GOAD, KATHY v. CAPSTONE LOGISTICS, LLC

CourtTennessee Court of Workers' Compensation Claims
DecidedApril 21, 2026
Docket2023-05-7741
StatusPublished

This text of GOAD, KATHY v. CAPSTONE LOGISTICS, LLC (GOAD, KATHY v. CAPSTONE LOGISTICS, LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Tennessee Court of Workers' Compensation Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
GOAD, KATHY v. CAPSTONE LOGISTICS, LLC, (Tenn. Super. Ct. 2026).

Opinion

FILED Apr 21, 2026 08:00 AM(CT) TENNESSEE COURT OF WORKERS' COMPENSATION CLAIMS

TENNESSEE BUREAU OF WORKERS’ COMPENSATION IN THE COURT OF WORKERS’ COMPENSATION CLAIMS AT MURFREESBORO

KATHY GOAD, Docket No. 2023-05-7741 Employee, v. CAPSTONE LOGISTICS, LLC, State File No. 73552-2023 Employer, and XL INS. AMERICA, INC., Judge Dale Tipps Carrier.

EXPEDITED HEARING ORDER GRANTING BENEFITS

The Court held an Expedited Hearing on April 14, 2026, on Ms. Goad’s request for additional temporary disability and medical benefits. For the reasons below, the Court holds she is likely to prevail at a final hearing that she is entitled to continuing medical treatment, including the surgery ordered by Dr. John Burleson, but not to temporary partial disability benefits.

Claim History

Ms. Goad was working for Capstone on September 27, 2023, when a towmotor pushed a pallet into the back of her legs, causing her to fall backward and land in a sitting position on some cardboard on the pallet. She reported back pain, and Capstone sent her to an urgent care clinic that day.

The physician’s assistant at the clinic prescribed an anti-inflammatory and a muscle relaxant and assigned light-duty restrictions. Ms. Goad returned to the clinic several times over the next month before she was referred to an orthopedic specialist.

Ms. Goad’s first two selections from the orthopedic panel refused to see her, so instead of requesting a new panel, she selected Dr. Burleson to avoid further delay.

1 At her first visit in January 2024, she told him about suffering immediate sharp pain in her back when “she was hit by a towmotor” at work. Ms. Goad also reported developing some radicular symptoms in her leg. An MRI showed L4/5 grade 1 spondylolisthesis, and Dr. Burleson felt it likely that “was made worse with her accident.” He continued her restrictions and suggested epidural steroid injections. When those were unsuccessful, Dr. Burleson recommended anterior lumbar interbody fusion surgery, as she had “a disc bulge that is placing pressure on her nerves causing . . . significant radiculopathy.”

Capstone then sent Dr. Burleson two medical questionnaires. The first asked whether Ms. Goad’s spine problems were more than 50% related to her work accident. Dr. Burleson selected “no” and explained that some of her symptoms, such as her back pain, were mainly related to her accident. But he attributed her need for fusion as greater than 75% related to her “chronic, degenerative condition.” He also answered “no” to whether a lumbar fusion was more than 50% related to the work injury.

Dr. Burleson’s later notes show that surgery was not approved. He continued, however, to recommend the operation over the next few months. In January 2025, Dr. Burleson explained, “I do believe she had a work injury which made her chronic back condition symptomatic.” Following a functional capacity evaluation, he determined she reached maximum medical improvement on March 11 and assigned a permanent impairment rating.

Capstone sent another medical questionnaire to Dr. Burleson in June. Asked whether he still believed Ms. Goad’s need for lumbar fusion was not more than 50% related to her work accident, he responded, “yes.” He also indicated that none of her future treatment was more than 50% related to the work injury.

Ms. Goad began seeing Dr. Melvin Law, an unauthorized orthopedic surgeon. The only treatment record from Dr. Law entered into evidence is an office note of July 23, 2025. He diagnosed spondylolisthesis at L4-5 with significant moderate to severe lateral recess stenosis and recommended anterior lumbar interbody fusion.

In response to a letter from Ms. Goad’s attorney, Dr. Law wrote that because Ms. Goad denied having any back problems or pain before her work accident, she likely suffered an annular tear. This made her spondylolisthesis unstable and caused her to become symptomatic. Dr. Law also executed a Form C-32 Standard Form Medical Report in which he described the mechanism of injury as a “fall after being 2 hit by a tow motor at work.” He believed her work accident was primarily responsible for both advancing her pre-existing condition and the present need for treatment of that condition.

Dr. Burleson testified via deposition that a video of the accident did not change his opinion. His initial impression of Ms. Goad’s injury was based on her description of being hit by a towmotor. After reviewing the video, the incident was less violent than he originally thought. However, it did not materially change his opinion, and he reiterated that Ms. Goad’s need for fusion surgery was not more than 50% related to her work injury. He explained, “[A]fter seeing the mechanism [of injury] again, I don’t think there was enough in that injury to worsen her spine to cause the symptoms that she’s having.” Dr. Burleson also thought Dr. Law’s suggestion of an annular tear was speculation and that the MRI did not indicate one.

On cross-examination, Dr. Burleson agreed that Ms. Goad reported her symptoms had begun immediately after the accident. He also said that her nerve roots were not causing symptoms before the accident and that Ms. Goad would not need surgery at this time if she were asymptomatic.

Dr. Burleson was asked about his January 14, 2025 note, where he wrote:

I believe the majority of her need for surgery is due to her chronic low back condition and not her work injury. I do think the work injury is greater than 50% responsible for the symptoms she experienced after the injury and therefore the immediate treatment. However, I do not believe that the need for surgery is mainly from this work injury.

This led to the following exchange:

Q. Again, asymptomatic before the accident, right? A. Yes, sir. Q. Immediately became symptomatic, correct? A. Correct. Q. Symptomatic because of the aggravation of a pre-existing condition? A. I think that’s fair to say. Q. And it was only the accident that aggravated the pre- existing condition, right? A. I believe that’s correct.

3 Finally, Dr. Burleson was shown a notation in the clinic records that read, “Has injured her back years ago but no prior back surgery.” He said that did not affect his causation opinions.

Based on Ms. Goad’s Rule 72 Declaration and her testimony, she injured her back while working for another employer sometime before 2005 that caused pain in her shoulders. She sought treatment through her health insurance but received no surgery, injections, or physical therapy. Instead, she worked a period of light duty before returning to her regular duties, after which the symptoms disappeared, and she had no problems for 20 years.

Ms. Goad worked for two to three years at Capstone, packing cookies and biscuits on a production line. She could do her job with no limitations, no injuries, and no lumbar spine symptoms until the accident in September 2023.

Ms. Goad’s description of the accident was inconsistent. She previously described being hit by the towmotor or being hit by the pallet the towmotor was carrying. However, she testified during the hearing that she was standing and working at a table when a pallet on the floor behind her struck her in the back of the legs, which caused her to fall backward. She was unable to catch herself, and she landed on the pallet in a seated position. As soon as she fell, Ms. Goad felt severe low back pain. Her leg pain, which she had never had before, began a few weeks later.

While receiving medical treatment, Ms. Goad continued working light duty until October 1, 2024, when Capstone could no longer accommodate her restrictions. She then began receiving full temporary disability benefits that continued until Dr. Burleson determined she had achieved maximum medical improvement.

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Related

§ 50-6-239
Tennessee § 50-6-239

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GOAD, KATHY v. CAPSTONE LOGISTICS, LLC, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/goad-kathy-v-capstone-logistics-llc-tennworkcompcl-2026.