Hatcher v. Rubbermaid

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. At the outset we think it pardonable to observe that the briefs in this case are exceptional and worthy of emulation. The plaintiff is a 26-year-old high school graduate whose right arm was crushed in an industrial accident on September 12, 1994. The arm was surgically amputated at the elbow area. Responding to the complaint for workers' compensation benefits, the defendant admitted the occurrence and compensability of the injury, and filed a Rule 68 Offer of Judgment for 1 percent loss of her arm together with all medical expenses. The trial judge awarded 75 percent permanent, partial disability benefits to the body as a whole. The defendant appeals, insisting that recovery is limited to 2 weeks because the statutory schedule controls. Our review of the findings of fact made by the trial court is de novo upon the record of the trial court, accompanied by a presumption of the correctness of the finding, unless the preponderance of the evidence is otherwise. Tenn. Code Ann. _ 5-6-225(e)(2);Stone v. City of McMinnville, 896 S.W.2d 548, 55 (Tenn. 1995). T.C.A. _ 5-6-27 prescribes benefits for the loss of a scheduled member. The loss of an arm is worth only 2 weeks. The Code does not address the loss of an upper extremity. But the AMA Guidelines, which are contained in the Code by reference, do not assess impairment to the arm, but only to the upper extremity. The anomaly thereby posed, as the appellant observes, is frustrating. 2