(1), an employer can't be liable for attorney’s fees based on the amount of medical expenses a court orders it to pay. In September 2016, Nicole Bowlin was injured in a motor vehicle accident while working for Servall. She was … Continue reading Employer Can’t be Ordered to pay Attorney’s Fees on Unpaid Medicals
Tag: case law
Board Clarifies Date of Injury in Mental Injury Claim for Jurisdictional Purposes
By Jane Salem, staff attorney, Nashville Last week, the Appeals Board ruled on an issue of first impression that the date of injury in mental injury claims for jurisdictional purposes is the date of the identifiable work-related event or events resulting in a sudden or unusual stimulus. The ruling rejected an injured worker’s contention that … Continue reading Board Clarifies Date of Injury in Mental Injury Claim for Jurisdictional Purposes
Injuries from fallen tree aren’t compensable
By Jane Salem, staff attorney, Nashville Last week, the Appeals Board affirmed a trial court ruling from an expedited hearing that an employee’s injuries weren’t work-related, when those injuries were from a tree falling on him as he exited a portable toilet next to his job site. Brett Rosasco was painting a home exterior. He … Continue reading Injuries from fallen tree aren’t compensable
Board Releases Opinion Allowing MIRR Evaluation to Proceed
By Jane Salem, staff attorney, Nashville When a party requests an evaluation from the Bureau’s Medical Impairment Rating Registry, the opposing party can’t object on the basis that the party manufactured a dispute over the rating by hiring an expert to perform a records review. The Appeals Board announced this legal principle yesterday in Gray … Continue reading Board Releases Opinion Allowing MIRR Evaluation to Proceed
Board Reverses Causation Decision in Complex Occupational Disease Case
By Jane Salem, staff attorney, Nashville Last week, the Appeals Board reversed a trial court determination finding medical causation in a case where the employee alleged liver, kidney and cardiac conditions as occupational diseases. According to the Board, the lower court should’ve accepted the employer’s experts’ opinions because they were better qualified and didn’t rely … Continue reading Board Reverses Causation Decision in Complex Occupational Disease Case
Lack of Subject Matter Jurisdiction Precludes an Election of Remedies
By Jane Salem, staff attorney, Nashville The Supreme Court Special Workers’ Compensation Appeals Panel revived a case earlier this week, holding that an injured worker didn’t elect to pursue his claim in Georgia when that state’s tribunal found he didn’t have subject matter jurisdiction. The ruling reinstates the decision of Tennessee Court of Workers’ Compensation … Continue reading Lack of Subject Matter Jurisdiction Precludes an Election of Remedies
Opinion affirms alleged mental injury
By Jane Salem, staff attorney, Nashville On Tuesday, the Appeals Board released the last opinion from the cases at the March 24 oral arguments reviewing expedited hearing orders. The opinion, Mollica v. EHHI Holdings, reiterates the importance of obtaining medical proof when causation is disputed. Facts Gena Mollica hurt her back in 2017 working as … Continue reading Opinion affirms alleged mental injury
Appeals Board reaffirms Direct and Natural Consequence Rule
By Jane Salem, staff attorney, Nashville The Appeals Board released two opinions last Friday, deciding cases they heard at oral argument on March 24. In the first opinion, Hudgins v. Global Personnel Solutions, Natacha Hudgins injured her knee in 2016 while working at a battery manufacturing plant. Global, a temporary employment agency, accepted the claim … Continue reading Appeals Board reaffirms Direct and Natural Consequence Rule
Board Releases Opinion on Panels, Medical Causation
By Jane Salem, staff attorney, Nashville The Appeals Board released another opinion from its March 24 oral arguments last week. Barnes v. Jack Cooper Transport, a review of an expedited hearing order, offers guidance on improper panels and medical causation. William Barnes, a truck driver, reported to Jack Cooper Transport that his left knee gave … Continue reading Board Releases Opinion on Panels, Medical Causation
Board affirms in Ibarra v. Amazon Fulfillment Services
By Jane Salem, staff attorney, Nashville Yesterday, the Appeals Board released its first opinion from the cases on oral argument last week. In Ibarra v. Amazon Fulfillment Services, the Board resolved three issues. The first was notice. The Workers’ Compensation Law requires written notice of a work-related injury unless an employer has actual notice. Amazon … Continue reading Board affirms in Ibarra v. Amazon Fulfillment Services
