Court reviews whether employee's injury was a work-related aggravation of a pre-existing injury and, thus, whether employer is liable

TAMMY L. LEE v. DURA OPERATING CORP., ET AL. (TWCA February 2, 2012)

Pursuant to Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 51, this workers' compensation appeal has been referred to the Special Workers' Compensation Appeals Panel for a hearing and a report of findings of fact and conclusions of law.

Tammy L. Lee ("Employee") alleges that she suffered an injury to her cervical spine while she was employed as a factory worker by Dura Operating Corporation ("Employer") . Employer denies that Employee's cervical spine injury was caused by her employment with Employer.

The trial court determined that Employee's cervical spine condition was a work-related aggravation of her pre-existing degenerative disc disease. The trial court awarded Employee temporary total benefits from November 8, 2007, to February 8, 2008. Finding that Employee had not been able to return to work, the trial court refused to apply the statutory cap and awarded Employee permanent partial disability benefits of 69% to the body as a whole, three times her anatomical impairment rating of 23% to the body as a whole. Finding that the evidence preponderates against the trial court's determination of causation, we reverse the trial court's judgment.

Opinion available at:
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TSC_WCP/2012/leet_020112.pdf