CHARLES R. GOODWIN,
v.
MORRISTOWN DRIVER'S SERVICES, INC. ET AL.
No. E2019-01517-SC-R3-WC
Tennessee Workers Compensation
Supreme Court of Tennessee, Special Workers’ Compensation Appeals Panel, Knoxville
June 15, 2020
Session: February 24, 2020.
Mailed: March 27, 2020.
Appeal
from the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board Court of
Workers' Compensation Claims No. 2017-03-1235 Lisa A.
Lowe, Judge
A
Georgia resident, employed by a Tennessee company, filed a
workers' compensation claim in Georgia for an injury he
sustained in Tennessee. Later, the employee also filed a
workers' compensation claim in Tennessee for the same
injury. The Georgia State Board of Workers' Compensation
dismissed the Georgia claim for lack of subject matter
jurisdiction. The Tennessee Court of Workers'
Compensation Claims held that the employee's claim was
not barred based on the election of remedies doctrine. In a
split decision, the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board
reversed, holding that the employee's claim was barred
because he had first pursued a claim for benefits in Georgia.
We reverse and hold that the employee's Tennessee claim
is not barred because his Georgia claim had been dismissed
for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, and thus the
employee had no remedy to elect.
Tenn.
Code Ann. § 50-6-217(a)(2)(B) (2019 Supp.) Appeal as of
Right; Decision of the Workers'
Compensation Appeals Board Reversed; Case
Remanded to the Court of Workers' Compensation
Claims
John
A. Willis, Clinton, Tennessee, for the appellant, Charles R.
Goodwin.
Daniel
I. Hall and Brian J. Rife, Bristol, Tennessee, for the
appellees, Morristown Driver's Services, Inc. and
Cherokee Insurance Company.
Sharon
G. Lee, J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which
Robert E. Lee Da vies, Sr.J., and Kristi M. Davis, Sp.J.,
joined.
OPINION
SHARON
G. LEE, JUSTICE
I.
On
November 3, 2016, Charles R. Goodwin, a Georgia resident, was
injured in a motor vehicle accident while driving a truck in
Tennessee for Morristown Driver's Services, Inc., a
Tennessee corporation. Mr. Goodwin reported his injury to
Morristown Driver's Services, which filed a Tennessee
First Report of Injury and paid for Mr, Goodwin's
emergency medical treatment in Tennessee. Morristown
Driver's Services paid no additional benefits.
In
January 2017, Mr. Goodwin filed a claim seeking benefits with
the Georgia State Board of Workers' Compensation
("the Georgia Board"). Morristown Driver's
Services and its insurer, Cherokee Insurance Company
("the Defendants"), argued that the Georgia Board
did not have subject matter jurisdiction to hear the claim.
In October 2017, while continuing to pursue his claim in
Georgia, Mr. Goodwin filed a claim for workers'
compensation benefits in Tennessee, In January 2018, after
the parties had engaged in discovery, the Georgia Board held
a hearing and without addressing the merits, dismissed Mr.
Goodwin's claim for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.
The Georgia Board ruled that although Mr. Goodwin may have
received a conditional offer of employment by telephone while
he was in Georgia, the parties did not consummate the
employment contract until Mr. Goodwin traveled to Tennessee,
completed the necessary paperwork, and passed the road test.
About
six months after the Georgia Board dismissed his claim, Mr.
Goodwin filed an amended claim for workers' compensation
benefits in Tennessee. The Defendants moved for summary
judgment, asserting that the...