Lynch v. City of Jellico

• Decision Date: 30 August 2006
• Citation: 205 S.W.3d 384
• Parties: Jerry Wayne LYNCH v. CITY OF JELLICO, et al. David A. Lozano v. Lincoln Memorial University, et al.
• Court: Tennessee Supreme Court

Page 384

205 S.W.3d 384

Jerry Wayne LYNCH v. CITY OF JELLICO, et al.

David A. Lozano v. Lincoln Memorial University, et al.

Supreme Court of Tennessee, at Nashville.

June 8, 2006 Session.

August 30, 2006.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter, and Juan G. Villaseñor, Assistant Attorney General, for the Appellants, State of Tennessee and Attorney General Paul G. Summers.

Jennifer M. Caywood and Chris Myatt, Knoxville, Tennessee, for the Appellants, Lincoln Memorial University and St. Paul Travelers Insurance Company.

John T. Batson, Jr., and Hanson R. Tipton, Knoxville, Tennessee, for the Appellant City of Jellico.

David H. Dunaway, LaFollette, Tennessee, for the Appellees David A. Lozano and Jerry Wayne Lynch.

Andrew C. Clarke and R. Sadler Bailey, Memphis, Tennessee, for the Amicus Curiae, Tennessee Trial Lawyers Association.

OPINION

CORNELIA A. CLARK, J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which WILLIAM M. BARKER, C.J., E. RILEY ANDERSON, ADOLPHO A. BIRCH, JR., and JANICE M. HOLDER, JJ., joined.

In these consolidated workers' compensation appeals, we are asked to decide the constitutionality of various provisions of the Workers' Compensation Reform Act of 2004. Specifically at issue is whether the benefit review conference requirement embodied in Tennessee Code Annotated sections 50-6-203(a) (2005), 50-6-225(a)(1) (2005), and 50-6-239(b) (2005), violates the due process protections of the Tennessee or United States Constitutions, the separation of powers doctrine in article II, sections 1 and 2 of Tennessee's Constitution, or the open courts doctrine found in article I, section 17, of the Tennessee Constitution. Additionally, we are asked to decide whether the method used to determine permanent partial disability benefits, namely the multiplier provisions of Tennessee Code Annotated section 50-6-241(d)(1)(A) (2005) used in conjunction with the American Medical Association Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment ("AMA Guides"), violates equal protection; due process; the Tennessee Human Rights Act, Tennessee Code Annotated section 4-21-101 (2005); and the Tennessee Handicap Act, Tennessee Code Annotated section 8-50-103(a) (2002). The trial judge determined that each of these provisions of the Workers' Compensation Reform Act of 2004—the benefit review conference, the multiplier, and use of the AMA Guides—is unconstitutional. After carefully considering the record and relevant authority, we conclude that the trial judge erred. Accordingly, the trial court's judgments are reversed.

Factual and Procedural Background

The facts in these workers' compensation cases are few and, for purposes of this appeal, undisputed. On May 25, 2005, Jerry Wayne Lynch filed a workers' compensation action in the Campbell County Chancery Court against his employer, the City of Jellico, as well as the Second Injury Fund, the State of Tennessee, and Paul G. Summers in his capacity as Attorney General. The suit alleged that on February 21, 2005, the plaintiff discovered that he had work-related bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome for which he was entitled to workers' compensation benefits. The complaint also alleged that on March 29, 2005, the plaintiff was in the back of a dump truck removing a salt spreader at work when he fell out of the truck, injuring his neck and back.

On September 9, 2005, David A. Lozano filed a workers' compensation action in the Claiborne County Chancery Court against his employer, Lincoln Memorial University, and the employer's insurer, St. Paul Travelers Insurance Company. Also named as a defendant was Paul G. Summers in his capacity as Attorney General. The complaint alleged that the plaintiff was entitled to workers' compensation benefits for injuries suffered in a fall on the employer's premises on February 11, 2005. According to the complaint, the fall resulted in injuries to the plaintiff's arms, back, and legs.

Although the plaintiffs filed separate actions in separate courts, they both challenge the constitutionality of key provisions of the Workers' Compensation Reform Act of 2004, namely, the mandatory benefit review conference, the cap on benefits for permanent partial disability, and use of the AMA Guides to determine anatomical impairment. Specifically, the plaintiffs claim that the mandatory benefit review conference found in Tennessee Code Annotated sections 50-6-203(a), 50-6-225(a)(1), and 50-6-239(b), violates the due process protections of the Tennessee and United States Constitutions, the separation of powers doctrine in article II, sections 1 and 2 of Tennessee's Constitution, and the open courts doctrine embodied in article I, section 17, of the Tennessee Constitution, Supreme Court Rule 11(VII)(b), and Tennessee Code Annotated section 50-6-225. The plaintiffs also challenge the method used to determine permanent partial disability benefits, specifically the multiplier provisions of Tennessee Code Annotated section 50-6-241(d)(1)(A) and use of the AMA Guides to determine anatomical impairment. The plaintiffs claim that Tennessee Code Annotated section 50-6-241(d)(1)(A), which imposes a cap on permanent partial benefits of 1.5 times the employee's anatomical impairment rating if the employee returns to work at a greater or equal wage, used in conjunction with the AMA Guides to determine anatomical impairment, violates equal protection; due process; the Tennessee Human Rights Act ("THRA"), Tennessee Code Annotated section 4-21-101 (2005); and the Tennessee Handicap Act ("THA"), Tennessee Code Annotated section 8-50-103(a) (2002).

