Kenneth W. Sliger v. Putnam County, Tennessee et al.

This appeal has been referred to the Special Workers’ Compensation Appeals Panel of the Supreme Court in accordance with Tenn. Code Ann. § 50-6-225(e)(3) (Supp. 2007) for a hearing and a report of findings of fact and conclusions of law. It involves an employee who returned to work after sustaining a compensable injury but who was unable to continue working after his injury worsened.  He filed a petition in accordance with Tenn. Code Ann. § 50-6-241(a)(2) (2005) in the Chancery Court for Putnam County seeking reconsideration of his permanent disability. Following a bench trial, the trial court made an award based on a seventy-five percent permanent partial disability to the body as a whole, subject to a credit for the amount of the earlier settlement. The employer asserts on this appeal that the trial court erred by exceeding the cap of six times the impairment in the absence of expert proof regarding whether the employee has reasonably transferable job skills.  Because we have determined that Tenn. Code Ann. § 50-6-242 (2005) requires expert proof on this issue, we vacate the judgment and remand the case for further proceedings.