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Moss v. Findlay Industries2/15/2002
Mailed - January 15, 2002
This workers' compensation appeal has been referred to the Special Workers' Compensation Appeals Panel of the Supreme Court in accordance with Tenn. Code Ann.§ 50-6-225(e)(3) for hearing and reporting to the Supreme Court of findings of fact and conclusions of law. The trial court awarded benefits for vocational impairment of 55 percent to each of the plaintiff's arms. The defendant insists that the award is excessive, because the anatomical rating was only 10 percent, as a result of carpal tunnel release. The judgment is affirmed.
Tenn. Code Ann. § 50-6-225(e) (1999) Appeal as of Right; Judgment of the Chancery Court Affirmed
William H. Inman, Sr. J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which Adolpho A. Birch, Jr., J. and Howell N. Peoples, Sp. J., joined.
MEMORANDUM OPINION
At the outset we are constrained to make an observation about the procedure employed in this case. It was referred, on motion of the plaintiff, to a Special Master to "try this workers' compensation matter," to conduct an evidentiary hearing, and file a Report which sets out all issues and make Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law, pursuant to Rule 53, Tennessee Rules Civil Procedure.
The Special Master heard the case, and filed a form report which was approved and adopted by the trial judge who noted that no objections were made to the Master's Findings of Fact. The parties recognized that the Special Master, notwithstanding the designation, was, in effect and practice, sitting as a court.
I.
The complaint alleged that the plaintiff sustained injuries to her arms, hands, and shoulders as a result of repetitive job-related activities.
There is no answer in the transcript. We assume this omission to be an oversight, but we glean from the defendant's brief that the dispositive issue is the extent of vocational impairment.
The plaintiff is 44 years old. She began working for the defendant in 1994 as an unskilled worker. In February 1999 she developed problems with her hands and wrists, for which she was given anti-inflammatory medication by Dr. Arms. She next saw Dr. Rogers, who prescribed braces, further medication and finally recommended surgery in July 1999 on both wrists. She returned to work six weeks after the carpal tunnel release with work restrictions lifted. On the day of trial, the plaintiff was in the same job since returning to employment about one year previously, making 140 percent production, the maximum possible. She was earning, at the time of trial, a higher wage than before her injury.
She was released to full duty by Dr. Rogers, her treating physician, in the summer of 1999, who instructed her to return if further problems developed. She returned for treatment of tendinitis, not carpal tunnel syndrome, and she has not sought treatment for her job-related injury, and she has missed no time from her job.
The plaintiff was examined and evaluated, at her attorney's request, by Dr. S. M. Smith who opined that she had a 10 percent permanent impairment to each arm. He recommended certain work restrictions involving repetitive and gripping motions.
The Special Master said, from the Bench, "so I think her vocational disability is 55 percent to the right and 55 percent to the left. . . .", and judgment was entered accordingly. The defendant appeals and presents issues for review which are de novo with a presumption of correctness unless the evidence otherwise preponderates. Rule 13(d) T.R.A.P.
II.
In the first issue, the defendant insists that the finding of 55 percent vocational disability to
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