Lisa Gregory v. Bradley County Sheriff's Department

This workers' compensation appeal has been referred to the Special Workers' Compensation Appeals Panel in accordance with Tenn. Code Ann. _ 5-6-225(e) for hearing and reporting of findings of fact and conclusions of law. The employee appeals the denial of worker's compensation benefits on the basis that the trial court used an incorrect standard of proof in evaluating the medical evidence. We affirm the judgment of the trial court. Tenn. Code Ann. _ 5-6-225(e) (1999) Appeal as of Right; Judgment of the Bradley County Chancery Court is Affirmed. HOWELL N. PEOPLES, SP. J., in which WILLIAM M. BARKER., JUSTICE, and JOHN K. BYERS, SR. J., joined. Bert Bates, Cleveland, Tennessee, for the Appellant, Lisa Gregory. William A. Lockett and Michael A. Kent, Cleary and Lockett, Chattanooga, Tennessee, for the Appellee, Bradley County Sheriff's Department. 1 MEMORANDUM OPINION Facts On December 5, 1999, Lisa Gregory was employed as a correctional officer by the Bradley County Sheriff's Department. She observed an inmate hanging inside a holding tank and ran into the cell to assist. She lifted the inmate and felt something pop in her left wrist. That evening she went to the emergency room and was advised to follow up with an orthopedic surgeon. She went to Dr. Robert Beasley who advised her to wear a wrist brace for two weeks. Ms. Gregory returned to Dr. Beasley on December 27, 1999 and she had improved considerably, and had just about returned to her baseline condition. She was returned to her regular work duties with some restrictions. She was asked to return in six weeks, but did not return until May 9, 2. Ms. Gregory acknowledged that she had returned to work in her same job when her condition seemed to worsen in May, 2. On May 9, 2, Dr. Beasley took x-rays that revealed that her condition had changed and that the lunate bone in her wrist was deteriorating, which Dr. Beasley believed was a result of the progression of her Kienbock's disease. Dr. Beasley had treated Ms. Gregory for a work-related injury on July 25, 1992 when she fell down some steps and landed on her left wrist. The fall caused Ms. Gregory to develop Kienbock's disease in which the blood supply to the lunate bone is lost. Dr. Beasley testified that this condition is progressive and, over time, causes the lunate bone to hurt, fragment and ultimately collapse. In January 1993, Dr. Beasley had performed an intercarpal fusion in order to transfer some of the load away from the lunate bone. He assigned a 2 percent impairment rating to the left arm for the 1992 injury and she was awarded a judgment for worker's compensation benefits for 3 percent disability to the left arm on December 13, 1994. 2