Umberger, Tucker v. Michael Ignatz d/b/a Attention to Details, LLC

2025 TN WC 28
CourtTennessee Court of Workers' Compensation Claims
DecidedMay 14, 2025
Docket2024-60-5331
StatusPublished

This text of 2025 TN WC 28 (Umberger, Tucker v. Michael Ignatz d/b/a Attention to Details, 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
Umberger, Tucker v. Michael Ignatz d/b/a Attention to Details, LLC, 2025 TN WC 28 (Tenn. Super. Ct. 2025).

Opinion

FILED May 14, 2025 08:12 AM(CT) TENNESSEE COURT OF WORKERS' COMPENSATION CLAIMS

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

Tucker Umberger, ) Docket No. 2024-60-5331 Petitioner, ) v. ) State File No. 860297-2024 Michael Ignatz d/b/a Attention to ) Details, LLC, ) Judge Kenneth M. Switzer Respondent. )

EXPEDITED HEARING ORDER

The Court held an expedited hearing on May 6, 2025, where Tucker Umberger requested medical and temporary disability benefits from Michael Ignatz d/b/a Attention to Details, LLC.

Mr. Umberger suffered serious injuries from a significant fall at a construction project. He claimed Mr. Ignatz was his employer. Mr. Ignatz admittedly did not have workers’ compensation insurance and contended that Mr. Umberger was an independent contractor.

The Court holds Mr. Umberger would likely prevail at trial in showing that he was an employee and therefore he is entitled to medical benefits. In addition, Mr. Umberger satisfied the eligibility requirements for discretionary benefits from the Uninsured Employers Fund.

Claim History

Proof at trial

Mr. Umberger testified that Mr. Ignatz hired him to do construction work. He said that at the time, Mr. Ignatz told him that he had insurance, a great deal of work to do, and that the job might afford future opportunities.

1 Mr. Umberger worked for approximately one month before the accident. He described a work environment characterized largely by Mr. Ignatz controlling his and other workers’ activities, their workdays and hours worked. If Mr. Ignatz took a day off, no one worked. Mr. Ignatz decided each day which tasks they would perform and in what order under his supervision, “coaching” them on how he wanted things done. Mr. Umberger said, “I was never allowed to work on my own time and pace on my own. I was paid by the hour and never by the job.” Mr. Ignatz paid him $25 per hour and provided most tools and supplies, except for Mr. Umberger’s own screw gun and corded saw.

For his part, Mr. Ignatz testified that he has never had any W-2 employees and his operation is “not big enough.” He never made Mr. Umberger complete an application and did not even know his last name. Mr. Ignatz said the work is inconsistent and available only when he needs help. He gave no worker a paycheck, he said, but rather paid them in cash or by a mobile phone payment app, and he gave them 1099s at year’s end. Mr. Ignatz said he is a sole proprietor and a “handyman that was fortunate enough to get some bigger jobs[.]”

As he was laying subflooring with Mr. Ignatz on May 28, 2024, Mr. Umberger fell and landed on his neck and upper back. An ambulance transported him for emergency treatment. At the hospital, he was diagnosed with a “[f]all from high place,” and fractures to his upper sternum, ribs, thoracic spine, and cervical spine.

Early in his treatment, Mr. Umberger learned that Mr. Ignatz’s insurance did not include workers’ compensation, so he was offered financial aid from the hospital. The June 1 discharge notes state that he fell “from a deck moving a board,” and that Mr. Umberger’s spine fractures would be treated non-surgically. He said that meant wearing a neck brace that significantly hampered his movements, and he was essentially bedridden for several weeks.

Mr. Umberger underwent some follow-up treatment, including a visit with Dr. Scott Zuckerman and a physician assistant on July 30. They described him as using a “rigid cervical collar” and showing improvement, although further diagnostic treating was necessary. Mr. Umberger said he was unable to continue treating when the financial assistance ran out. Mr. Umberger offered no medical bills or admissible proof of when he was taken off work. 1

Mr. Umberger healed over time and began working as a truck driver on March 19, 2025.

