Summary
The Tennessee Workers' Compensation Appeals Board reviews an employer's appeal challenging a trial court's order compelling authorization for a second medical opinion and awarding attorneys' fees. The Board holds the appeal in abeyance because the trial court's compensation order left the attorneys' fee issue unresolved pending additional evidence, which extends the appeal deadline under Tennessee Rules of Civil Procedure 52.02 and 59.01. Additionally, the Board vacates the fee award to require the trial court to apply the correct legal standard following a 2023 statutory amendment that changed the threshold from "wrongfully" to "unreasonably."
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether the employer’s appeal was timely under Tennessee Rule of Civil Procedure 52.02 and 59.01.
- Whether the trial court’s compensation order is incomplete and should be vacated in part and remanded for additional findings on attorneys’ fees.
- Whether the amendment to Tenn. Code Ann. §50‑6‑226(d)(1) requiring the term “unreasonably” instead of “wrongfully” affects the employee’s entitlement to attorneys’ fees.
Holdings
- The appeal was timely because filing a motion pursuant to Rule 52.02 extends the time for filing a notice of appeal under Rule 59.01.
- The trial court’s order is vacated in part and the case is remanded for the trial court to make additional findings on the attorneys’ fees claim and to apply the correct legal standard after the 2023 amendment.
- The board vacates the portion of the trial court’s order that did not consider the amended statutory language and remands for analysis under the current version of the statute.
Key quotations
“Under these circumstances, and looking to substance over form, we conclude that Employee’s motion for discretionary costs and Employer’s response in opposition to this motion sought additional findings of fact and conclusions of law pursuant to Rule 52.02 concerning whether Dr. West’s fees for reviewing medical records and conducting a physical examination of Employee were recoverable costs.” (*11)
“We therefore vacate the trial court’s order to the extent it did not include an analysis of the correct legal standard in assessing the employee’s entitlement to an award of attorneys’ fees given the 2023 amendment to subsection 226(d)(1)(B).” (*16-17)
Factual background
Ms. McCool was injured in a parking‑lot assault in 2019. The parties settled in 2023, leaving future medical expenses subject to Tenn. Code Ann. §50‑6‑204. In 2024 a treating physician recommended additional surgery; the employer’s insurer authorized it. Ms. McCool requested a second‑opinion examination, which the employer refused. She filed a petition seeking a court order for a second opinion and attorneys’ fees. The trial court ordered the employer to provide the second opinion and instructed the employee’s counsel to submit a motion for additional evidence on fees.
Procedural history
The trial court issued a Compensation Order on April 23, 2025, ordering the employer to authorize a second‑opinion examination and directing the employee’s attorney to file a motion for additional evidence on attorneys’ fees. The employee filed the motion on May 5, 2025; the trial court has not ruled on it. The employer filed a notice of appeal sixteen days after the order. The Appeals Board considered the timeliness of the appeal and the incompleteness of the trial court’s order.
Remand instructions
The trial court shall address the pending motion for additional evidence, make additional findings of fact and conclusions of law regarding the attorneys’ fees claim, and apply the correct legal standard under the amended Tenn. Code Ann. §50‑6‑226(d)(1).