Summary
The Supreme Court of Tennessee reviewed a workers' compensation dispute involving the calculation of average weekly wages and the extent of permanent disability for bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome. The court held that eight weeks of leave for unrelated sickness or disability, including short-term disability benefits received during that period, must be excluded from the wage calculation. It reinstated the trial court's disability findings, averaged the separate arm awards into a single 47.5% award for loss of two arms, and adopted the appellate panel's modification concerning the shoulder injuries.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether an appellee must file a separate notice of appeal to obtain review of an additional issue properly raised in the trial court and in the appellee's responsive brief.
- Whether days during an eight-week leave of absence for unrelated sickness or disability, and short-term disability benefits received during that leave, must be excluded from the average weekly wage calculation.
- Whether the employer could set off short-term disability benefits paid for injuries unrelated to the workers' compensation injuries.
- Whether the evidence supported the trial court's permanent disability awards of 50% to the left arm and 45% to the right arm.
- Whether separate awards for the loss of both arms should be combined and averaged into a single scheduled-member award.
Holdings
- When one party properly perfects an appeal, the opposing party need not file a separate notice of appeal to obtain review of additional issues properly raised in the trial court and in a responsive brief.
- Days during which an employee did not work because of sickness or disability must be excluded from the average weekly wage calculation, and short-term disability benefits received during those days must also be excluded.
- Tennessee Code Annotated section 50-6-114(b) does not permit an employer to set off disability benefits paid for an injury unrelated to the injury for which workers' compensation is sought.
- The evidence did not preponderate against the trial court's awards of 50% permanent disability to the left arm and 45% to the right arm.
- The loss of both arms constitutes one scheduled-member injury requiring a single award, so the 50% and 45% arm awards must be averaged into one award of 47.5%.
Key quotations
“The statute does not contain an exception for those days in which the employee did not work due to illness or disability but received disability benefits from the employer.” (472)
“An employer could provide an employee with a trivial amount of disability benefits during "lost" days for the purpose of reducing the average weekly wage.” (473)
“We further conclude that the trial court and the Panel erred in making separate awards for the loss of each arm.” (475-476)
Factual background
Ruth Cantrell developed carpal tunnel syndrome in both arms while employed by Carrier and reported both injuries on July 30, 1999. During the fifty-two weeks preceding that date, she was absent from work for eight weeks because of unrelated sickness or disability and received short-term disability benefits of $220 per week. After surgeries on both wrists, she had permanent restrictions, including limitations involving gripping, squeezing, and lifting, and Carrier had no available job within those restrictions. The trial court credited evidence concerning her impairment, vocational limitations, medical ratings, and inability to return to work.
Procedural history
Cantrell sought workers' compensation benefits for bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome and related injuries. The trial court awarded compensation for injuries to her right arm, left arm, left thumb, and shoulders, calculated her average weekly wage using the fifty-two weeks preceding the injury, and awarded 50% permanent disability to the left arm and 45% to the right arm. The Special Workers' Compensation Appeals Panel reduced the arm awards to 35% and 20% and declined to address the compensation-rate issue because Cantrell had not filed a separate notice of appeal. The Tennessee Supreme Court adopted the Panel's shoulder findings, rejected its remaining findings, affirmed the trial court's arm disability percentages, modified the separate arm awards into one 47.5% award, and remanded.
Remand instructions
Remand for further proceedings consistent with the opinion, including exclusion of the eight weeks of leave and unrelated disability benefits from the average weekly wage calculation and entry of a single 47.5% scheduled-member award for loss of two arms. The Panel's modification concerning the shoulder injuries was adopted.