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U:9 %s 0y w@t 4     0J 0T/ 0^ 0h 0rI 0| 07 0 1uMU, 0dU,RU *~B) BDC AM1~7 D3U6v~N 0@v  D+ AO Y 0D D/c B AY ! 0F!HP LaserJet 4Si/4SiMX PS 600dpiPSCRIPT0 ,  AZ"Arial RegularX(,$  HTR[A' Legal[A' LegalA' LegalA' LegalTXXXX7>XXdXXd7 DDKUӀӀyp 3|xHR2 0Indent123  2" 0Indent20 23  2, 0Indent30 0 23  26 0Indent40 0 0 23  2@ 0Indent50 0 0 0 23  2J 0Indent60 0 0 0 0 23  2T 0Indent70 0 0 0 0 0 23  2^ 0Indent80 0 0 0 0 0 0 23   ?AGMSYaioIndent0I.A.1.a.(1)(a)i)a)<  9p`(ModernP 8Mac DefaultMac Default ` X<  9p`(Monaco<  9p`(Arial% Line 7 d d$$$$7Border 1dd-&C << G  !  #d##    H \RA'\#d#  #   YYY FILED#X July31,1996CecilCrowson,Jr.#AppellateCourtClerk   !#d##    H \RA'\#d#  #   YYY FILED#X July31,1996CecilCrowson,Jr.#AppellateCourtClerk %%%%'dxd<  9p`(Courier NewPtPtHH(FG(HH(d'`("$    Styl{WP}01  HH  2$HH  Geneva  <Px443!#4$*$$*$ KK  Geneva  Geneva .,6 Monaco   BA Op Monaco  BA Op Monaco 'dxd-C<< CLevel 1Level 2Level 3Level 4Level 5($$   1  ' dxdP Pd-:M << deUULevel 1Level 2Level 3Level 4Level 5(n$ (  1  ) ! . &""Xd&#""Xd##    H \RA'\#Xd##Xd#  L'(&;+'h|` . `Lߛ@ INTHESUPREMECOURTOFTENNESSEE@ SPECIALWORKERSCOMPENSATIONAPPEALSPANEL@ ATKNOXVILLEMAY1996SESSION LARRYH.MULL,    ) HAMILTONCIRCUIT      ) Plaintiff/Appellant   ) NO.03S019512CV00135      )v.      ) HON.L.MARIEWILLIAMS      ) JUDGETRANSPORTSOUTH,INC.,  )      ) Defendant/Appellee  ) FortheAppellant:    FortheAppellee: GlennR.Copeland    C.DouglasDooley̜Copeland&Whittenburg   D.ScottBennett3505BrainerdRoad   Leitner,Warner,ϜMoffitt,WilliamsChattanooga,TN37411    Dooley&ϜNapolitan,PLLC      ThirdFloor,PioneerBuilding      Chattanooga,TN37402  MEMORANDUMOPINIONMembersofPanel: JusticePennyJ.WhiteSeniorJudgeJohnK.ByersSpecialJudgeJosephC.Loser  AFFIRMED        BYERS,SeniorJudge Thisworkers'compensationappealhasbeenreferredtotheSpecialWorkers'CompensationAppealsPaneloftheSupremeCourtinaccordancewithTenn.CodeAnn.506225(e)(3)forhearingandreportingtotheSupremeCourtoffindingsoffactandconclusionsoflaw. Theemployee/plaintiffinjuredhisrightarmwhileworkingasatruckdriverfordefendant. Thetrialjudgeawardedplaintiff12percentdisabilitytotherightarm. Wefindthattheevidencepreponderatesagainstanawardof12percentandinfavorofanawardof20percentpermanentpartialdisabilitytotherightarmandweaffirmthejudgmentofthetrialcourtassomodified. OnFebruary19,1993,Plaintiffwastryingtoprylooseastuckfuelvalveontheemployersfueltrucksothathecouldfillthetruckwithjetfuelwhenhiswrist poppedandstartedtingling.Hewenttotheemergencyroomthatdayfortreatment,wherehewasgivenaforearmsplint.ThreedayslaterhesaworthopedicsurgeonDr.AlanOdom,whoplacedplaintiffonlightdutyfortendaysandtoldhimtoreturntoregulardutyaftertendays. Plaintiffcontinuedtohaveseverepainandasedimentationratetestindicatedinflammation,soDr.OdomorderedabonescanonMarch1,1993,whichshowedposttraumaticchange.Dr.Odomsuspectedreflexsympatheticdystrophyandfoundthatplaintiffhadmuscleatrophy.Heorderedphysicaltherapy,whichimprovedplaintiffsconditionbutlefthimwithrangeofmotionlessthan50percentofnormalbyAugust1993.Dr.Odomopinedplaintiffhadreachedmaximummedicalimprovementandassessed23percentpermanentpartialdisabilitytotherightupperextremitywhich,underAMAGuidelines,convertsto14percenttothebodyasawhole. Dr.NeilH.Spitalny,orthopedicsurgeon,sawplaintiffonJuly25,1994foranindependentmedicalevaluation.Hisexaminationrevealedthatplaintiffhadslightswellingofthearmwithnomuscleatrophy.Hehadpainonrotationofthehandanddecreasedrangeofmotion,butnormalrangeofmotioninthefingers.Hefoundnoevidenceofreflexsympatheticdystrophy.Hisreviewofxraystakenatthetimeofplaintiffsinjuryrevealedmildtomoderateposttraumaticbonechanges.Heassessed8percentpermanentpartialdisabilitytotheupperextremitybasedondecreasedrangeofmotion,butopinedthiswasmostlyrelatedtoarthriticchangesratherthanfromtheinjury. Ourreviewofthefindingsoffactmadebythetrialcourtisdenovoupontherecordofthetrialcourt,accompaniedbyapresumptionofthecorrectnessofitsfinding,unlessthepreponderanceoftheevidenceisotherwise.Tenn.CodeAnn.506225(3)(2).Stonev.CityofMcMinnville,896S.W.2d584(Tenn.1991).Weexamineindepththetrialcourtsfactualfindingsandconclusionsandarenotboundbythetrialcourtsfactualfindings,butinsteadconductanindependentexaminationtodeterminewherethepreponderanceoftheevidencelies.Gallowayv.MemphisDrumServ.,822S.W.2d584(Tenn.1991). Inmakingdeterminations,thecourtshallconsiderallpertinentfactors,includinglayandexperttestimony,employeesage,education,skillsandtraining,localjobopportunitiesandcapacitytoworkattypesofemploymentavailableinclaimantsdisabledcondition.Tenn.CodeAnn.506241(a)(1). Plaintiffis50yearsoldwithatenthgradeeducationandworkexperienceincarpetmills,painting,generallaborandtruckdriving.Heisrighthanddominant.Hetestifiedthatsincethisinjury,hehastroublewritingbillsofladingandotherpaperworkonthejobbecausehisrighthandisweakerandhecannotholdapen.Hecannotliftobjectsaswellasbeforeandoftendropsthem.Hemustuselighterhosesthanheusedbefore,andsuchhoseshavebeensecuredforhimathisnewjob.Hehaspaininhiswristandarm,increasingasthedaygoeson,sothathemusttakepainmedicationeveryevening. Wefindthattheevidencepreponderatesagainstanawardof12percentandinfavorof20percentvocationaldisabilitytotherightarm,%  ԛandwesomodifythejudgmentofthetrialcourt.Asmodified,thejudgmentisaffirmed.Costsareassessedtotheappellant.            򀀀      JohnK.Byers,SeniorJudgeCONCUR:̀PennyJ.White,JusticèJosephC.Loser,SpecialJudge̜J');+'b|` . `@J# #  INTHESUPREMECOURTOFTENNESSEE#X@      ATKNOXVILLE                              LARRYH.MULL,    ) HAMILTONCIRCUIT      )No.94CV0946    PlaintiffAppellant,   )       )          ) No. 03S019512CV00135 V.      )      )      )      )  TRANSPORTSOUTH,INC.  )̀      ) Hon.L.MarieWilliams      ) Judge Defendant/Appellee.   )      )      ) AFFIRMED            ̀    JUDGMENTORDER̀+<>  ThiscaseisbeforetheCourtupontheentirerecord,includingtheorderofreferraltotheSpecialWorkers'CompensationAppealsPanel,andthePanel'sMemorandumOpinionsettingforthitsfindingsoffactandconclusionsoflaw,whichareincorporatedhereinbyreference;  Whereupon,itappearstotheCourtthattheMemorandumOpinionofthePanelshouldbeacceptedandapproved;and  Itis,therefore,orderedthatthePanel'sfindingsoffactsandconclusionsoflawareadoptedandaffirmed,andthedecisionofthePanelismadetheJudgmentoftheCourt.  Costsonappealaretaxedtotheappellant,LarryH.Mull,andsurety,GlennR.Copeland,forwhichexecutionmayissue.07/31/96#ԛ