Allen Phillips

Ms. Cooper filed a workers' compensation claim against her employer, Madison Haywood Developmental Services, Inc., seeking medical and disability benefits for a back injury she alleged occurred on December 1, 2021, while lifting a patient at work. The court denied her claim and dismissed the case with prejudice after a compensation hearing. The employee bore the burden of proving by a preponderance of the evidence that her injury arose primarily from her employment, meaning it contributed more than 50% to her condition based on a reasonable degree of medical certainty. The sole qualified expert opinion, from orthopedic surgeon Dr. Murrell, concluded that the work incident did not meet this threshold and that her condition was degenerative, while other evidence such as a nurse practitioner's causation statement was inadmissible or unqualified.

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The case involved a workers' compensation claim by Coley Davis against Central Transport, LLC, stemming from a forklift injury at work on May 25, 2024, which the employer initially accepted. The court granted the employer's motion for summary judgment after the employee failed to respond or appear at the hearing. The decision relied on a medical report indicating that the injury was not primarily caused by employment, that the employee had reached maximum medical improvement with no permanent impairment, and required no further treatment. Under Tennessee law, benefits are only available if the injury is more than 50% related to employment, and the undisputed facts showed no genuine issue of material fact on this element.

labor & employment

In this workers' compensation case, employee Terlanda Nunn sought a panel of ENT physicians and additional temporary disability benefits after tripping and falling at work for Amazon.com, LLC, which caused neck, back, and facial injuries along with dizziness. The Tennessee Court of Workers' Compensation Claims found that Amazon had provided a valid panel of ENT physicians. The court denied the request for additional temporary disability benefits because Nunn refused Amazon's offer of restricted-duty work without supporting medical evidence that she could not perform the duties, and there was no medical proof establishing her disability after April 2025, as the treating neurologist had released her to return to work earlier.

labor & employment

This case is a workers' compensation claim brought by Jeffrey Steele, a tour bus driver, against his employer Dreamliner Luxury Coaches and its insurer for a herniated disc injury he attributed to driving with a worn and faulty seat over thousands of miles in June and July 2025. Steele sought payment of medical bills and temporary disability benefits from July 17, 2025, through February 12, 2026. At an expedited hearing, the court found Steele credible and that his injury arose from employment but declined to award temporary disability benefits for the period July 17 to September 4 because no physician had placed him under work restrictions during that time, while approving medical benefits (subject to relatedness review) and temporary benefits from September 4 onward when Dr. Bice first restricted him. The core legal requirement applied was that an employee must prove disability due to a compensable injury, causation, and the duration of disability to recover temporary benefits under Tennessee workers' compensation law.

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This case involves a workers' compensation claim by Jerome Monroe, a maintenance mechanic at Kellogg Company, who suffered a severed finger while attempting to repair a rice dryer machine on September 9, 2024. The sole disputed issue at the compensation hearing was whether Monroe willfully violated the employer's lockout safety rules by reaching into the operating equipment without disabling it, which would bar benefits under Tennessee Code Annotated sections 50-6-110(a)(1) and (4). The court found that Monroe did not willfully violate the rules, crediting his testimony that he reasonably believed no lockout was required because the outer guard was missing and the machine had recently been serviced. Based on this determination and the elements set forth in Mitchell v. Fayetteville Public Utilities, the court awarded some of the requested benefits while noting Kellogg had initially paid medical and temporary disability benefits before terminating them after the incident.

labor & employment

The case involved a workers' compensation claim by Darlene Taylor, the surviving spouse of Darrell Taylor, seeking death benefits after her husband suffered a fatal heart attack while employed by Dale's Recycling. Mr. Taylor died on June 22, 2023, after being pulled over by a deputy in a construction zone, climbing into a tall scrap metal trailer on a warm day to secure his load, and then collapsing inside. The employer and its carrier denied the claim, attributing the death to preexisting conditions including hypertension and diabetes rather than the employment. After reviewing testimony from the deputy, company officials, medical records showing Mr. Taylor had been cleared for driving, and expert cardiology evidence linking the event to physical and emotional stress, the court ruled that Mrs. Taylor was entitled to benefits because the heart attack arose out of and in the course of employment.