The Show Must Go On
By Jane Salem, staff attorney, Nashville The Tennessee Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board held oral arguments by phone rather than the traditional in-person appearances on Tuesday. Counsel gave compelling arguments and withstood some fairly rigorous questioning from the judges, and decorum was maintained throughout, despite the unusual circumstances. What follows is a brief recap of the … Continue reading The Show Must Go On
Objectively considering injuries
By Judge Brian Addington, Gray When I was little, I was often told I was a “tough kid.” This usually occurred after a fall, a hard game of pick-up football, or a fight. I noticed early on that my buddies appreciated someone who could get up, dust himself off, and get back at it. I … Continue reading Objectively considering injuries
Learning the rules of ‘ritualized battle,’ part two
By Jane Salem, staff attorney, Nashville Welcome back to my two-part series on civil procedure in the Tennessee Court of Workers’ Compensation Claims. You did re-read the cases I mentioned in the last blog post in their entirety and you drew your own conclusions, right? Thanks. I ended the last post with a recap of … Continue reading Learning the rules of ‘ritualized battle,’ part two
Learning the rules of ‘ritualized battle’
By Jane Salem, staff attorney, Nashville When I used to teach civil procedure as a law professor, I would begin the year by telling my students that “civil procedure is the etiquette of ritualized battle.” The phrase, which did not originate with me, captured the point that peaceful, developed societies resolve disputes by law rather … Continue reading Learning the rules of ‘ritualized battle’
Leap day can be dangerous
By Judge Brian Addington, Gray One of Tennessee’s most talented actresses was Dinah Shore. Born in Winchester, Tennessee, in 1916 and a Vanderbilt graduate, she went on to fame as a singer and radio, TV and film actress. She was also a huge supporter of the LPGA and was named an honorary member of the … Continue reading Leap day can be dangerous
Learning from Lincoln: The Ethics of Attorney’s Fees
By Judge Allen Phillips, Jackson Before becoming our 16th President, Abraham Lincoln was a midwestern prairie lawyer. Handling a variety of cases, it is said his fees were generally in the $5 to $20 range, though he once charged a railroad $5,000 (a fee equal to over $169,000 in today’s dollars) to handle a particularly … Continue reading Learning from Lincoln: The Ethics of Attorney’s Fees
Supreme Court Panel Opinions, 2019
By Jane Salem, staff attorney, Nashville Welcome back once again to our review of last year’s workers’ compensation appellate opinions. This article will summarize the 2019 opinions from the Tennessee Supreme Court Special Workers’ Compensation Panel. First up are appeals from the Court of Workers' Compensation Claims applying the “new law.” Then I’ll mention a … Continue reading Supreme Court Panel Opinions, 2019
Revisiting 2019 Appeals Board Decisions
By Jane Salem, staff attorney, Nashville Welcome back to our annual year-in-review series of articles. This post will look at last year’s Appeals Board cases on compensability, defenses, civil procedure, evidence, and fees. Starting with compensability, the Board found no exception to the Coming-and-Going rule in Smith v. Macy’s Corp. Servs. The employee suffered injuries … Continue reading Revisiting 2019 Appeals Board Decisions
A Look Back at 2019 Appeals Board Opinions
By Jane Salem, staff attorney, Nashville Happy New Year! It’s become tradition for me to kick things off with a recap of the previous year’s appellate cases. But first, another tradition: the disclaimer. Remember that I’m a staff attorney, and I’m not speaking on behalf of the Court of Workers’ Compensation Claims. What follows is … Continue reading A Look Back at 2019 Appeals Board Opinions
Appeals Board issues opinion on competing experts
On Monday, the Appeals Board released its opinion in Sharee Clay v. Signature Healthcare. The Board heard argument in the case on Oct. 1. It affirmed Judge Joshua Davis Baker's compensation hearing order. The case asked the Board to consider the trial court's decision to exclude Signature Healthcare's expert testimony as hearsay, finding that counsel … Continue reading Appeals Board issues opinion on competing experts
From the Bench 