Mitchell, Dwight v. Randstad North America

2017 TN WC App. 2
CourtTennessee Workers' Compensation Appeals Board
DecidedJanuary 13, 2017
Docket2015-06-0954; 2015-06-0955
StatusPublished

This text of 2017 TN WC App. 2 (Mitchell, Dwight v. Randstad North America) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Tennessee Workers' Compensation Appeals Board primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Mitchell, Dwight v. Randstad North America, 2017 TN WC App. 2 (Tenn. Super. Ct. 2017).

Opinion

TENNESSEE BUREAU OF WORKERS’ COMPENSATION WORKERS’ COMPENSATION APPEALS BOARD

Dwight Mitchell ) Docket No. 2015-06-0954 ) 2015-06-0955 v. ) ) State File No. 88416-2015 Randstad North America, et al. ) 88417-2015 ) ) Appeal from the Court of Workers’ ) Compensation Claims, ) Kenneth M. Switzer, Chief Judge )

Affirmed and Certified as Final — Filed January 13, 2017

In this second appeal of this case, the employee contests the trial court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the employer. The employee had asserted a claim for workers’ compensation benefits arising from an alleged work injury dated prior to July 1, 2014, and also filed petitions with the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation alleging aggravations or injuries occurring after July 1, 2014. The parties entered into a settlement agreement that was approved by the Davidson County Circuit Court, which purported to resolve the original injury as well as alleged aggravations of that injury and the employee was paid $25,000. Following an expedited hearing, the Court of Workers’ Compensation Claims denied the employee’s request for additional benefits arising from the alleged post-July 1, 2014 events and we affirmed. Subsequently, the employer filed a motion for summary judgment, arguing there were no genuine issues of material fact and the employer was entitled to judgment as a matter of law. The trial court granted the employer’s motion and dismissed the employee’s claim with prejudice. The employee has appealed. Having carefully reviewed the record, we affirm the trial court’s decision and certify the order as final.

Judge Timothy W. Conner delivered the opinion of the Appeals Board in which Presiding Judge Marshall L. Davidson, III, joined. Judge David F. Hensley dissented.

Dwight Mitchell, Madison, Tennessee, employee-appellant, pro se

W. Troy Hart, Knoxville, Tennessee, for the employer-appellee, Randstad North America

1 Factual and Procedural Background

Dwight Mitchell (“Employee”), a fifty-four-year-old resident of Davidson County, Tennessee, alleged injuries to multiple body parts as the result of an accident on April 9, 2014, while working for Randstad North America (“Employer”). Employer provided medical and temporary disability benefits as a result of that claim. Employee alleged subsequent aggravations of his condition as a result of incidents on September 23, 2014, while working light duty, and on March 12, 2015, while participating in physical therapy.1 Employee filed petitions with the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation on November 13, 2015, seeking benefits for the alleged aggravating events.

On November 25, 2015, the parties appeared before the Davidson County Circuit Court for presentation of a joint petition for approval of a settlement agreement. The court approved the settlement in a final decree entered the same day. The joint petition stated that Employee sustained injuries to his back, neck, legs, arms, head, hips, and chest in a work-related accident on April 9, 2014. It also described the alleged aggravations of these injuries that occurred on September 23, 2014 and March 12, 2015, which were the same injuries alleged in the petitions filed in the present case. The decree approving the parties’ settlement agreement reflects that Employee had accepted a lump sum payment of $25,000 for “full, final and complete settlement and discharge of [Employer] and its insurer from any further liability to [Employee] for any claimed medical condition or disability . . . by reason of said alleged accident or aggravations.” (Emphasis added.) The decree further provided that Employer would not be responsible for any “past, present or future medical expenses” related to the alleged injuries. The joint petition indicated the parties’ agreement that “there is always the possibility of later manifestations of injury, further and additional disability and resulting medical expenses, nonetheless, in consideration of the foregoing possibility or probability, all parties enter into this settlement agreement in lieu of any other workers’ compensation . . . benefits.”

After the Davidson County Circuit Court entered the decree approving the parties’ settlement on November 25, 2015, Employee continued to pursue benefits arising from the alleged aggravating events that were part of the $25,000 settlement. Employer denied it was liable for any additional benefits, asserting that Employee had settled all such claims as part of the circuit court settlement. Employee filed a request for expedited hearing in the Court of Workers’ Compensation Claims. Following a hearing, the trial court denied benefits, finding Employee had failed to present sufficient proof he would likely prevail at a hearing on the merits. We affirmed in an opinion dated August 11, 2016, stating:

1 Because of the procedural posture of this case, the record is vague with respect to the extent or nature of Employee’s alleged injuries or the incidents giving rise to them. 2 To the extent Employee alleges that he suffered distinct, compensable injuries on September 23, 2014 and March 12, 2015 for which he is owed benefits under post-reform statutes, there is nothing in the record beyond Employee’s bare allegations supporting such a claim. To the extent Employee alleges that he suffered aggravations on September 23, 2014 and March 12, 2015 entitling him to additional benefits under pre-reform law and that the parties’ court-approved settlement should be set aside, such arguments should be addressed to the Davidson County Circuit Court. We note that prior to this action, Employee characterized the incidents at issue as aggravations of the April 9, 2014 injury, and they were specifically addressed in the parties’ court-approved settlement.

Thereafter, Employer filed a motion for summary judgment, accompanied by a memorandum of law and a statement of undisputed material facts, asserting that it was entitled to judgment as a matter of law due to Employee’s having settled the very claims for which he is now seeking benefits. After another hearing, the trial court granted Employer’s motion for summary judgment, finding Employee’s response to be insufficient pursuant to Rule 56 of the Tennessee Rules of Civil Procedure. The trial court dismissed Employee’s claim with prejudice, and Employee appealed. We again affirm the trial court’s decision.

Standard of Review

The standard we apply in reviewing a trial court’s decision is statutorily mandated and limited in scope. Specifically, “[t]here shall be a presumption that the findings and conclusions of the workers’ compensation judge are correct, unless the preponderance of the evidence is otherwise.” Tenn. Code Ann. § 50-6-239(c)(7) (2015). The trial court’s decision may be reversed or modified if the rights of a party “have been prejudiced because findings, inferences, conclusions, or decisions of a workers’ compensation judge:

(A) Violate constitutional or statutory provisions; (B) Exceed the statutory authority of the workers’ compensation judge; (C) Do not comply with lawful procedure; (D) Are arbitrary, capricious, characterized by abuse of discretion, or clearly an unwarranted exercise of discretion; or (E) Are not supported by evidence that is both substantial and material in the light of the entire record.”

Tenn. Code Ann. § 50-6-217(a)(3) (2015). However, a trial court’s ruling on a motion for summary judgment is reviewed de novo, with no presumption of correctness. See Wallis v. Brainerd Baptist Church, No. E2015-01827-SC-R11-CV, __ S.W.3d __, 2016 Tenn. LEXIS 920, at *17 (Tenn. Dec. 22, 2016).

3 Analysis

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Bluebook (online)
2017 TN WC App. 2, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mitchell-dwight-v-randstad-north-america-tennworkcompapp-2017.