WPC 1?>j,.x(ll4\\>ҫ ~'94&ˉGE4[q.l$e,AƎu.Oj# tRyŊ) w wh-b&; ybt,QI:&1F%X:ׂ|8bܥw9fj٠\!WVψ^=9~UV^[>vW^(^@D6Cy@;htJE,Sy^/Mӷ>5u<: 蓚E+ B}ܫ$hYj{_[ʸqp 9,cGeuI :/ $Ohmvlx)8SIvDݚ̝q. fz0 OIHOh"9!dtaq`NLS'YcPݴ;%8)U N> % 0(@w@4:N 0C]nNUNN             U BUN: AQ    U:  U: Z 0D  0Dd 0D D/ B B8 D3U(9 Z 6Times New Roman RegularX($c:\office\wpwin\template\jo.wpt PDU   V  ӀӀyk&13|x!(2B$ !  ݫ\  `*Times New RomanTTC\  P6QP"AArialTTomanTTXXaptQXp\  `*Times New RomanTT^\  P6QP\  `*Times New RomanTTXXP\  P6QXP(hH  Z 6Times New Roman Regulari1i2i3i4i5i6i7i8i9i10i11\  `*Times New RomanTT(hH  Z 6Times New Roman Regular !"#%C<< C  B)  8  <( ` hp x (#X<  @    2  A    ?+ ` hp x (#` X? !"  X[XXX4E XX[   Ad FILEDX[X 4E  June15,1999CecilW.CrowsonAppellateCourtClerkdAh ,cAZ"Arial Regular !"  X[XXX4E XX[   Ad FILEDX[X 4E  June15,1999CecilW.CrowsonAppellateCourtClerkdAh ,cAZ"Arial RegularLevel 1Level 2Level 3Level 4Level 5(3$ !  (3$ !  ($$   1  ''' dxd dP Pd&&&&'dxd !  TR[A' Legal3'A' Legal3'T^XXr(<,(j 8` `@E` 8ttxP  r@  INTHESUPREMEOFTENNESSEE  @'ATNASHVILLE %  NICKALLENPARKER% @-} p %  WARREN%   @ @-} p No.Below%  6398%9  P  ` Plaintiff/Appell%  ee%@-}  ` @-} p Hon.%  J.RichardMcGregor%  p vs.@-H-} 0  @-}@-} p No.%  01S019803CH00054% P  %  TRAVELERSINDEMNITYCOMPANY%@-} `  andTHEAETNACASUALTYAND 񀀀  }      p } p  p   p  SURETYCOMPANY@-}   ` Defendant/Appell%  ants%@-} p %  AFFIRMED%  @&JUDGMENTORDER   ` ThiscaseisbeforetheCourtupontheentirerecord,includingthe @ orderofreferraltotheSpecialWorkersCompensationAppealsPanel,andthePanelsMemorandumOpinionsettingforthitsfindingsoffactandconclusionsoflaw,whichareincorporatedhereinbyreference. ` Whereupon,itappearstotheCourtthattheMemorandumOpinionofthePanelshouldbeacceptedandapproved;and ` Itis,therefore,orderedthatthePanelsfindingsoffactandconclusionsoflawareadoptedandaffirmed,andthedecisionofthePanelismadethejudgmentoftheCourt. ` Costswillbepaidby%  defendants/appellants% ,forwhichexecutionmayissueifnecessary. ` ITISSOORDEREDon%  June15,1999%z . `     h      p PERCURIAM p4/-  ` #XeX^}#  61/   TR[A'[A' LegalA' LegalA' LegalT8  &    <( ` hp x (#X<^XXea^  INTHESUPREMECOURTOFTENNESSEE      SPECIALWORKERS'COMPENSATIONAPPEALSPANELATNASHVILLE(March31,1999Session)   r(<,(j 8` `@E@a ` 8ttxPx`  r   ?+ ` hp x (#` X?NICKALLENPARKER,    ) p WARRENCHANCERY    `     h     ) ` PlaintiffAppellee,    ) p Hon.J.RichardMcGregor,    `     h     ) p Chancellor. 4 v. `     h     ) J  `     h     ) p No.01S019803CH00054 ` TRAVELER'SINDEMNITY    ) &v COMPANYandTHEAETNA    ) < CASUALTYANDSURETY    ) R COMPANY,   h     ) h  `     h     ) ` DefendantsAppellants.    )  ForAppellants:   h      p ForAppellee: "R RobertJ.Uhorchuk h      p RobertL.Huskey .$~ Spicer,Flynn&Rudstrom     p Manchester,Tennessee D%  Chattanooga,Tennessee Z&!   <( ` hp x (#X<MEMORANDUMOPINION +'$ MembersofPanel: L2-* FrankF.Drowota,III,AssociateJusticeThomasW.Brothers,SpecialJudgeJoeC.Loser,Jr.,SpecialJudge  ?+ ` hp x (#` X?  <( ` hp x (#X<:L62   ?+ ` hp x (#` X?  AFFIRMED   h      p      x  Loser,  Judge  <( ` hp x (#X<MEMORANDUMOPINION'       {  n   ?+ ` hp x (#` X? ` Thisworkers'compensationappealhasbeenreferredtotheSpecialWorkers'CompensationAppealsPanelinaccordancewithTenn.CodeAnn.#X XaH #  X    #XeXXX g #X XXXeaXX #^a#a^  k 506225(e)(3)forhearingandreportingoffindingsoffactandconclusionsoflaw.Theemployer'sinsurerinsiststhetrialcourt'sawardofpermanentpartialdisabilitybenefitsisexcessiveandthatthechancellorerredinawardingsuchbenefitsbasedonsixtimesthemedicalimpairmentratingwithoutmakingspecificfindingsoffactasrequiredbyTenn.CodeAnn.