TWCA reviews whether an employee who was fired had a meaningful return to work after receiving surgical treatment for an injury

MELISSA HAMLIN v. WINDSOR FORESTRY TOOLS, INC. ET AL. (TWCA December 20, 2011)

The employee injured her back at work and the injury required surgical treatment. The employee returned to work but was later terminated for violation of her employer's attendance and absenteeism policy. The trial court found the employee did not have a meaningful return to work. The trial court, however, adopted the impairment rating that the employee's evaluating physician expressed and awarded 90% permanent partial disability benefits, the maximum award permitted by Tennessee Code Annotated section 50-6-241(d).

The employer has appealed, contending that the trial court erred by adopting the evaluating physician's impairment rating, by its use of the six-times multiplier on the basis of facts not in evidence, and by finding that the employee did not have a meaningful return to work. We agree that the evidence preponderates against the trial court's findings concerning employee's impairment and the six-times multiplier. Accordingly, we modify the award.

Opinion available at:
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TSC_WCP/2011/hamlinm_122011.pdf