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Huke v. Trinity Industries6/1/2005
I. FACTUAL BACKGROUND
Ruth D. Huke, was twenty-seven years of age at the time of the trial and the mother of three children. She was injured April 3, 2001, while performing her job as a welder, when she was struck by an metal angle plate in the right shoulder and was caught between the plate and a crane, causing her body to be lifted and twisted. She was taken by ambulance to Vanderbilt's Emergency Room where she was kept overnight and released. Dr. Daniel McHugh treated the injury. The plaintiff saw Dr. McHugh on five or six occasions and underwent physical therapy for three weeks. Dr. McHugh released her on May 24, 2001, and told her that she needed to perform light duty for one week and then could return to her regular job. She went in on May 26 and spoke with Sherry Hayes, the safety advisor, who advised her she would be sweeping for a week and then return to full duty welding and fitting. Because she was struggling hard to walk and still using a cane, she did not feel she could perform the sweeping duty or return to her welding job and, as a consequence, quit her job.
A short time after June 1, 2001, she went to work at AT&T, working as a sales representative selling long distance services. She had difficulty because she had to sit for long periods of time and did not like the job. About September 10, 2001, she went to work at Trane where she was given a sit-down job observing security monitors for a twelve- hour shift. Trane moved her to roaming guard and she was required to check buildings every two hours, including walking up and down stairwells. The pain she experienced as a result of this activity caused her to leave that employment.
On March 2, 2002, the plaintiff went to work for A.O. Smith, a manufacturer of water heaters. She told A.O. Smith what Dr. McHugh had relayed to her, that she had a severe bruising of her left hip, that nothing else was wrong and she was able to return to work. During her physical at A.O. Smith on March 4, 2004, she told the doctor she wasn't having problems and on a physical information form indicated she had no back trouble and no physical limitations. She also did some welding at A.O. Smith but she did not have to lift the tanks. They were placed on rollers. She welded for about 4-6 months. She continued working there until August 2003, when she left her job because her pain was progressing.
A different description of Mrs. Huke's job at A.O. Smith was presented by defense witness, Barry Eugene Gary. Mr. Gary is presently the Trinity Marine Products Safety Environmental Manager. He previously had worked at A.O. Smith and was working there at the same time as Mrs. Huke. He described the tank inspector job at A.O. Smith, performed by Mrs. Huke, as a very physically demanding job. One has to take the tank, apply and lock plugs to make it air tight, fill the tank with air and then run a substance to detect leaks over it. If a leak is discovered, the inspector welds the tank to patch the leak. There is a significant amount of pushing and pulling from forty to sixty pounds for each tank depending on the size and length and girth of the tank. Inspectors test a tank every five to eight seconds. He stated that in his opinion the job at A.O. Smith was more demanding than the job Mrs. Huke had at Trinity because of the number of units one had to work on at A.O. Smith.
About the time Mrs. Huke went to work for A.O. Smith she began seeing Dr. Blaise Edward Ferraraccio for the pain she was experiencing. Dr. Ferraraccio prescribed a muscle relaxer but it caused her to be drowsy and reduced her driving skills. The pain became worse and radiated down her legs. Dr. Ferraraccio prescribed a pain management program, giv
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