Goodwin v. Morristown Driver's Services, Inc., 061520 TNWC, E2019-01517-SC-R3-WC

Case DateJune 15, 2020
CourtTennessee
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...

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