By Courtney S. Paterson
Willis Ray Babb v. House Hasson Hardware Company, et al.
Docket No. 2016-03-0095
State File No. 88593-2015
Filed January 26, 2017
Posture
This is a case before the Appeals Board on an interlocutory appeal filed by the employer, and the dispute was whether the employer should be required to provide the employee medical benefits.
The employee alleged an injury to his left foot on October 12, 2015, when a pallet jack struck his left foot, breaking two toes. He reported the incident immediately and saw a physician the next day. The physician recommended ice and rest, and the employee informed his employer he was taking the rest of the week off work to rest. The employer accepted the foot injury as compensable with no dispute with respect to that injury.
Upon returning to work, the employee began to complain of left knee pain. On December 30, 2015, he was making a delivery when he reported feeling a pop or buckle in his left knee. On January 9, 2016, he sent a text message to his supervisor, stating he “blew out” his knee the evening before.
An MRI by the employee’s primary care physician revealed a medial meniscal tear. The employer denied benefits, asserting that the complaints were not causally related to the compensable injuries sustained to the employee’s foot from the previous injury. The parties agreed to forego an evidentiary hearing, and the trial court ordered the employer to provide a panel of physicians for the employee’s knee.
The appeals board affirmed the trial court’s decision, finding that the evidence does not preponderate against the trial court’s decision.
An associate with Spicer Rudstrom since 2009, Courtney focuses her practice on automobile liability, insurance coverage litigation, insurance defense litigation, insurance subrogation, premises liability, products liability, and workers’ compensation. She is admitted to practice in all trial and appellate state courts in Tennessee, as well as the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee.
Related Articles
Hernia at Work? William Russell, Jr. v. Futuristic, Inc.
Airport Rental Car Facility Employee Files Two Work-Related Accidents within 10 Days: Darlene Noel v. EAN Holdings, LLC, et al.
The Presumption of Correctness Afforded to an Authorized Treating Physician: Jamal Darraj v. McKee Foods Corporation, et al.