#X Xa#  X    #XeXXX #X XXXeaXX #^aJ#a^Ԁ506241(c).As   discussedbelow,thepanelhasconcludedtheawardshouldbeaffirmed.      { `  ` Theextentofanemployee'spermanentvocationaldisabilityisaquestionoffact.Collinsv.HowmetCorp.,970S.W.2d941(Tenn.1998).Reviewis 1 thereforedenovoupontherecordofthetrialcourt,accompaniedbya G presumptionofcorrectnessofthefindingsoffact,unlessthepreponderanceoftheevidenceisotherwise.Tenn.CodeAnn.#X Xam#  X    #XeXXX #X XXXeaXX #^a#a^Ԁ506225(e)(2). #s  `  ` Theemployeeorclaimant,Parker,isthirtytwoyearsoldwithlessthanahighschooleducationandexperienceatjobsrequiringmanuallabor.Atthetimeofhisinjury,hewasemployedasacarpetlayerforTheCarpetBarn. `  ` InJuneof1996,theclaimantinjuredhisbackatworkandwasreferredtoaneurosurgeon,whoperformedunsuccessfuldiscsurgery.TheoperatingsurgeonestimatedhispermanentmedicalimpairmentattenpercenttothewholebodyaftertheclaimantreachedmaximummedicalimprovementinDecemberofthesameyear.Theclaimanthasnotreturnedtoworkforthepreinjuryemployerandhasbeenseverelyrestrictedinwhathecandobecauseofhisphysicallimitationssincetheinjuryandsurgery. `  ` Attherequestofthedefendants,theclaimantwasevaluatedbyanotherdoctor,whonotedtheunsuccessfulsurgery,butexpressednoopinionastotheextentofimpairment.Yetanotherdoctor,towhomtheclaimantwasreferredbyhisownlawyerforanexaminationandevaluation,assignedapermanentimpairmentratingofsixteenpercenttothewholebody.Avocationalexpertestimatedtheclaimant'svocationaldisabilityatninetyonepercent.Thetrialcourtawardedpermanentpartialdisabilitybenefitsbasedonsixtypercenttothebodyasawhole. `  ` ForinjuriesoccurringonorafterAugust1,1992,whereaninjuredworkerisentitledtoreceivepermanentpartialdisabilitybenefitstothebodyasawhole,andthepreinjuryemployerdoesnotreturntheemployeetoemploymentatawageequaltoorgreaterthanthewagetheemployeewasreceivingatthetimeoftheinjury,themaximumpermanentpartialdisabilityawardthattheemployeemayreceiveissixtimesthemedicalimpairmentrating 830 determinedpursuanttotheaboveguidelines.Tenn.CodeAnn.506241(b).Ifacourtawardsamultiplieroffiveorgreater,thenthecourtmustmakespecificfindingsoffactdetailingthereasonsforitsaward,consideringallrelevantfactors,includinglayandexperttestimony,theemployee'sage,education,skillsandtraining,localjobopportunitiesandcapacitytoworkattypesofemploymentavailableinclaimant'sdisabledcondition.Tenn.CodeAnn.506241(c).  {..Attheconclusionofthetrial,thechancellorreviewedportionsoftheevidencewithoutmakingtherequiredspecificfindingsdetailingthereasonsfortheaward.Itappearsfromtherecord,infact,theawardmayhavebeenbasedinpartonthechancellor'spersonalexperiences,ratherthanfindingsbasedontheevidence.Whileitistrue,asthedefendantscontend,thattheawardexceedsthemedicalimpairmentoftheoperatingsurgeon,itisequallytruethattheawardislessthanfourtimestheimpairmentratingofanotherqualifiedexpert,whosetestimonyisintherecord.Thus,specificfindingsarenotrequired.Additionally,fromaconsiderationoftherelevantfactors,wecannotsaytheevidencepreponderatesagainsttheaward.  ....Fortheabovereasons,thejudgmentofthetrialcourtisaffirmedandthecauseremandedtothetrialcourtforsuchadditionalproceedings,ifany,asmaybenecessary.Costsonappealaretaxedtothedefendants.  2( ` hp x (#2_______________________________  ӀJoeC.Loser,Jr.,SpecialJudge  5+ ` hp x (#5CONCUR:_________________________________FrankF.Drowota,III,AssociateJustice_________________________________ThomasW.Brothers,SpecialJudge&`  x (#&Ӝ