Collins v. Howmet Corp.

• Decision Date: 08 June 1998
• Citation: 970 S.W.2d 941
• Parties: Brenda COLLINS, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. HOWMET CORPORATION, Defendant-Appellee.
• Court: Tennessee Supreme Court

Page 941

970 S.W.2d 941

Brenda COLLINS, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. HOWMET CORPORATION, Defendant-Appellee.

Supreme Court of Tennessee at Knoxville.

June 8, 1998.

Danny M. Hryhorchuk, Morristown, for Plaintiff-Appellant.

George R. Arrants, JR., Knoxville, for Defendant-Appellee.

OPINION

BIRCH, Justice.

In this workers' compensation action, the employer, Howmet Corporation, appealed from a judgment of the Circuit Court of Hamblen County finding that the employee, Brenda Collins, sustained a seventy percent permanent vocational disability to the body as a whole due to a work-related back injury. The case was referred to the Special Workers' Compensation Appeals Panel for findings of fact and conclusions of law, pursuant to Tenn.Code Ann. § 50-6-225(e)(5). The Panel reduced the award from seventy percent permanent vocational disability to fifty percent. In doing so the Panel stated only: "[f]rom our examination of the record and a consideration of the pertinent factors in this case, the panel finds the evidence to preponderate against an award based on seventy percent and in favor of one based on fifty percent to the body as a whole." We find the Panel's statement is insufficient to provide a meaningful basis for its ruling. In the future, if a Panel recommends modification or reversal of an award of the trial court, it should set out in detail its reasons and make appropriate findings of fact and conclusions of law.

The employee sought full Court review of the Panel's ruling. We granted the motion in order to review the Panel's ruling that the evidence preponderates against the trial court's award of seventy percent vocational disability. After carefully examining the record before us and considering the relevant authorities, we find that the evidence does not preponderate against the trial court's award.

The employee, who was forty-three years old at the time of trial, had obtained a high school equivalency certificate (GED), and had completed approximately sixty credit hours at Walters State Community College. Additionally, she had obtained a license to sell real estate in 1990 and had sold real estate part-time for approximately six months. The license is now in inactive status. The remainder of her employment history consists of production and assembly work, as well as positions as waitress and cashier.

At the time of the injury which precipitated this suit, the employee operated heavy machinery which made wax patterns for jet engine parts. This required her to push cast iron molds from a table to the machinery and then pull them back to the table again. She described the job as requiring "constant reaching and bending."

On March 31, 1992, while on the job, the employee felt a "sharp" pain in her lower back. Within days, she was experiencing pain and numbness in her left leg and, eventually, in both legs. She continued working sporadically until she was laid off in October 1992; she has not worked since. Although the employer offered her different duties within the plant, she felt that performance of those duties was beyond her medical restrictions. Also, she was concerned about having to operate dangerous machinery while in pain and under the influence of medication.

The employee testified at trial that she suffers from severe and constant pain, as well as depression. She has trouble concentrating and finds it difficult to cook, sleep, drive, walk, or shop. She has become withdrawn and depends on others to perform many of her household responsibilities. Several witnesses supported the employee's testimony regarding the effect her injury has had on her.

The employee was treated for her back and leg problems by Steven Sanders, M.D., a neurosurgeon. Sanders found bulging discs at three levels of the employee's spine. His diagnosis was "mechanical low back pain," and he felt that she was not a candidate for surgical intervention. He assigned a permanent anatomical impairment rating of nine percent to the body as a whole and restricted her from lifting more than eighteen pounds or remaining in one position for more than an hour at a time. Sanders opined that the employee could not return to her previous job, but could do sedentary light work consistent with her restrictions.

The employee was also seen by William Kennedy, M.D., an orthopedic surgeon. Kennedy's diagnosis was "chronic low back syndrome"; he attributed this condition to the injury occurring at work on March 31, 1992. He assigned a permanent anatomical impairment rating of fourteen percent. Kennedy recommended that her future employment be "light" and that she refrain from repetitive bending, stooping, squatting, pulling, pushing, or climbing. He also recommended that she change positions every thirty minutes and lift no more than twenty pounds occasionally or seven pounds frequently. Kennedy did not anticipate that the employee could return to production-type work.

In addition to the medical proof, two vocational disability experts testified at trial. The first, Julian Nadolsky, Ed.D., testified that based solely on the restrictions placed on the employee by Sanders and Kennedy, the employee would be fifty-eight percent vocationally disabled. However, based upon his interview with the employee and examination of her records, Nadolsky determined that she is one hundred...