The case involves Nena Beckman, an employee at Manheim Tennessee, LLC, who was injured when a sign fell on her head at work on February 4, 2025, leading to neck and arm issues diagnosed as herniations and stenosis. Beckman requested temporary partial disability benefits from February 5, 2025, until maximum medical improvement, minus benefits already received, and a panel of neurologists as recommended by her treating physician. The court granted the benefits and ordered the employer to provide the panel, reasoning that the medical evidence from the spine surgeon established that her injuries were primarily due to the work accident and that she was entitled to further treatment and compensation under workers' compensation law.
This workers' compensation case involved employee Colton Vestal, who developed occupational asthma after inhaling plastic-burning fumes at TBDN Tennessee Co., leading to repeated lung collapses, surgery, and a shoulder injury. After an accepted claim, the court held a compensation hearing to resolve a dispute over his permanent impairment rating, where the treating pulmonologist assigned 60% and a records-reviewing pulmonologist assigned 6%. The court determined Vestal's anatomic impairment to be 60% and awarded corresponding benefits, crediting the treating specialist's assessment based on her direct care over two years, diagnostic testing including a methacholine challenge test performed off medication, and consideration of his specific symptoms and complications, while noting the reviewing doctor's limited experience with the AMA Guides.
This case involves a workers' compensation claim filed by Jairo Noe Morales Villareal against Handyman Home Improvement, LLC, and Hector Cerda, after Morales fell more than 25 feet from a ladder while painting a house on July 2, 2024, fracturing vertebrae and his sternum. Morales sought medical benefits and temporary disability benefits, initially naming only Cerda as employer before amending to include Handyman. At the expedited hearing, the court determined Morales was an employee of Handyman based on undisputed testimony showing Handyman's control over his work, payment method, provision of tools, and scheduling, making the injury compensable under Tennessee law for construction services providers. The court granted medical benefits, including past Vanderbilt expenses and future treatment in Mexico, but denied temporary disability benefits for lack of sufficient supporting evidence. The ruling applied factors from Tenn. Code Ann. § 50-6-102 to establish employment status and required Handyman to provide a panel of physicians.
In this workers' compensation case, employee Christina Manus Henry sought payment from her employer Fitzgerald Collision & Repair for treatment of venous insufficiency in her left leg, which she claimed was aggravated by a work-related knee injury and subsequent knee replacement surgery. The court denied her request for benefits following an expedited hearing. The decision rested on the medical records from the vascular specialist, which failed to establish that the work injury contributed more than fifty percent to causing an aggravation of her preexisting condition or that any such aggravation contributed more than fifty percent to her need for treatment, as required under Tennessee law and the precedent in Edwards v. Peoplease.
In this workers' compensation case, employee Kelly Ray sought a panel of orthopedists for treatment of her left knee injury sustained when she slipped while climbing down a ladder at work on August 23, 2024. The employer had authorized initial treatment with orthopedist Dr. Greenberg, who later recommended a transfer of care to a new orthopedist due to an ineffective doctor-patient relationship and poor communication, while also suggesting consideration of left-knee surgery; the employer filed no opposing evidence or argument. The court granted the request in an expedited hearing, ordering the employer to provide a panel of orthopedists, because the undisputed facts showed that the treating physician had referred Ray to another specialist and she established a likelihood of prevailing at a compensation hearing under Tenn. Code Ann. § 50-6-204(a)(3)(E) and (H).
The case involved a workers' compensation claim by Victor Garcia Alvarez against James Reed Birnie for severe burns sustained while working on February 13, 2025. The court denied the request for benefits at this expedited stage, finding that the claimant had not shown a likelihood of proving he was a covered employee entitled to benefits under Tennessee law. The reasoning centered on the exemption for employers with fewer than five employees unless they are construction service providers, and evidence indicated that Birnie had exited the construction business due to illness by the time of the injury, employing the claimant only for odd jobs around his home.