Sandra Whitehead v. Express Services, Inc.

This workers' compensation appeal has been referred to the Special Workers' Compensation Appeals Panel of the Supreme Court in accordance with Tenn. Code Ann. section 5-6-225(e)(3) for hearing and reporting of findings of fact and conclusions of law. In this appeal, the employer, Express Services, contends the trial court's award of permanent partial disability benefits on the basis of eighty percent permanent partial disability to the left arm is excessive. The panel has concluded that the award should be modified to provide permanent partial disability benefits on the basis of fifty percent to the left arm. At the time of the trial, the claimant, Sandra Whitehead, was thirty- five years old and had a GED. She has worked on an assembly line and as a sewing machine operator. She began working for the employer as a temporary employee on June 22, 1994. On July 1, 1994, she accidentally cut her left wrist while opening boxes with a box cutter. She was first referred to Dr. Charles Stewart, who diagnosed a laceration of the left wrist. He sutured the laceration, but later referred her to Dr. Anthony Segal, a neurosurgeon, when she continued to complain. Dr. Segal conducted nerveconduction studies and found mild nerve damage and possible reflex dystrophy. Dr. Segal testified by deposition but assigned no permanent impairment. The claimant went toDr. James Varner, an orthopedic surgeon. Dr. Varner diagnosed a partial sensory nerve laceration of the median nerve and reflex dystrophy syndrome. He treated her condition with medication, physical therapy and a stellate block, and assessed a permanent anatomical impairment of fifteen percent to the left arm. The doctor advised her to avoid repetitive use of the left arm, but said she could perform jobs that did not require such repetitive use. He said she was not impaired from pronating and supinating her wrist. A physical therapist testified that functional capacity evaluation tests were invalid because the claimant refused to exert maximum effort. The claimant testified that her arm stays cold all the time and that she is unable to perform household chores such as twisting caps from jars and opening doors. The trial court awarded permanent partial disability benefits on the basis of eighty percent to the left arm. Appellate review is de novo upon the record of the trial court, accompanied by a presumption of correctness, unless the preponderance of the evidence is otherwise. Tenn. Code Ann. section 5-6- 225(e)(2). 2