James E. Fleenor v. Grand Piano and Furniture Company

This workers' compensation appeal has been referred to the Special Workers' Compensation Appeals Panel of the Supreme Court in accordance with Tennessee Code Annotated _ 5-6-225(e)(3) for hearing and reporting to the Supreme Court of findings of fact and conclusions of law. Grand Piano and Furniture Company (hereafter "Grand Piano") has appealed an award to James E. Fleenor of 8 per cent disability to the body as a whole. The sole issue is whether the trial court erred in finding that Mr. Fleenor sustained a compensable injury. 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 finding, 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 courts in workers' compensation cases. Corcoran v. Foster Auto GMC, Inc., 746 S.W.2d 452, 456 (Tenn. 1988). James E. Fleenor, age 47, has a 5th grade education. His tested I.Q. is 49 and he reads at a 2nd grade level and can do arithmetic at the 1st grade level. He began work at Grand Piano in 1995. He had worked as a furniture mover for most of his life. He drove a truck for Grand Piano and loaded and delivered furniture. He had hurt his back approximately 15 years before when a co-worker dropped the end of a couch; and while he had pain in his back for many years, he testified that the pain at Grand Piano became worse than the pain he had working for previous employers. He told his supervisor at Grand Piano that the work was "getting to me." He never had any specific incident at Grand Piano that caused sudden pain. He testified, "the more I worked, the more I picked up, the worser it got. And I just, I just had to give it up." 2