Attorney Jared S. Renfroe in our Memphis office recently obtained dismissals of two workers’ compensation claims in favor of the firm’s clients.
One claim involved an employee who received treatment for his alleged work-related injuries and was released to maximum medical improvement with a one percent permanent disability impairment rating. Because the employee refused Jared’s settlement offer, Jared proceeded to request a trial to ensure that the case did not continue to be delayed and remained on the court’s docket.
The employee failed to participate in status conferences set by the judge on several occasions, so Jared moved the court for a dismissal for failure to prosecute. Jared relied on the recent case of Carrie K. Lightfoot v. Xerox Business Services, et al. to argue that the dismissal should be with prejudice, and the judge agreed.
The judge held that Jared “demonstrated the effort reflective of a party attempting to efficiently process the movement of a claim through this Court, and the Court should not burden [the Employer] with further litigation costs in the absence of any demonstration of any similar effort on the part of [the Employee].” The employee did not appeal the ruling, so he is now barred from refiling the claim at a later date.
The other claim was before the court on a Show Cause hearing because the employee failed to request a hearing within 60 days of the issuance of the Dispute Certification Notice by the mediator, as required by Tennessee law. The employee also failed to appear for the Show Cause hearing despite receiving notice of the hearing. Jared moved the court again for dismissal of the claim for failure to prosecute. The motion was granted, and the case was dismissed.
Jared S. Renfroe is an attorney for Spicer Rudstrom PLLC. He focuses his legal practice on litigation throughout Tennessee. He concentrates primarily on premises liability, business and commercial representation, employment practices litigation, professional liability, insurance defense, and workers’ compensation.