Larry Keith Bragg v. Beach Oil Company, Inc., et al.

An employee sustained an injury to his back in the course of his employment on January 1, 2010. After a period of conservative treatment, the employee’s treating physician recommended surgery. The employer’s utilization review provider declined to approve the surgery, and the Medical Director of the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development affirmed the denial. The employee did not return to work for the employer. On September 1, 2010, the employee went to the emergency room complaining of severe back pain. An MRI revealed a herniated disc in the area of the employee’s spine for which his treating physician had previously recommended surgery. The following day, the employee’s treating physician performed the previously recommended surgery and opined that the herniated disc and surgery were causally related to the employee’s January 1, 2010 work injury. The employer denied that the work injury caused the herniated disc and surgery. The employee filed a workers’ compensation claim in the Chancery Court for Humphreys County. The primary disputed issues at trial were causation and the extent of the employee’s disability. The trial court ruled that the herniated disc was causally connected to the work injury and awarded permanent partial disability benefits of 36% to the body as a whole, as well as medical expenses. The employer appealed. This appeal has been referred to the Special Workers’ Compensation Appeals Panel for a hearing and a report of findings of fact and conclusions of law pursuant to Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 51. We affirm the trial court’s finding that Employee’s September 1, 2010 herniated disc, and the fusion surgery performed as a result of it, were causally related to his January 1, 2010 work injury. We also affirm the trial court’s finding that Employee is not totally and permanently disabled. Because the trial court failed to make the findings required by statute when awarding permanent partial disability benefits of six times the medical impairment rating, we vacate the award of disability benefits and remand to the trial court for additional consideration and appropriate findings on this issue.