Ronald Vandergriff v. Nat'L. Service

This workers' compensation appeal has been referred to the Special Workers' Compensation Appeals Panel of the Supreme Court in accordance with Tenn. Code Ann. _ 5-6-225(e)(3) for hearing and reporting to the Supreme Court of findings of fact and conclusions of law. The trial court awarded the plaintiff 75 percent permanent partial impairment to the body as a whole. The defendant says the evidence preponderates against this finding. We affirm the judgment of the trial court.1 Review of the findings of fact made by the trial court is de novo upon the record of the trial court, accompanied by a presumption of the correctness of the findings, unless the preponderance of the evidence is otherwise. Tenn. Code Ann. _ 5-6- 225(e)(2); Stone v. City of McMinnville, 896 S.W.2d 548, 55 (Tenn. 1995). The application of this standard requires this Court to weigh in more depth the factual findings and conclusions of the trial court in a workers' compensation case. See Corcoran v. Foster Auto GMC, Inc., 746 S.W.2d 452, 456 (Tenn. 1988). On November 16, 1994, while in the course of his employment with the defendant, the plaintiff sustained a back injury. The plaintiff had a previous back injury in 1992 and was paid workers' compensation benefits in the amount of 7 percent to the body as a whole. The resolution of this appeal depends upon the evaluation of the value of the medical testimony, which was given by deposition. In a findings of fact and memorandum of law, the trial judge reviewed the findings of Dr. William Kevin Bailey, an orthopedic surgeon, who saw the plaintiff twice after taking over the plaintiff's case upon the death of Dr. John Bell, the original treating physician. The trial judge also reviewed the findings of Dr. Gilbert L. Hyde, an orthopedic surgeon, who saw the plaintiff for purpose of evaluation, and the testimony of Norman E. Hankins, a vocational expert. 1 The Second Injury Fund was originally a defendant. The Fund was dismissed in the trial court. 2