Janice Farmer v. S&R of Tn, et al

This workers' compensation appeal has been referred to the Special Workers' Compensation Appeals Panel of the Supreme Court in accordance with Tennessee Code Annotated Section 5-6-225(e)(3) for hearing and reporting of findings of fact and conclusions of law. The only issue upon this appeal is the degree of compensation to be awarded to the claimant. As a result of developing bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome, the claimant was referred by her employer to Dr. William L. Bourland for treatment. Dr. Bourland performed surgery in the form of carpal tunnel releases to each hand, on April 12 and April 26, 1994, respectively. Dr. Bourland was of the opinion that she had no permanent impairment to her left hand and five percent (5%) impairment to her right hand as a result of the condition and surgery. She returned to work with the same employer at the same wage. Some fourteen months later, she was referred by her attorney to Dr. Robert Christopher of Memphis for evaluation of her continuing complaints. Dr. Christopher examined her and gave her some tests and opined that she had a ten percent (1%) impairment of each upper extremity, which, based upon his reference to the AMA Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment, 4th Ed., translated to nineteen percent (19%) of the "combined values tables," and converts to an eleven percent (11%) impairment to the body as a whole. He felt that she should avoid any kind of work that required repeated wrist bending, either flexion or extension, and felt that bending her wrists many, many times per hour would be placing her at risk for further problems with her hands. He said that she should avoid jobs that require her to do repeated lifting of objects weighing more than twenty pounds, as well as pushing or pulling objects weighing more than twenty pounds and should avoid work that requires her to lift her arms above her shoulder height on a repeated basis. He said that she should not do work that required her to do severe exertion with her hands, such as squeezing tools or opening jars, or things of that sort, several times an hour. The employer concedes that the claimant has some permanent disability in her right arm, but feels that the award by the trial court was too great. 2