Howard F. Stanley v. South Central Bell

This workers' compensation appeal has been referred to the Special Workers' Compensation Appeals Panel of the Supreme Court in accordance with T.C.A. _ 5-6-225(e)(3) for hearing and reporting to the Supreme Court of findings of fact and conclusions of law. The plaintiff filed a "Petition to Reopen" a workers' compensation case wherein the judgment was affirmed by the Supreme Court on March 26, 199. In the initial case, the Chancellor awarded the plaintiff benefits for a knee injury, a psychological disability, and vision loss. This Petition was filed November 27, 1995. The plaintiff alleged that he continues to suffer from "depression and other psychological problems," for which he seeks additional benefits. He amended the petition to allege that a management plan instituted in the "mid-197's" caused "stress and depression," which have gradually worsened. The defendant answered generally, and specifically pleaded the bar of the Statute of Limitations presented by T.C.A. _ 5-6-23 and T.C.A. _ 5-6- 224. Thereafter, the defendant filed a motion for summary judgment, alleging that the plaintiff's claim for workers' compensation benefits had been fully and finally adjudicated; that the plaintiff retired from Bell South on August 25, 1985, and thus was no longer an employee as defined by T.C.A. _ 5-6-12(3); and that the benefits owing to the plaintiff as a consequence of his initial action were paid in a lump sum which, by statute, forecloses the issue pursuant to T.C.A. _ 5-6-231. The motion for summary judgment was granted and the plaintiff appeals. The issue is whether the case should have been resolved summarily. We need not belabor the point. The plaintiff seeks benefits for some kind of incident that occurred five (5) years before the knee injury (then alleged 2