William Eric Brewer v. The Hartford

This workers’ compensation appeal has been referred to the Special Workers’ Compensation
Appeals Panel of the Tennessee Supreme Court in accordance with Tennessee Code Annotated
section 50-6-225(e)(3) for a hearing and reporting of findings of fact and conclusions of law.
William Eric Brewer suffered a work-related injury December 17, 2001, while employed at the
Courier Chronicle. The Hartford, the defendant, is the workers’ compensation insurance carrier
of the employer and has litigated this case in its individual name. The defendant contends that the
trial court erred when it failed to find that Mr. Brewer’s injury was proximately caused by his
voluntary intoxication. After carefully considering the record, we affirm the trial court and
conclude that the defendant failed to prove that the voluntary intoxication was a proximate cause
of Mr. Brewer’s accident.