 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Employee Leasing Services in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Smith v. Asplundh Tree Expert Co.9/14/2000
Mailed - August 3, 2000
This workers' compensation appeal has been referred to the Special Workers' Compensation Appeals Panel of the Supreme Court in accordance with Tennessee Code Annotated § 50-6-225(e)(3) for hearing and reporting to the Supreme Court of findings of fact and conclusions of law. The defendant appeals from the judgment of the trial court which awarded the plaintiff temporary total benefits from May of 1992 until November 20, 1995, and found the plaintiff had sustained a forty percent permanent partial disability to the body as a whole. The plaintiff suffered a compensable injury, returned to work for the pre-injury employer, then left that position and obtained employment with another employer. We affirm the award of permanent partial disability, reverse the award of temporary total disability and remand the case to the trial court for a determination of the amount owed consistent with our findings.
Tenn. Code Ann. § 50-6-225(e) (1999) Appeal as of Right; Judgment of the Chancery Court Affirmed in Part; Reversed in Part; and Remanded
John K.Byers, Sr. J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which E. Riley Anderson, C.J. and Roger E. Thayer, S.J., joined.
OPINION
Facts
The plaintiff, forty-two years of age at the time of trial, was employed by the defendant who had a contract to maintain utility poles throughout the Chattanooga area. The work required digging around the poles and applying chemicals to inhibit decay and invasion by termites, etc. In May of 1992, the plaintiff began to experience difficulty with his left wrist and arm. Additionally, he developed an allergic reaction to the chemicals used on the poles. The allergic reaction was characterized by discoloration, blistering and swelling of his feet. In August of 1992, the plaintiff voluntarily resigned from his position with the defendant, but he testified he did so because the defendant could provide no work that did not aggravate the condition affecting his arm.
In September of 1992, the plaintiff was hired by Olson Temporary Services and began working at Kimberly-Clark. In January of 1993, the plaintiff left Kimberly-Clark and returned to Maine-his place of residence prior to Chattanooga-where he started a cleaning business that lasted for about one month, at which time he obtained employment at a lumber mill in Maine. He worked the lumber mill job from July to September of 1993.
In January 1994, the plaintiff obtained a license to sell real estate. He was notably unsuccessful in this work. In the fall of 1994, the plaintiff was employed by the Maine school district to teach computer courses.
Currently the plaintiff is working on a Microsoft certification, which could earn him an income of between 40 and 120 dollars per hour. The plaintiff testified he has not made as much in any year since his injury as he had before the injury. He also testified about his inability to use his left arm, which is his dominant arm, because of pain he experiences in the arm and shoulder.
The evidence shows the plaintiff is unable to come in contact with a variety of ordinary products used in living because the exposure to chemicals has caused him to develop a permanent allergy to them.
Medical Evidence
Charles Sullivan, a doctor of osteopathy, found the plaintiff to have epicondylitis (tennis elbow), alteration of muscle strength in the left side especially in the left upper extremity, loss of a significant degree in the range of motion in the neck, and allergies as a result of exposure to the chemicals at work. Dr. Sullivan found all of this was caused by the plaintiff's work with the
Page 1 2 3 4 Tennessee Employee Leasing Services
Employee Leasing Services
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Employee Leasing Services in your area.
|
|