Construing Tenn. Code Ann. § 50-6-204(d)(5), pursuant to which a presumption of correctness is afforded to the impairment rating provided by an independent medical evaluator who has been selected from...
TN Appeals Panel Clarifies Presumption of Correctness Afforded to MIR Physician's Impairment Rating TN Appeals Panel Clarifies Presumption of Correctness Afforded to MIR Physician's Impairment RatingWhile hypothetical questions may have been the standard in law school courses taught via the Socratic Method, the Sixth Circuit recently held such questions are not to be considered by...
Sixth Circuit Side-Steps Federal Immigration Issue in Retaliatory Discharge Action Sixth Circuit Side-Steps Federal Immigration Issue in Retaliatory Discharge ActionThe Supreme Court of Tennessee, reversing a decision of a state trial court, held that an employer who failed to use an automated external defibrillator (AED) to assist an employee...
Tennessee: No Compensable Claim Where Employer Failed to Use On-Site Defibrillator Tennessee: No Compensable Claim Where Employer Failed to Use On-Site DefibrillatorWhere the opinion offered by an employee’s medical expert merely disagreed with the medical impairment registry (MIR) physician’s findings, yet did not show how that the MIR physician had used...
Disagreement Does Not Equal Clear and Convincing Evidence That Tennessee MIR Physician’s Opinion was Wrong Disagreement Does Not Equal Clear and Convincing Evidence That Tennessee MIR Physician’s Opinion was WrongIn a case that echoes the plight of all too many injured workers in the U.S., the Supreme Court of Tennessee has overturned a decision of a state chancery court...
Tennessee Widow Loses Battle Related to Injured Worker’s Overdose Death Tennessee Widow Loses Battle Related to Injured Worker’s Overdose DeathTennessee Appeals Panel Affirms $27K Attorney’s Fee Related to $187 Medical Claim In Grissom v. UPS, 2017 Tenn. LEXIS 4 (Jan. 9, 2017), the Special Workers’ Compensation Appeals Panel of the...
Memo to Worker’ Comp Carrier: Standing on Your Rights Can Result in Scorched Feet Memo to Worker’ Comp Carrier: Standing on Your Rights Can Result in Scorched FeetThe Supreme Court of Tennessee’s Special Workers’ Compensation Appeals Panel recently affirmed a decision by a state trial court awarding an X-ray technician permanent and total disability benefits because of...
Tennessee Court Awards Permanent Total Benefits For Worker’s Migraines Tennessee Court Awards Permanent Total Benefits For Worker’s MigrainesI read with great interest Bob Wilson’s post yesterday signaling that the Tennessee Opt Out “initiative” may be DOA this year. Indeed, I’d been checking Bill Tracking Reports since the...
2016 Opt Out Legislation: Is it as “Inevitable” as Some Have Hoped/Feared? 2016 Opt Out Legislation: Is it as “Inevitable” as Some Have Hoped/Feared?In an opinion not yet designated for publication [see Ireton v. Horizon Mental Health Mgmt., LLC, 2016 Tenn. LEXIS 3 (Jan. 19, 2016), a Tennessee appeals panel affirmed the denial...
Tennessee Nurse’s PTSD Claim Fails In Spite of Flashback to Being Raped As Child Tennessee Nurse’s PTSD Claim Fails In Spite of Flashback to Being Raped As ChildThe manager of a Tennessee mattress store, who alleged that she sustained a psychological injury (“PTSD”) when she pursued two persons into the employer’s store parking lot after they had...
Tennessee Mattress Store Manager Prevails in PTSD Claim After Encounter with Purse Snatching Customers Tennessee Mattress Store Manager Prevails in PTSD Claim After Encounter with Purse Snatching CustomersA bill introduced in the South Carolina Senate on April 16th (2015 Bill Text SC S.B. 674) would make workers’ compensation coverage optional for the vast majority of the state’s...
South Carolina Bill Would Make Workers’ Comp Coverage Optional for Most Employers South Carolina Bill Would Make Workers’ Comp Coverage Optional for Most EmployersRecent Federal District Court Discusses ERISA’s Strong Preemption Provisions As I have noted on multiple other occasions, one of the distinctive features of the workers’ compensation “opt out” scheme is...
Who’s “Opting Out” of Workers’ Comp—Employers or the States Themselves? Who’s “Opting Out” of Workers’ Comp—Employers or the States Themselves?