Wilbur E. Cagle v. Mike Underwood Builders Inc. and Mike Underwood 03S01-9605-CV-00057
Authoring Judge: Joe C. Loser, Jr., Special Judge
Trial Court Judge: Hon. Dale Workman,
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, Underwood, contends the evidence preponderates against the trial court's findings that (1) the employee's injury was one arising out of and in the course of employment, (2) the employer had actual notice of the injury, and (3) the employee retains a forty percent permanent partial disability to the right leg from a torn meniscus. The panel has concluded the judgment should be affirmed. The employee or claimant, Cagle, is forty-eight years old and has a ninth grade education. He has worked primarily in construction and as a machine operator in a factory. His duties with Underwood include performing repairs on new houses during the first year after they are sold, but not home maintenance. His normal working hours are from 8:3 a.m. until 4:3 p.m., but he often works later. He is paid a salary rather than wages. On September 29, 1993, Underwood left the work site at 4: p.m., instructing the claimant to "lock up" when he left. The claimant went to one of the houses to check mortar joints and, as he was about to leave, Suzanne Chandler, who had purchased one of the employer's houses in April of the same year, asked to borrow some WD-4. Although it was after normal hours, the claimant offered to spray Ms. Chandler's squeaky door. While doing so, Cagle slipped and fell, injuring his knee. He had to call his wife to come and drive him home. Two months earlier, the claimant had slipped and slightly injured his knee while performing a repair at the Chandler home, but the injury was so slight that he did not lose time or require medical attention. He did not report that occurrence. The record is clear that the employer had actual knowledge of the accident which is the basis of this workers' compensation claim. The treating physician, an orthopedic surgeon, diagnosed a complex bucket handle tear of the lateral meniscus and probable exacerbation of pre-existing arthritic disease, caused by the occurrence of September 29th. 2
Knox
Workers Compensation Panel
Danny E. Wilson v. Calvin Burgess Lumber Company 03S01-9604-CH-00041
Authoring Judge: Joe C. Loser, Jr., Special Judge
Trial Court Judge: Hon. Vernon Neal,
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 employee, Wilson, contends the evidence preponderates against the trial court's finding that his injury did not arise out of the employment. This panel affirms the trial court. The employee or claimant worked for the employer, Burgess, as a log skidder operator. On May 29, 1994, at approximately 12:3 p.m., the claimant lost consciousness and became incontinent. When he regained consciousness, he told his employer he was ill and needed to go home. In his complaint, he claims his condition was caused by a faulty exhaust system on the skidder he was operating. It is undisputed the exhaust system on the skidder he had been operating was faulty. The defective part has since been replaced. The skidder did not have a closed compartment for the operator. Although a toxicologist diagnosed brain damage caused by carbon monoxide poisoning, tests on the skidder produced carbon monoxide readings below the OSHA limit of no more than fifty parts per million for an eight hour exposure. A sample taken at two feet from the end of the exhaust pipe showed thirty parts per million and one taken sitting in the operator's seat, with a slit in the piece of flexible pipe that had a hole in it, showed two parts per million. Moreover, another medical expert opined those levels were insufficient to cause brain damage to an operator in an open seat. Dr. Myron L. Mills, an occupational medicine specialist, further opined the claimant's injury was the result of a non-work-related seizure. The trial judge dismissed the claim for insufficient proof of causation. 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). An accidental injury arises out of one's employment when there is 2
Knox
Workers Compensation Panel
State vs. Quinn Hamilton M2001-02748-CCA-R3-CD
Authoring Judge: Judge David H. Welles
Trial Court Judge: Cheryl A. Blackburn
A jury convicted the Defendant, Quinn L. Hamilton, of aggravated robbery, a Class B felony, and evading arrest, a Class D felony. The trial court sentenced the Defendant as a Range II multiple offender to consecutive terms of nineteen years and seven years, respectively, for an effective sentence of twenty-six years, to be served in the Department of Correction. In this appeal as of right, the Defendant contends that the trial court erred in declaring the victim witness unavailable and allowing his prior testimony to be admitted at trial as substantive evidence. We affirm the trial court's judgment.
Bobby L. Marlowe v. Vulcan Materials Co. 03S01-9605-CH-00058
Authoring Judge: Roger E. Thayer, Special Judge
Trial Court Judge: Hon. Billy Joe White,
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 appeal has resulted from a finding by the trial court that plaintiff, Bobby L. Marlowe, was entitled to 1% disability benefits due to contracting an occupational disease while in the employment of his employer, defendant Vulcan Materials Company. Defendant Vulcan contends the Chancellor was in error (1) in ruling the statute of limitations had not expired; (2) in finding plaintiff had been exposed and injured while in its employment; and (3) in finding plaintiff was totally disabled. Plaintiff was 55 years of age and had completed the 9th grade. He has a long history of having worked under conditions exposing himself to smoke, dust, etc. He spent about 16 years working in a steel foundry; about 1 years working for various coal companies; and about 5 years with Vulcan at various quarry sites where his exposure was to rock dust. When he first reported to work with Vulcan in 1988, he had a chest x-ray which apparently was not indicative of any problems. He began having some breathing problems sometime in 1991 and was x-rayed. As a result of this examination, he received a form letter dated January 13, 1992 from a medical clinic in Birmingham, Alabama. This informed him that his x-ray showed "abnormalities consistent with pneumoconiosis" and advised he needed to see a physician. Vulcan sent him to see a specialist in Kingsport, telling him the x- ray indicated something was wrong. There is no direct evidence as to the findings by this doctor. Plaintiff continued to work, saying he did not know what was wrong. Sometime later in his employment, he told the court, his condition began to worsen. He described this as noticing a greater shortness of breath and said any exertion would result in his being completely out of breath. Mr. Howell, the safety director of Vulcan, discussed the situation with him and said they would try to work with him and keep him out of as much dust as possible. At some later 2
Knox
Workers Compensation Panel
Hubert M. Hurd v. General Shale Products Corporation, et al. 03S01-9603-CH-00026
Authoring Judge: Roger E. Thayer, Special Judge
Trial Court Judge: Hon. H. David Cate,
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. Defendants, General Shale Products Corporation and CNA Insurance Compa ny, have appealed from the action of the trial court in awarding plaintiff, Hubert M. Hurd, 3% permanent partial disability benefits to the body as a whole. The only issue on appeal is whether the evidence preponderates against the award of benefits. Plaintiff Hurd was injured in the course and scope of his employment on August 2, 199, while manually rolling up a truck cover. The equipment did not work properly, and plaintiff was pushing with his right arm when he tore a biceps tendon. Plaintiff was 63 years of age at the time of the trial. He completed the 8th grade and later received a G.E.D. certificate. He had been employed by General Shale for 41 years and at the time of the accident was operating a dump truck. During his entire employment, he had worked at different positions such as a grinding machine operator, a brick machine operator, a fireman on the kiln, a forklift operator and a front-end loader operator. He continued to work after the accident at the same job as his employer installed an electric motor on the vehicle which would roll up the truck cover and eliminate the manual operation. Although he has continued to work, he told the court he does not have the strength in his arm and shoulder as prior to this injury; he testified his grip in his arm is now weak and when he carries anything, it is hard to straighten his arm back out. Dr. John Bell, an orthopaedic surgeon, treated plaintiff for his injuries. His testimony, which was by deposition, indicated plaintiff had sustained an injury to his arm and shoulder from the tear of the tendon and a neck injury where there was an aggravation of a previous condition due to degenerative changes. He 2
