Annie Atkins v. Yamakawa Manufacturing Co., Inc.
01S01-9706-CV-00138
Authoring Judge: Senior Judge John K. Byers
Trial Court Judge: Hon. James E. Walton,
This workers' compensation appeal has been referred to the Special Workers' Compensation Appeals Panel of the Supreme Court in accordance with Tenn. Code Ann. _ 5-6-225(e)(3) for hearing and reporting to the Supreme Court of findings of fact and conclusions of law. The plaintiff filed this suit and alleged she had developed bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome in the course and scope of her employment with the defendant. The trial judge found the plaintiff had sustained an anatomical impairment of ten percent to the right wrist and five percent to the left wrist for an average of seven and one half percent to each wrist. The trial judge awarded the plaintiff permanent partial benefits based on a finding of 35 percent vocational disability to each arm, ordering part of the award to be paid in a lump sum. The trial judge also awarded the plaintiff the expense of obtaining the Standard Form Medical Report and deposition of her treating physician as well as the expenses of taking the depositions of two evaluating physicians. The defendant says the plaintiff is not vocationally disabled and therefore not entitled to benefits and expenses. We affirm the judgment of the trial court. The plaintiff was age 4 at the time of trial. She is a divorced mother of five children who has a high school degree with no specialized job skills or training. Her work history consists almost entirely of unskilled, hand intensive labor. The plaintiff has worked for the defendant as a machine operator since early 1992. In this capacity, the plaintiff presses buttons of five different machines while continuously loading and unloading parts from the machines and placing completed component parts in a basket at her work station. The evidence of whether the plaintiff has sustained a vocational disability is based upon the testimony of the plaintiff and the depositions of three doctors. The plaintiff testified she began having pain in her hands as early as 1993. She saw a series of doctors about this pain. In May 1996, she selected Dr. Jack M. Miller, whom she saw for examination, treatment, and operation. The plaintiff underwent surgery first on her right hand and later on her left hand, but she testified that she continued to complain to Dr. Miller about the pain and numbness in her 2

James v. Peeler
01S01-9707-CV-00145
Authoring Judge: William H. Inman, Senior Judge
Trial Court Judge: Hon. William B. Cain
This workers' compensation appeal has been referred to the Special Workers' Compensation Appeals Panel of the Supreme Court in accordance with T.C.A. _ 5-6-225(e)(3) for hearing and reporting to the Supreme Court of findings of fact and conclusions of law. The Supreme Court on May 17, 1996 affirmed a judgment for the plaintiff entered on September 22, 1994 whereby he was awarded benefits for (1) the loss of an eye, (2) temporary, total disability, and (3) "all medical expenses." Benefits for the loss of an eye were calculated to be $16,524., which was paid. Benefits for temporary, total disability were $6,616.8, which was paid. Medical treatment was provided by the Veterans' Administration, whose charges, proved at the trial, were $11,438.. On August 1, 1996, the plaintiff filed a petition for the Writ of Mandamus seeking the judicial coercion of the defendant to pay (1) interest on the benefits for permanent, total disability; (2) interest on the temporary, total benefits, and (3) payment of the medical expenses with accrued interest. The defendant filed a "Response to Petition for Writ of Mandamus," alleging that the interest "has now been paid." With respect to the medical expenses, the defendant responded that on December 15, 1993, before the case was tried, it received a letter from the VA enclosing a statement for medical services provided to the plaintiff in the amount of $11,438.. Payment was requested by draft payable to the VA. After the case was concluded, the VA agreed to accept $7,625. in settlement of its claim for medical expenses. The trial court ruled that "the VA had a valid subrogation interest in the amount of $11,438. for medical benefits provided to the plaintiff and that the

State vs. Robert Dyer
02C01-9612-CC-00443

E.L. Reid vs. Don Sunquist, et al
02C01-9610-CC-00327

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01S01-9703-CC-00056
Trial Court Judge: J. O. Bond

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02C01-9705-CC-00167

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02C01-9702-CR-00052

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02C01-9702-CC-00051

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03C01-9606-CC-00237

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03C01-9704-CC-00134
Trial Court Judge: Ben W. Hooper, II

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03C01-9612-CR-00454

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03C01-9705-CR-00162
Trial Court Judge: Lynn W. Brown

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03C01-9607-CR-00275
Trial Court Judge: James E. Beckner

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02A01-9703-CH-00058
Trial Court Judge: Floyd Peete, Jr.

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02C01-9701-CC-00037

State vs. Jason Pickens
02C01-9612-CC-00486

State vs. Nicole Gray
02C01-9612-CR-00442

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02C01-9612-CC-00489
Trial Court Judge: C. Creed Mcginley

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02C01-9702-CC-00083
Trial Court Judge: Dick Jerman, Jr.

03C01-9610-CR-00407
03C01-9610-CR-00407
Trial Court Judge: Mayo L. Mashburn

Riley vs. State
03C01-9705-CR-00181
Trial Court Judge: E. Eugene Eblen

James Dollar v. Florida Steel Corporation
02S01-9608-CH-00071
Authoring Judge: William S. Russell, Retired Judge
Trial Court Judge: Ash, Judge

State vs. William Bogus
02C01-9506-CC-00169
Trial Court Judge: Joe G. Riley. Jr.

State vs. Robert Glen Coe
02C01-9606-CR-00200

State vs. Bobbie Weathers
02C01-9703-CC-00123
Trial Court Judge: John Franklin Murchison