White, Gregory v. Gerber Collision and Glass, and Farmington Casualty Co.

2025 TN WC 35
CourtTennessee Court of Workers' Compensation Claims
DecidedJune 9, 2025
Docket2023-06-8053
StatusPublished

This text of 2025 TN WC 35 (White, Gregory v. Gerber Collision and Glass, and Farmington Casualty Co.) 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
White, Gregory v. Gerber Collision and Glass, and Farmington Casualty Co., 2025 TN WC 35 (Tenn. Super. Ct. 2025).

Opinion

FILED Jun 09, 2025 10:54 AM(CT) TENNESSEE COURT OF WORKERS' COMPENSATION CLAIMS

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

Gregory White, ) Docket No. 2023-06-8053 Employee, ) v. ) Gerber Collision and Glass, and ) Farmington Casualty Co., ) State File No. 48454-2023 Employer/Carrier, ) And ) Troy Haley, Administrator, Subsequent ) Injury Fund, ) Judge Kenneth M. Switzer Carrier. )

COMPENSATION ORDER GRANTING BENEFITS

Gregory White injured his left foot while working for Gerber Collision and Glass. He contended that a door panel fell on top of his foot and then he stepped on a screw, injuring the bottom of his foot. Unfortunately, Mr. White underwent a partial amputation because of a severe infection. Gerber accepted the first injury but not the second, questioning whether the accident occurred as Mr. White described.

The Court held a compensation hearing on May 20, 2025, on the issues of compensability and attorney’s fees for an unreasonable denial. After thorough consideration of the evidence and arguments, the Court grants benefits but denies fees. 1

Claim History

Lay Testimony

Mr. White worked for Gerber as a body technician, repairing/replacing auto parts on vehicles involved in collisions.

1 The Court dismissed the Subsequent Injury and Vocational Recovery Fund from the case on Mr. White’s motion because he is not seeking permanent total disability benefits. 1 On Monday, June 19, 2023, at about 10:00 or 11:00 a.m., Mr. White was “seam sealing” a vehicle door. The door had a razor-sharp edge that he did not notice, which suddenly cut his finger as he lifted it. He dropped it and put his left foot underneath it, attempting to minimize damage to the door. The door fell on the top of his foot and toes. Mr. White put the door down and “limped” or “hobbled over” between two work stalls toward a stool. As he did so, he stepped on a screw with his left foot. After he reached the stool and sat, he saw the screw in his left shoe and removed the shoe. The screw was still embedded in the shoe, and he removed and discarded it.

Mr. White introduced the actual shoe into evidence, showing the hole and a removable sole insert. The hole is visible on the bottom of the shoe, and the sole likewise reveals a hole and dried blood.

Mr. White testified that he felt the screw as it punctured his foot, but initially the top of his foot hurt worse. No one witnessed the incident. He continued working and completed his shift despite the pain. As he left, he told the store manager, Heather Hunter, about the accident in vague terms; “I mentioned something to Heather about it,” he said. Mr. White hoped that the pain would subside and nothing further would need to be done.

He went home and removed the shoe to see that his foot had swollen. Annette White, his wife, testified that she observed Mr. White’s swollen foot and the puncture wound on the bottom of his left foot, which he attributed to stepping on a screw.

The next day, Mr. White went straight to Ms. Hunter’s office to tell her about the incident. He testified that he said he needed treatment because he suspected his foot was broken, and “I told her about the screw[.]” Mr. White repeated that at that point in time, he was more concerned about his upper foot.

Ms. Hunter contacted human resources, which gave them a list of three clinics, and Mr. White chose American Family Care. Mr. White said Ms. Hunter completed a form on her computer, but he never saw what she wrote, nor did she show him a copy. The report reads: “Ee states picking up door to put on stand. Sharp parts on it made ee dropped it on l low leg/ankle/foot. Causing swelling/tenderness.”

For her part, Ms. Hunter testified that Mr. White only mentioned dropping a door on his left foot on June 20. It was the first time she had completed an injury report. When she called human resources, the conversation to report the injury was conducted on a speakerphone, and Mr. White participated in the call.

Mr. White went directly to American Family Care, where Daniel Fox, a nurse practitioner, ordered an x-ray. But he never examined the foot, according to Mr. White. He recalled, “I told him I had dropped a door on my foot—that’s why I was feeling I needed

2 an x-ray. And I stepped on a screw.” However, because the clinic’s x-ray technician was not working that day, he was sent to Spring Hill Imaging to have it performed.

After about a ten-minute drive, and at approximately 11:00 a.m., Mr. White arrived at Spring Hill Imaging and was told their x-ray machine was not working. He never saw a provider there. So, he called Ms. Hunter and told her he was going to his primary care physician at Dickson Medical Associates because his foot hurt, and she agreed to that.

Mr. White arrived there around noon and saw Dr. Demond White, his regular physician. He showed him his foot and “told him about the screw hole.” But according to Mr. White, the doctor was more concerned about his blood sugar level because he is diabetic. Dr. White did not examine his left foot despite Mr. White removing his shoe and sock, but he did order an x-ray.

Mr. White testified, without objection, that his doctor told him the x-ray showed that his foot was not broken and revealed the puncture wound. Mr. White did not see the x-ray at that time. The x-ray report does not mention the puncture. He was released. Mr. White testified that about two hours passed between him leaving American Family Care and getting the x-ray at Dickson Medical Associates, and that during that time, he did not go anywhere where screws were present.

In the coming days, his condition rapidly deteriorated, so he went to the emergency room. After another set of x-rays, Mr. White learned his third and fourth toes were fractured and that his white blood cell count was elevated from an infection. These x-rays showed a puncture wound. He was admitted to the hospital.

That same day, Ms. White texted Ms. Hunter using his phone to tell her that Mr. White was hospitalized with a foot infection and would not be at work on Monday. Ms. White also mentioned the screw in their conversation. This prompted Ms. Hunter to complete a second injury report on Monday, June 26, which reads: “The employee stepped on a screw, the screw went into his left foot and caused an infection (due to him being diabetic).”

Mr. White said Marissa Johnson-Lockhart, an investigative claims representative, called him while he was at the hospital on June 30. Ms. Johnson-Lockhart confirmed that he told her about dropping the door on his foot and stepping on a screw, although initially he only told Gerber about the car door accident.

In the amended transcript of their conversation, Mr. White said, “[W]hen I was hobbling around, trying to go sit down, I stepped on a screw.” Mr. White added that he did not report stepping on the screw when he told Gerber he dropped the door on his foot “because I just wasn’t thinking about it ‘cause my foot was hurting so bad.” Ms. Johnson- Lockhart said that after their discussion, she thought both injuries were compensable.

3 Mr. White remained hospitalized for several days and underwent two surgeries, where podiatrist Dr. Reva Bork attempted to remove the infected areas of his foot. He was released but returned to the hospital on July 31, when Dr. Bork told him the infection remained. During the ensuing two-week stay, she amputated the top portion of his foot: all five toes and about two inches below. Mr. White introduced photos of his foot before and after the procedure.

As to the screw that Mr. White alleged punctured his foot, he identified it as a black “self-tapping phillips head,” about an inch and a half, or an inch and three-quarters in length. 2 He did not measure it, nor did Mr.

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Bluebook (online)
2025 TN WC 35, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/white-gregory-v-gerber-collision-and-glass-and-farmington-casualty-co-tennworkcompcl-2025.