Summary
This Tennessee Workers' Compensation Appeals Board memorandum opinion affirms a trial court's grant of summary judgment in favor of an employer in a workers' compensation dispute. The board found that the self-represented employee failed to submit admissible medical evidence establishing that his ongoing symptoms were primarily caused by his workplace electrical injury, as required under Tennessee law. Additionally, the board deemed the appeal frivolous due to the employee's failure to comply with procedural deadlines and evidentiary rules, though it declined to award attorney's fees.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether the trial court erred in granting summary judgment on the issue of medical causation under Rule 56 of the Tennessee Rules of Civil Procedure.
Holdings
- The Board affirmed the trial court’s grant of summary judgment, finding that the employer presented expert opinions establishing that the employee’s medical complaints were not primarily caused by the work injury and that the employee failed to produce admissible proof to create a genuine issue of material fact.
Key quotations
““Stated another way, a frivolous appeal is one that . . . had no reasonable chance of succeeding.”” (*11)
““[a] significant cardiac arrhythmia over two and half years from the electric shock injury would be unlikely.”” (*6)
Factual background
Employee Jerry Yarbough, an electrician, suffered electrical burns in May 2019. Multiple medical experts concluded that his subsequent complaints were not more than 50% caused by the work injury and that he was at maximum medical improvement. The employee did not submit admissible medical proof to contest the employer’s summary‑judgment motion.
Procedural history
The trial court granted the employer’s motion for summary judgment after the employee failed to respond and presented no admissible medical proof of causation. The employee appealed the decision to the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board.