labor & employment

In this workers' compensation case, employee Arthur Davis sought expedited medical benefits from his employer, Baptist Memorial Hospital, for a claimed left shoulder injury and ischemic stroke that allegedly occurred on August 19, 2024, while he was moving large waste bins as part of his environmental services duties. Baptist denied the claim, asserting that the injuries did not arise out of employment, supported by video footage showing no apparent incident and inconsistent medical records regarding the mechanism of injury. The Court of Workers' Compensation Claims denied the request after finding insufficient proof that the injuries were work-related, citing varying patient histories of the event, absence of recorded shoulder complaints initially, lack of medical opinions on causation, and the mismatch between the claimed heat stroke and the diagnosed ischemic stroke. The ruling was issued following an expedited hearing on March 2, 2026.

labor & employment

In this workers' compensation case, employee Wigelia White claimed she sustained a back injury on August 7, 2024, while moving a mailbag as a material handler for Federal Express Corp. The court determined that White failed to prove she provided proper notice of the injury to her employer or that the injury primarily arose out of her employment. The decision was based on inconsistencies in White's reporting of the incident, her medical records that initially omitted any work-related cause and noted prior back pain, and a treating physician's revised opinion after reviewing additional documentation, which concluded the symptoms were not more than 50% related to the alleged work incident.

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The case involved employee Mark McClanahan, who injured his right wrist on July 11, 2019, while working as an electrician for uninsured employer Bobby Tucker when a drill twisted his wrist. McClanahan obtained his own medical treatment, including surgery by Dr. Sweo, and sought payment for medical benefits, temporary total disability benefits through November 27, 2019, and permanent partial disability benefits based on a 14% impairment rating. The court first amended its prior Compensation Order under Tennessee Rule of Civil Procedure 60.01 to correct the date of injury from an earlier clerical error. At the compensation hearing, the court considered the employee's explanations for a pay stub and limited work attempt, along with the physician's uncontradicted opinions on causation and restrictions, while noting the employee bore the burden of proof by a preponderance of the evidence.

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In this workers' compensation case, employee Andrea Sanders sought medical and temporary disability benefits from employer TJX Co., Inc., claiming a neck and back injury from a falling wire at work on June 27, 2023. TJX disputed the claim, presenting video evidence and noting inconsistencies in Sanders' accounts of the incident, including whether the wire struck her and the severity of any fall. After an expedited hearing, the Tennessee Court of Workers' Compensation Claims denied benefits, finding Sanders failed to show she would likely prevail at trial. The court reasoned that her multiple inconsistent statements before and during the hearing, combined with video footage contradicting her description of events, rendered her not credible, and she did not establish a compensable injury from a specific incident.

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In this workers' compensation case, employee Medaris Holley sought medical benefits and temporary disability benefits from employer Southwest Airlines after developing a shoulder injury while working as a ramp agent loading and unloading aircraft. Southwest denied the claim, asserting that Holley failed to provide timely notice of the injury as required by law. Following an expedited hearing, the court found that Holley's conversations with supervisors about his shoulder pain and sleeve were sufficient to satisfy the notice requirement for medical benefits, entitling him to a panel of physicians, but insufficient to support an award of temporary disability benefits. The court also referred the matter for potential penalty consideration based on the employer's handling of the claim.

labor & employment

This case involved an employee, Charles Hepner, who sought permanent disability benefits, including permanent total disability or extraordinary relief, after injuring his neck and low back in February 2021 while moving produce at MC Produce, LLC. The employer disputed the extent of benefits, arguing Hepner qualified only for a lesser amount of increased benefits. Following a February 2024 compensation hearing, the court determined that Hepner was entitled to increased benefits based on medical evidence from treating physicians and evaluators, including impairment ratings under the AMA Guides, functional capacity assessments, and findings on maximum medical improvement, while rejecting claims for total disability.

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In this workers' compensation case, employee Robert Bragg claimed permanent total disability benefits after injuring his right elbow, shoulder, and neck on January 11, 2018, while using a vise to bend steel at Premium Services, LLC. The employer disputed that the neck injury was work-related and contended that Bragg was entitled only to permanent partial disability benefits for the elbow and shoulder. The court found the neck injury compensable based on medical opinions from Drs. Smith and Curlee that the work incident aggravated Bragg's preexisting degenerative cervical disc disease, but concluded he was entitled only to permanent partial disability benefits rather than total disability.

labor & employment

In this workers' compensation case, employee Debbie Taylor sought an order requiring her employer Kroger to provide treatment by a headache specialist and penalties for refusing to do so, following a 2015 head injury that caused ongoing headaches. The court denied the request, finding that Taylor had received all medical treatment owed under the law. The reasoning centered on medical opinions indicating that her current headaches were not primarily related to the work injury, as she had no loss of consciousness, normal CT scan, and was already under treatment by a neurologist who placed her at maximum medical improvement without impairment.

