Pamela Pryor v. City of Memphis

CourtCourt of Appeals of Tennessee
DecidedJanuary 31, 2020
DocketW2018-01353-COA-R3-CV
StatusPublished

This text of Pamela Pryor v. City of Memphis (Pamela Pryor v. City of Memphis) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Tennessee primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Pamela Pryor v. City of Memphis, (Tenn. Ct. App. 2020).

Opinion

01/31/2020 IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF TENNESSEE AT JACKSON November 12, 2019 Session

PAMELA PRYOR v. CITY OF MEMPHIS

Appeal from the Chancery Court for Shelby County No. CH-17-1493-2 Jim Kyle, Chancellor ___________________________________

No. W2018-01353-COA-R3-CV ___________________________________

This appeal involves Appellant City of Memphis’ (“the City”) decision to deny Appellee Pamela Pryor’s application for On-the-Job-Injury (“OJI”) benefits arising from the death of her husband while he was employed as a firefighter. On appeal, the Administrative Law Judge (“ALJ”) upheld the City’s denial of the OJI claim citing the absence of an autopsy report as required by the City’s OJI policy. On review, the trial court reversed the ALJ’s decision on its finding that the City’s OJI Policy PM 74-02(3), which required claimant to procure an autopsy, conflicted with the statutory presumption given firefighters in Tennessee Code Annotated section 7-51-201, and remanded the case to the ALJ to conduct a new hearing on the merits. Discerning no error, we affirm and remand.

Tenn. R. App. P. 3 Appeal as of Right; Judgment of the Chancery Court Affirmed and Remanded

KENNY ARMSTRONG, J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which D. MICHAEL SWINEY, C.J., and J. STEVEN STAFFORD, P.J., W.S., joined.

Van D. Turner, Jr., Memphis, Tennessee, for the appellant, City of Memphis.

Kevin A. Snider, Joshua B. Bradley, Germantown, Tennessee, for the appellee, Pamela Pryor. OPINION

I. Background

Appellee Pamela Pryor is the widow of former Memphis Firefighter, Lieutenant Terrance Pryor. Lieutenant Pryor died on May 25, 2015, while employed by Appellant City of Memphis (“the City”). At the time of his death, Lieutenant Pryor had been employed by the City since October 9, 1995. At the time of hire, Lieutenant Pryor underwent a physical examination that did not reveal signs of hypertension or heart disease. On May 24, 2015, at 7:00 a.m., Lieutenant Pryor began a 24-hour shift, which concluded at 7:00 a.m. on May 25, 2015. During his 24-hour shift, Lieutenant Pryor responded to five fire calls as a battalion chief. His duties as a battalion chief did not include physical firefighting; he managed the calls from a command post vehicle. Lieutenant Pryor arrived home around 8:00 a.m. on May 25, 2015 and died later that day, at approximately 5:45 p.m. The death certificate notes that Lieutenant Pryor was hypertensive and states that the cause of death was “complications of obesity.”

On or about June 9, 2015, Ms. Pryor submitted an On-the-Job-Injury (“OJI”) claim for death benefits. By letter of August 28, 2015, the City, through its third-party administrator, Sedgwick Claims Management Services, denied Ms. Pryor’s claim. As set out in the denial letter, OJI Policy PM 74-02(3) states that, “No death claim will be considered without an autopsy report.” It is undisputed that no autopsy was performed on Lieutenant Pryor. On or about September 29, 2015, Ms. Pryor filed an appeal. On August 16, 2017, Administrative Law Judge (“ALJ”) George Brown conducted an administrative hearing, and, by order of September 13, 2017, denied Ms. Pryor’s OJI claim because, inter alia, an autopsy was never performed as required under OJI Policy PM 74-02(3).

On October 12, 2017, Ms. Pryor filed a petition for judicial review in the Shelby County Chancery Court (“trial court”). On May 23, 2018, the City filed a response, and the appeal was heard on May 24, 2018. On June 25, 2018, the trial court entered an order voiding the City’s OJI Policy PM 74-02(3) on its finding that the policy, which requires an autopsy for payment of OJI benefits, was in direct conflict with Tennessee Code Annotated section 7-51-201 (“the Statute”), which provides a presumption that the death of a firefighter caused by hypertension or heart disease occurred in the line of duty and in the course of employment. The trial court remanded the case to the ALJ for a new hearing on the merits with specific instructions that there be no proof concerning the City’s OJI Policy PM 74-02(3) and that said policy should not influence the proceedings in any way. The City appeals.

II. Issues

The City raises two issues on appeal, which we restate as follows: -2- 1. Whether the trial court erred when it found that OJI Policy PM 74-02(3) is in conflict with the Statute and is, therefore, null and void.

2. Whether the trial court erred when it remanded the case to the ALJ for a new hearing on the merits.

In the posture of Appellee, Ms. Pryor asserts that the trial court correctly found that OJI Policy PM 74-02(3) is in conflict with the Statute; however, she, too, asserts that the trial court erred in remanding the case to the ALJ for rehearing. Based on her contention that the trial court could have reviewed the ALJ’s substantive holdings, Ms. Pryor raises the following additional issues:

1. Whether Ms. Pryor met the prerequisites of the Statute, thereby establishing a prima facie case under the presumption and shifting the burden of proof to the City.

2. Whether the City successfully rebutted the presumption by affirmatively showing by competent medical evidence, that there was not a substantial causal connection between Lieutenant Pryor’s work as a firefighter and the condition or impairment that resulted in his death.

3. In the alternative, if the City successfully rebutted the presumption, whether Ms. Pryor proved causation by a preponderance of the evidence.

III. Standard of Review

Like the trial court, our review of the ALJ’s decision is governed by the Uniform Administrative Procedures Act (“UAPA”). Tenn. Code Ann. § 27-9-114 (a)(1); Pittman v. City of Memphis, 360 S.W.3d 382, 386 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2011); City of Memphis v. Civil Serv. Comm’n of Memphis, 238 S.W.3d 238, 242 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2007). The UAPA provides, in pertinent part:

(a)(1) A person who is aggrieved by a final decision in a contested case is entitled to judicial review under this chapter, which shall be the only available method of judicial review. . . .

***

(h) The court may affirm the decision of the agency or remand the case for further proceedings. The court may reverse or modify the decision if the rights of the petitioner have been prejudiced because the administrative findings, inferences, conclusions, or decisions are: -3- (1) In violation of constitutional or statutory provisions;

(2) In excess of the statutory authority of the agency;

(3) Made upon unlawful procedure;

(4) Arbitrary or capricious or characterized by abuse of discretion or clearly unwarranted exercise of discretion; or

(5)(A) Unsupported by evidence that is both substantial and material in the light of the entire record.

(B) In determining the substantiality of evidence, the court shall take into account whatever in the record fairly detracts from its weight, but the court shall not substitute its judgment for that of the agency as to the weight of the evidence on questions of fact.

(i) No agency decision pursuant to a hearing in a contested case shall be reversed, remanded or modified by the reviewing court unless for errors that affect the merits of such decision.

Tenn. Code Ann. § 4-5-322. In City of Memphis, this Court explained that

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Pamela Pryor v. City of Memphis, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/pamela-pryor-v-city-of-memphis-tennctapp-2020.