Richard Harris v. Triangle Auto Springs Company

This workers' compensation appeal has been referred to the Special Workers' Compensation Appeals Panel of the Supreme Court in accordance with Tenn. Code Ann. section 5-6-225(e)(3) for hearing and reporting of findings of fact and conclusions of law. In this appeal, the employer, Triangle Auto Springs Company, contends (1) the award of permanent partial disability benefits is excessive and (2) the trial court abused its discretion by commuting such award to a lump sum. The panel concludes that the judgment should be modified as provided herein. On October 4, 1991, the employee or claimant, Richard H. Harris, felt a sharp pain in his back while lifting an automobile spring at work for the employer. The employer referred him to the Mid-Tennessee Bone and Joint Clinic where his injury was diagnosed as a probable ruptured disk. Medication was prescribed and he returned to work. When he did not improve from conservative care, a CAT scan was ordered, which confirmed a ruptured disk in the low back, with L5 radiculopathy from a pinched nerve. Ultimately, the claimant was referred to Dr. Robert Weiss, who performed a lumbar laminectomy. The surgery was successful and the claimant was finally released from the surgeon's care with a weight lifting limitation of fifty pounds occasionally and thirty pounds repetitively. Dr. Weiss estimated his permanent anatomical impairment at ten percent from guidelines of the American Medical Association. The claimant returned to work for Triangle in January of 1993, but in a lighter position, where he could work within his limitations. When he was laid off from that position and no other was found within his limitations, he attempted to rehabilitate himself by returning to college and studying toward an Associate of Science degree. The employer paid half of his expenses. At the time of the trial, he was working as a technician in the Physical Therapy Department at Maury Regional Hospital. He is studying to become a physical therapist. The claimant and his wife own their home and are current on their debts, a home mortgage and a debt secured by their 1993 Jeep Cherokee. They have been married for sixteen years and have a young daughter. The trial judge found, among other things, that the claimant had a permanent partial disability of sixty percent to the body as a whole and awarded benefits accordingly, which he commuted to a lump sum. Appellate review is de novo upon the record of the trial court, accompanied by a presumption of correctness of the findings of fact, unless the preponderance of the evidence is otherwise. Tenn. Code Ann. section 5-6-225(e)(2). This tribunal is required to conduct an independent examination of the record to determine where the preponderance of the evidence lies.