By Courtney S. Paterson
Torey Andrews v. Yates Services, LLC, et al.
Docket No. 2016-05-0854
State File No. 58300-2016
Filed May 23, 2017
Posture
This is a case before the Appeals Board on an interlocutory appeal filed by the employee, and the dispute of if the employer would pay the employee’s attorney’s fees and expenses.
The employee, Torey Andrews, alleged suffering an injury to his back on July 21, 2016, while installing windows in car doors as part of an assembly line. The employer, Yates Services, LLC, initially accepted the claim and provided a panel of physicians but, after receiving a medical opinion indicating that his injury was not compensable, denied additional benefits. Mr. Andrews sought medical treatment on his own and obtained a medical opinion that his injury arose primarily from his employment.
Following an expedited hearing, the trial court accepted the opinion of the employee’s physician and ordered temporary disability benefits and additional medical benefits. He then filed a motion for attorney’s fees and expenses. The trial court denied that motion and found that Yates Services’ actions were reasonable under the circumstances.
The Appeals Board vacated the trial court’s decision, finding the issue premature. It did not determine the meaning of the statute’s language or its proper application, but the determination of attorney’s fees and expenses is not ripe at this stage of the case.
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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