Kenneth M. Ward v. Tangent Industries

This workers' compensation appeal has been referred to the Special Workers' Compensation Appeals Panel of the Supreme Court in accordance with Tenn. Code Ann. _ 5-6-225(e)(3) for hearing and reporting to the Supreme Court of findings of fact and conclusions of law. The issues are whether the leg injury suffered by the plaintiff was properly apportioned to the body as a whole and whether the Court correctly ordered the award to be paid in a lump sum. A non-issue is whether the trial judge properly awarded interest on the judgment.1 The plaintiff is a 41-year-old single man whose testimony that he finished eighth grade was so suspect as to move the Chancellor to observe "I don't mean to disrespect you Mr. Ward, [but] you probably don't have an eighth grade education," and who is by virtue of that fact and other limitations capable only of basic manual and menial labor. On December 8, 1993 during the course of his job, a heavy bundle of steel fell from a forklift and crushed his left leg and foot. He was initially treated by Dr. Charles Emerson of Murfreesboro, and later by Dr. Joe Luna of Maryville, which was made necessary because he moved to the home of his sister in Blount County. Dr. Luna referred the plaintiff to Dr. Turner, under whose care he remains. To comply with an order to prosecute, the plaintiff was evaluated by an independent medical examiner, Dr. Steven C. Weissfield, on July 28, 1997, who graphically described the crushing injury. Reduced to the necessary, the leg bones were multi-fractured, refused to heal, pieces of them were removed subsequently, screws and pins were inserted; the lower portion of his leg filled with fluid which the experts could not alleviate. Four or more 1Much of the oral argum ent was given over to the propriety of the Court's action in awarding statutory interest on the "full amount," which the Court did not do. The issue of interest was neither raised nor addressed by the trial Court. The subject appeared, for the first time, in the brief of the appellee. 2