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The case involved an employee, Antron Evans, who sought workers' compensation benefits after being assaulted during a robbery at a Family Dollar store, including a panel of psychiatrists for alleged mental injuries from the incident, payment of an emergency room bill, and attorney's fees due to the employer's delay in handling the claim. Family Dollar disputed the requests, arguing no psychiatric referral was made by the authorized physician and that it had not wrongfully denied benefits. After an expedited hearing, the Tennessee Court of Workers' Compensation Claims denied the request for a psychiatric panel and the medical bill payment, finding that Tennessee Code Annotated section 50-6-204(h) requires a referral from a panel-selected physician for such services and that the bill was not clearly compensable. The court granted attorney's fees based on the employer's five-month delay in opening the claim and providing a panel despite repeated requests, and referred the matter for potential penalties.

labor & employment

In this workers' compensation case, employee Kaci Johnson sought an expedited order requiring her employer, Inspire Brands, to pay for recommended L5-S1 back surgery following a 2020 incident in which a stocked cooler fell on her at work, along with attorney's fees for the denial. The employer disputed that her herniated disc was causally related to the work injury. After reviewing medical records, including opinions from her treating neurosurgeon that the incident contributed more than 50% to her condition and an MRI confirming the disc herniation, the court found she would likely prevail at a full hearing on the surgery request but declined to award fees at the expedited stage. The court noted that prior utilization review had denied the surgery on grounds of incomplete documentation, but the treating physician's causation opinion supported the work-related link.

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Kenneth Merritt filed a workers' compensation claim against his employer Flextronics seeking permanent disability and medical benefits for hand pain he attributed to repetitive screwdriver use during extended work hours in summer 2020. Flextronics denied the claim, maintaining there was insufficient evidence of a work-related injury. Following a compensation hearing, the Tennessee Court of Workers' Compensation Claims denied benefits, relying on the treating physician's testimony that the condition was not more than fifty percent caused by work, that no traumatic injury occurred, and that repetitive stress claims are difficult to establish under Tennessee law. The court found the medical evidence insufficient to support compensability.

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The case involved Robert J. Blank's claim for workers' compensation benefits against employer Estes Express Lines and its insurer for a left-shoulder injury sustained in a forklift accident on August 30, 2018. After returning to work following initial surgery, Blank suffered additional shoulder pain while lifting a heavy table on May 29, 2019, leading to a second surgery; medical experts disagreed on whether the later incident was a distinct new injury or an aggravation of the original one. Estes moved for summary judgment on the second claim, arguing it was barred by the one-year statute of limitations after benefits for that incident ended in May 2020, while Blank contended he only learned of the new injury during a 2021 deposition. Following a compensation hearing, the court awarded benefits to Blank.

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The case involved Thomas Erickson seeking temporary total disability benefits from his employer, Federal Express, for back surgery he attributed to a February 2019 work incident using a sledgehammer. The employer denied the claim, asserting the surgery related to a 2016 back injury resolved by prior settlement and that it had provided treatment under that agreement's future medical provisions. After an expedited hearing, the court denied benefits, finding the need for surgery was more than fifty percent caused by the 2016 injury based on affidavits from the treating physicians, who noted the employee had not reported any new 2019 incident and that instability from the prior surgery was the primary cause.

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The case involved a workers' compensation claim by LaDonna Holmes against her employer Amazon and its insurer for an injury she sustained on December 8, 2019, when she lost her balance and fell during an altercation with a coworker that violated Amazon's Code of Conduct. Amazon moved for summary judgment under Tennessee Code Annotated section 50-6-110(a)(1), asserting that no benefits were payable because the injury resulted from the employee's willful misconduct. The court applied the four-part test from Mitchell v. Fayetteville Pub. Util. for safety-rule violations and willful misconduct, finding that Holmes had actual notice of the rule, understood the danger, Amazon enforced it, and she had no valid excuse. Holmes filed no response to the motion, did not appear at the hearing, and presented no evidence to create a genuine issue of material fact. The court therefore granted Amazon's motion for summary judgment.

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