By Courtney S. Paterson
Aliceia Hollis v. Komyo America, et al.
Docket No. 2016-03-0298
State File No. 23307-2016
Filed March 7, 2017
Posture
This is a case before the Appeals Board on an interlocutory appeal filed by the employer, Konyo America, et al., and the dispute was whether the trial court erred in granting the employee’s motion to delay the hearing on the employer’s motion for summary judgment.
The employee, Ms. Aliceia Hollis, alleged an injury to her low back on January 18, 2016, arising out of her employment with Komyo America as a material handler when a stack of vehicle hoods tipped over and struck her back. The claim was accepted as compensable, and a panel of physicians was provided.
Dr. Sanabria, the authorized treating physician, ultimately opined that the employee’s symptoms were not primarily caused by the work accident and were instead related to pre-existing, degenerative changes. Ms. Hollis filed a request for an expedited hearing. At that hearing, the trial court denied her request for benefits, concluding that she had not offered sufficient expert medical evidence to support a finding that she was likely to prevail at a hearing on the merits in proving that her work accident was the primary cause of her lumbar condition.
Following that hearing, the employer filed a motion for summary judgment, arguing that Ms. Hollis could not establish as a matter of law that she was entitled to further workers’ compensation benefits. Ms. Hollis responded that her physician’s deposition had not yet been taken and that the employer’s motion was premature.
The trial court issued an order granting her motion and continuing the hearing on the employer’s motion for summary judgment in order for the employee to obtain her doctor’s deposition testimony. The employer appealed this order.
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.
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