Woodard, Denny v. Freeman Expositions, LLC

2020 TN WC 2
CourtTennessee Court of Workers' Compensation Claims
DecidedJanuary 15, 2020
Docket2018-06-2162
StatusPublished

This text of 2020 TN WC 2 (Woodard, Denny v. Freeman Expositions, 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
Woodard, Denny v. Freeman Expositions, LLC, 2020 TN WC 2 (Tenn. Super. Ct. 2020).

Opinion

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

AT NASHVILLE DENNY WOODARD, ) Docket No. 2018-06-2162 Employee, ) ) V. ) State File No. 69647-2018 ) FREEMAN EXPOSITIONS, LLC, ) Employer. ) Judge Joshua D. Baker

EXPEDITED HEARING ORDER

The Court held an expedited hearing on December 19, 2019, to consider whether Mr. Woodard would likely prevail at a final hearing against Freeman Expositions’s affirmative defenses of willful misconduct and illegal drug use. For the reasons below, the Court finds Mr. Woodard is likely to prevail and grants him medical and temporary disability benefits. The Court reserves the request for an attorney’s fee.

Claim History

Mr. Woodard worked intermittently as a stagehand for Freeman through his union, the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (the Union). At center stage in this dispute is a top-heavy cart loaded with four-by-eight sheets of Masonite, Freeman’s admonition to “push, don’t pull” the cart, and a failed drug test.

On September 11, 2018, Mr. Woodard’s lead, Josh Tafoya, asked him to wheel a cart loaded with roughly fifteen sheets of Masonite, which is a material used by stage hands to protect flooring during set-up and dismantling. The cart had a rectangular bottom, four wheels, and a rail on its right side. Masonite sheets dwarfed the cart in both height and width, making the cart unstable.

Video of the accident showed Mr. Tafoya following closely behind Mr. Woodard as he pushed the cart. In the video, Mr. Woodard struggled against the cart’s leftward trajectory while Mr. Tafoya walked away to take a phone call. While attempting to avoid obstacles by steering the cart to the right, the Masonite fell over on his left ankle and right arm.

Mr. Woodard received some authorized treatment from Dr. Samuel Crosby, including surgery. Dr. Crosby diagnosed and treated arm and leg fractures, taking Mr. Woodard off work until October 23, 2018. Ata follow-up visit on that date, Dr. Crosby felt that Mr. Woodard was doing well and transferred him to a short cast. He recommended follow-up in four weeks for likely transfer into a walking boot. However, Mr. Woodard received no further care.

Freeman denied Mr. Woodard’s claim in mid-October after a drug test taken at the hospital the day of the accident was positive for oxycodone and marijuana. Mr. Woodard denied smoking marijuana on the day of the accident but admitted he smoked it at a Union picnic days before the test. Concerning oxycodone, Mr. Woodard said he received Percocet at the hospital to treat his pain, resulting in the positive test result. He acknowledged a history using pain pills for a prior work injury but stated that in recent years, due to fears of addiction, he had moved instead to CBD oil for pain treatment. Mr. Woodard denied being intoxicated on the date of the accident, and three witnesses, including Mr. Tafoya, testified in depositions that Mr. Woodard did not seem to be under the influence of drugs that day.

The same witnesses also testified about the cart and about Freeman’s “push, don’t pull” rule. Timothy Harris, shop steward for the Union, testified frankly after viewing the video, “It was the wrong material on the wrong cart.” When asked if he would agree that Mr. Woodard would not have been injured if he had followed the rule, he responded, “No, I don’t think that made a difference. The cart was dangerous. It would have turned over no matter what he did.” He also expressed “wonder” that Mr. Woodard “got as far as he did with [the cart] before it turned over.”

Although Mr. Tafoya thought the cart safe to use, he called it “squirrely” and said it can only safely be pushed, not pulled. Mike Clark, operations manager for Freeman, testified that Freeman’s “push, don’t pull” rule applies to “everything we have with wheels.” However, he acknowledged the Masonite was larger than the cart so moving it required gripping the Masonite and not the cart or a cart handle. He also said he “normally” pushed carts of Masonite by himself.

Mr. Tafoya admitted taking a cell phone call just before Mr. Woodard’s accident.’ He said that when he took the call he “had to be close to that timeframe that I, you know, told him to push [the cart] up there for me.” He also said that when he answered the call,

"Mr. Harris said that taking a cell phone call while working would violate the Union’s “Local 46 Policy.” Mr. Woodard said “he got it” in reference to pushing the cart.” Mr. Woodard denies this.

Concerning notice and enforcement of the rule, signs in the Freeman warehouse read, “SAFETY FIRST, PUSH don’t pull hand trucks.” Mr. Tafoya testified he warned others to be careful with the cart that injured Mr. Woodard, instructing them to “push don’t pull.” Further, Mr. Harris said he emphasized the rule in his speeches and corrected workers every time he saw them pulling rather than pushing a cart. He also testified that two people should have been moving the cart that injured Mr. Woodard. Mr. Woodard received no formal discipline for his alleged violation of the rule and testified he has still not been formally disciplined.

Regarding Mr. Woodard’s earnings at Freeman, the parties filed a wage statement. The statement showed that he earned $4,932.12 over the fifty-two weeks just before the accident. In that time, Mr. Woodard received pay from Freeman during fifteen, nonconsecutive weeks. In those weeks, his wages varied widely from a maximum of $656.00 per week to a minimum of $82.00. The wage statement listed his average weekly wage as $94.85 per week.

When asked about the sporadic nature of his work schedule and pay, Mr. Woodard said he worked “every time [the Union] called me,” but he was not called to work every week. On this issue, Mr. Harris characterized Union work as part-time employment. Mr. Tafoya agreed that Union workers have no control over how often they can work for Freeman.

Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law

To prevail at an expedited hearing, Mr. Woodard must provide sufficient evidence to show that he is likely to prevail at a hearing on the merits. See Tenn. Code Ann. § 50- 6-239(d)(1) (2019). The Court finds he carried that burden.

Mr. Woodard got hurt when a cart carrying Masonite fell over on his left ankle and right arm while working for Freeman. He broke his ankle in the fall. The Court holds his injury arose primarily out of and in the course and scope of employment.

Freeman, however, contended Mr. Woodard’s injury was not compensable because it resulted from illegal drug use and willful misconduct, specifically violation of a safety rule. Workers’ Compensation Law provides that “no compensation shall be allowed for an injury ... due to [an] employee’s willful misconduct [or] ... illegal drug

* Freeman also had a safety rule requiring two people to work as a team when moving “heavy equipment.” The rule, however, did not define heavy equipment. use.” Tenn. Code Ann. § 50-6-110(a)(1) and (a)(3). As these are affirmative defenses, Freeman has the burden of proving its defenses.

To show Mr. Woodard engaged in willful misconduct by violating a safety rule, Freeman must prove: (1) that Mr. Woodard had actual, as opposed to constructive, notice of the rule; (2) that he understood the danger involved in violating the rule; (3) that Freeman practiced bona fide enforcement of the rule; and (4) that Mr. Woodard lacked a valid excuse for violating the rule. Mitchell v. Fayetteville Pub. Utilities, 368 S.W.3d 442, 452-53 (Tenn. 2012).

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553 S.W.2d 576 (Tennessee Supreme Court, 1977)
McKinney v. Feldspar Corp.
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2020 TN WC 2, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/woodard-denny-v-freeman-expositions-llc-tennworkcompcl-2020.