Michael David Palmer v. Minco, Inc. and Hartford

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 defendant appeals the trial court's decision to award a partial vocational disability of sixty-one percent to each hand. Specifically, the defendant argues that the trial court erred in finding the plaintiff had suffered a permanent anatomical injury and thus erred in awarding permanent disability benefits or alternatively that the evidence presented in the case does not support the award of permanent partial disability. We affirm the judgment of the Chancery Court. Tenn. Code Ann. _ 5-6-225(e) (1999) Appeal as of Right; Judgment of the Greene County Chancery Court is Affirmed BYERS, SR. J., in which ANDERSON, J., and THAYER, SP. J., joined. Robert R. Davies, of Knoxville, Tennessee, for the appellant, Minco, Inc. John T. Milburn Rogers, of Greeneville, Tennessee, for the appellee, Michael David Palmer. MEMORANDUM OPINION 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. See Corcoran v. Foster Auto GMC, Inc., 746 S.W.2d 452, 456 (Tenn. 1988). Facts The plaintiff (employee) is a right-handed male thirty-six years of age. He completed the eleventh grade and obtained his GED in 1984. He also attended Walter State for approximately eighteen months where he took some college courses. The plaintiff then attended "Vo Tech" in Greeneville in auto body collision and repair. Prior to working for the defendant, the plaintiff worked at Master Guard, his father's company, where he was employed in sales and service. The plaintiff testified that he knows how to install home fire and security alarms. He further testified that in regard to installing home security and fire alarms there are really no physical requirements involved in doing the job. The plaintiff also worked at W&R Paint and Supply as a paint technician, a job he testified that he could return to in his current condition. While working for the defendant the Plaintiff was an Operator B which means he assisted Operator A in keeping furnaces loaded with sand which was then turned into glass. On April 12, 1999, while climbing a ladder, the Plaintiff's foot missed the ladder and Plaintiff caught himself by grabbing a rung on the ladder with both hands to prevent him from falling. He testified that his hands began hurting immediately and felt like they were "numb and jammed". He testified that he also did not have any feeling in his fingers. He reported the injury to his supervisor who instructed him to see a doctor, which he did the next day. The plaintiff testified that he was treated by Dr. John Holbrook, who prescribed Vioxx for numbness and tingling in the plaintiff's hands. The plaintiff was later seen by Dr. William Kennedy for the purpose of an independent medical evaluation. The plaintiff was later examined by Dr. Norman Hankins and Dr. Rodney Caldwell, vocational disability experts, for the purpose of determining his vocational disability. The plaintiff subsequently quit his job with the defendant and began working for an automobile body repair shop, but he testified that he had to quit that job too because he could no longer work with his hands. Medical Evidence The medical evidence for the purpose of the issues raised in this trial was provided by the deposition testimony of Dr. John Holbrook and Dr. William Kennedy. Dr. Holbrook, an orthopedic surgeon in Johnson City, testified that he examined the plaintiff for the purpose of treatment on May 5, 1999. At that time, the plaintiff gave Dr. Holbrook a history that included the slip and fall incident on the ladder of April 12, 1999. Dr. Holbrook testified that his examination of the plaintiff on May 5 led him to believe that the plaintiff had stretched the volar -2-