Diane Crawford v. Crotty-Tenn, Inc

This workers' compensation appeal has been referred to the Special Workers' Compensation Appeals Panel in accordance with Tenn. Code Ann. _ 5-6-225(e)(3) for hearing and reporting of findings of fact and conclusions of law. The employer in this case had two insurance carriers. The employer had one insurer at the time the employee first reported her gradual injury and temporarily left work due to her carpal tunnel syndrome. The employer then changed insurance carriers and the second insurer's coverage extended through the time the employee continued to work and permanently ended her employment. The trial court held the first insurer liable for permanent partial disability benefits due to the fact that the employee's first report of work injury constituted a definite date at which the employee knew the nature and the cause of her injury. The first insurer appeals and argues that the second insurer should be liable because the employee continued to work during the second insurer's coverage. As discussed below, the Panel affirms the result of the trial court, but on different grounds. Tenn. Code Ann. _ 5-6-225(e)(3) Appeal as of Right; Judgment of the Chancery Court Affirmed. GAYDEN, Sp. J., in which Drowota, J., and Loser, Sp. J., joined. Hal W. Wilkins, Leitner, Williams, Dooley & Napolitan, Nashville, TN for the defendant- appellant Crotty-Tenn, Inc. (AIG). Robert R. Davies, Davies, Humphreys & Evans, Nashville, TN for the defendant- appellee Crotty-Tenn, Inc. (EBI). William E. Halfacre, III, Madewell, Jared, Halfacre & Williams, Cookeville, TN for the plaintiff-appellee Diane Crawford. 1 MEMORANDUM OPINION On January 2, 1995, the employee/appellee Diane Crawford began to work as a riveter for Crotty-Tenn, Inc.. As a riveter, Ms. Crawford held boards together while forcing metal clips through them to make automotive sun-visors. Her job involved continuous gripping and squeezing with her hands. In the summer of 1996, Ms. Crawford began to feel pain and numbness in her wrists and hands radiating up her arms and into her shoulders and neck. On August 7, 1996, Ms. Crawford's symptoms worsened to the point at which she was forced to seek medical treatment. Ms. Crawford filed a first report of work injury with Crotty-Tenn and saw Dr. Nancy Blevins, who prescribed medication for Ms. Crawford and suspended her from work for six weeks. AIG, the defendant-appellant in this action and Crotty-Tenn's workers' compensation carrier at the time, paid for Ms. Crawford's temporary total disability benefits. After her six weeks of leave, Ms. Crawford returned to work. Ms. Crawford subsequently saw Dr. Anthony Carter and Dr. Sam Barnes in November and December of 1996 and Dr. Jim Talmage in June of 1997. Ms. Crawford was moved to a light-duty job in November of 1996. Ms. Crawford also saw various other doctors regarding her injury including Dr. David Gaw. Ms. Crawford reported feeling increasing pain and was placed on permanent restrictions. Dr. Talmage stated that the most effective treatment would be for Ms. Crawford to change vocations. However, Ms. Crawford did not stop her work due to her injury until she left her employment with Crotty-Tenn two years later in 1998. On April 1, 1997, Crotty-Tenn changed its workers' compensation carrier from AIG to EBI. On August 26, 1998, after Crotty-Tenn lost a major contract, Ms. Crawford volunteered to be laid off due in part to her injury and has not since returned to work at Crotty-Tenn. On May 4, 2, Dr. Gaw testified that the additional squeezing and gripping from her continued work after 1996 could have aggravated Ms. Crawford's injury based on an independent medical evaluation that he performed on Ms. Crawford on April 14, 1998. However, Dr. Gaw could not testify that Ms. Crawford experienced an anatomical change from her continued work. The trial court found the defendant/appellant AIG, the employer's first insurer, liable for benefits to Ms. Crawford because Ms. Crawford had filed her first report of injury during its coverage. The trial court stated that when the employee knew the nature and cause of the injury on a definite date, the liability of an insurance carrier would depend on that date. The trial court awarded Ms. Crawford permanent partial disability benefits in the amount of $22,8.96 based on a vocational disability rating of 36% to the body as a whole. Review on appeal is de novo upon the record of the trial court, accompanied by a presumption of the correctness of the findings of fact, unless the preponderance of the evidence 2