BRENDA MERRIWEATHER
v.
UGN, INC., ET AL.,
No. W2018-02094-SC-R3-WC
Tennessee Workers Compensation
Supreme Court of Tennessee, Special Workers’ Compensation Appeals Panel, Memphis
January 28, 2020
Session: October 21, 2019
Mailed
December 16, 2019
Appeal
from the Chancery Court for Madison County No. 74856 James F.
Butler, Chancellor.
Brenda
Merriweather (“Employee”) alleged she injured her
left knee in the course and scope of her employment with UGN,
Inc. (“Employer”). Following the trial, the trial
court determined Employee did not satisfy her burden of
proving causation and therefore dismissed the case. Employee
appeals. The appeal has been referred to the Special
Workers’ Compensation Appeals Panel for a hearing and a
report of findings of fact and conclusions of law pursuant to
Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 51. We affirm the trial
court’s judgment.
Tenn.
Code Ann. § 50-6-225(e) (2014) (applicable to injuries
occurring prior to July 1, 2014) Appeal as of Right; Judgment
of the Chancery Court Affirmed.
Christopher L. Taylor, Memphis, Tennessee, for the appellant,
Brenda Merriweather
Hailey
H. David, Jackson, Tennessee, for the appellees, UGN, Inc.
and Travelers Indemnity Company.
Don R.
Ash, Sr.J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which
Holly Kirby, J., and Robert E. Lee Davies, Sr.J., joined.
OPINION
DON R.
ASH, SENIOR JUDGE.
Factual
and Procedural Background
Employee,
age 64 at the time of trial, began working at Employer
through an employment agency in 2012 and was hired in April
2013. Her job, which involved making automobile parts, was
fast-paced. According to Employee, due to oil on the floor,
she would “sometimes” slip and slide and then
twist or hit her knee. Her knee started to hurt from hitting
it. She complained to her supervisor about the pain and
visited Physician’s Quality Care where she was
diagnosed with arthritis and given medication.
In
January 2014, Employee determined she could no longer work
due to pain. When she completed Family Medical Leave Act
forms on January 29, 2014, she did not indicate her knee
problem was work-related. After she had received the results
of an MRI and scheduled surgery on her left knee with Dr.
Alan Pechacek,1 Employee, in February 2014, contacted
Employer regarding workers’ compensation benefits.
Employer asked her to delay the surgery so she could be
provided with a panel of physicians per the workers’
compensation protocol. She declined to delay the surgery and
never returned to Employer.
Employee
received short-term disability benefits from January 31, 2014
to May 2, 2014, and long-term disability benefits thereafter
until May 1, 2016. By letter dated September 28, 2016,
Employer asked Employee to respond whether she wanted to
return...