1 Mr. Umberger offered two notes taking him off work, which were not admitted into evidence because

they are signed by nurses rather than physicians. Tennessee Compilation Rules and Regulations 0800-02- 21-.16(2)(b) (2023) states that medical records are admissible when signed by a physician or accompanied by a form signed by a medical provider or records custodian certifying that the records are true and accurate.

2 On August 7, 2024, Mr. Umberger filed a petition for benefit determination that gave his address in Antioch, Tennessee. On receipt, the Bureau investigated whether Mr. Ignatz had workers’ compensation insurance. The Bureau’s compliance specialist wrote a report stating that she “received an e-mail from the employer Michael Ignatz stating he does not have a Workers’ Compensation policy.” Mr. Ignatz confirmed this at the hearing but argued worker’s compensation coverage was unnecessary because Mr. Umberger is an independent contractor.

Mr. Ignatz testified that he mistakenly believed the policy he had would cover any worker. He likewise did not know that he was required to have workers’ compensation insurance. Mr. Ignatz expressed remorse over the accident and said he tried to help Mr. Umberger afterward, both financially and by driving him to some of his follow-up medical appointments.

Admissions

Mr. Umberger moved the Court to deem requests for admissions admitted under Rule 36 of the Tennessee Rules of Civil Procedure, which motion was heard at the expedited hearing.

Mr. Umberger argued that he sent his admissions to Mr. Ignatz on February 6, 2025, but Mr. Ignatz refused to respond. He wrote, “You were not an employee. So I can’t fill out the form. You were a subcontractor.” Mr. Umberger further asserted that since Mr. Ignatz did not respond within the 30 days that the rule allows, the Court should deem his admissions as fact.

Rule 36 states in relevant part: “A party may serve upon any other party a written request for the admission . . . of the truth of any matters . . . that relate to . . . facts, the application of law to facts, or opinions about either[.]” The Appeals Board instructed on Rule 36 in Holt v. Quality Floor Coverings, 2022 TN Wrk. Comp. App. Bd. LEXIS 19, at *5-6 (May 6, 2022), concluding that the rule is “self-executing.” The Board explained that the admissions are “automatically” deemed admitted 30 days after the requests are served unless the party receiving the requests acts in one of three ways as described under the rule. If none of those three events happens, “the statements are deemed admitted and are considered conclusively established unless the party to whom the requests were directed later moves for withdrawal or amendment of the admissions[.]” Id.

Here, Mr. Ignatz did not respond to the requests for admissions, so Mr. Umberger’s motion is unopposed, well-taken, and granted. The following admissions are summarized and deemed admitted.

• On May 28,2024, Mr. Umberger was Mr. Ignatz’s employee.

3 • Mr. Ignatz operated a construction company and was building a two-story high deck and screened-in sunroom with a roof. He did not have the required workers’ compensation insurance on the date of injury. • Mr. Umberger fell from a two-story deck while working for Mr. Ignatz. • Mr. Ignatz witnessed the fall and had notice of Mr. Umberger’s work injury. • The medical conditions and symptoms described by the emergency department providers were caused primarily by Mr. Umberger’s work accident. • Mr. Umberger could not work as a result of the injuries sustained on May 28, 2024. • Mr. Umberger’s average weekly wage is $1,000 while working for Mr. Ignatz. • Mr. Ignatz provided no cash benefits other than $1,600. • The medical care Mr. Umberger received was reasonable, necessary, and primarily related to the injuries he sustained from the fall on May 28, 2024, while working for Mr. Ignatz.

Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law

Mr.

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Related

§ 50-6-239
Tennessee § 50-6-239(d)(1)

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Bluebook (online)
2025 TN WC 28, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/umberger-tucker-v-michael-ignatz-dba-attention-to-details-llc-tennworkcompcl-2025.