The plaintiffs each filed a motion for summary judgment on the constitutional questions. The State of Tennessee filed a motion for judgment on the pleadings in each case, contending that (1) the challenged statutes were constitutional, (2) the plaintiffs' claims should be dismissed because they failed to participate in the mandatory benefit review conference, and (3) the plaintiffs lacked standing. The employers in each case filed a motion to dismiss based on the plaintiffs' failure to exhaust the benefit review conference process.

The trial judge in both cases, Chancellor Billy Joe White, held that the mandatory benefit review conference violated the separation of powers doctrine in article II, sections 1 and 2, of Tennessee's Constitution; procedural and substantive due process under the state and federal constitutions; and the open courts doctrine embodied in article I, section 17, of Tennessee's Constitution, Supreme Court Rule 11(VII)(b),¹ and Tennessee Code Annotated section 50-6-225. The trial judge also found that the multiplier provisions contained in Tennessee Code Annotated section 50-6-241(d)(1)(A) violated equal protection and due process. Finally, the trial court struck down sections 50-6-241(a)(1), -241(b), and -241(c)—which require use of the AMA Guides to determine anatomical impairment—as violating equal protection, due process, the THRA, and the THA. Pursuant to Tennessee Rule of Civil Procedure 54.02, the trial court's order in each case was declared to be final "only as to the [plaintiffs'] constitutional claims adjudicated herein." Thus, the compensability of the plaintiffs' workers' compensation claims and the extent of their vocational disability, if any, have yet to be determined.

The defendant employers, along with the State of Tennessee, appealed the trial court's decision in each case. This Court subsequently consolidated and transferred the cases to the full Court prior to a hearing before the Special Workers' Compensation Appeals Panel. For the reasons explained below, we reverse the trial court's judgment in both cases.

Standard of Review

This appeal involves questions of law only. Therefore, the standard of review is de novo without any presumption of correctness given to the legal conclusions of the trial court. Taylor v. Fezell, 158 S.W.3d 352, 357 (Tenn.2005). Further, it is well-established in Tennessee that when considering the constitutionality of a statute, we start with a strong presumption that acts passed by the legislature are constitutional. See Osborn v. Marr, 127 S.W.3d 737, 740-41 (Tenn.2004). Indeed, "we must indulge every presumption and resolve every doubt in favor of constitutionality." Vogel v. Wells Fargo Guard Servs., 937 S.W.2d 856, 858 (Tenn.1996). Therefore, notwithstanding the trial judge's findings in the present case, we must begin our inquiry with the presumption that the statutes in question pass constitutional muster.

Likewise, it is well recognized that a facial challenge to a statute, such as that involved here, is "the most difficult challenge to mount successfully since the challenger must establish that no set of circumstances exist under which the Act would be valid." Davis-Kidd Booksellers, Inc. v. McWherter, 866 S.W.2d 520, 525 (Tenn.1993) (quoting United States v. Salerno, 481 U.S. 739, 745, 107 S.Ct. 2095, 95 L.Ed.2d 697 (1987)). Thus, the plaintiffs in this appeal have a heavy legal burden in challenging the constitutionality of the statutes in question.

Analysis

Introduction

The purpose of the Tennessee Workers' Compensation Law, which was originally enacted in 1919, is to relieve society of the burden of providing compensation to injured workers and to put that burden on the industry employing the worker. See Scott v. Nashville Bridge Co., 143 Tenn. 86, 223 S.W. 844, 849 (1920). Since its inception, Tennessee's workers' compensation system has been challenged a number of times without success. See Vogel, 937 S.W.2d 856; Brown v. Campbell County Bd. of Educ., 915 S.W.2d 407 (Tenn.1995); Kelley v. 3-M Co., 639 S.W.2d 437 (Tenn.1982); Nichols v. Benco Plastics, Inc., 225 Tenn. 334, 469 S.W.2d 135 (1971); Mitchell v. Usilton, 146 Tenn. 419, 242 S.W. 648 (1922); Vantrease v. Smith, 143 Tenn. 254, 227 S.W. 1023 (1921); Scott, 143 Tenn. 86, 223 S.W. 844.

In addition to surviving a number of...