WILLIAM ALLEN v. MJ RESURRECTION, INC., ET AL. - Articles

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WILLIAM ALLEN v. MJ RESURRECTION, INC., ET AL.

Posted by: Azya Thornton on May 7, 2025

Court: TN Workers Comp Appeals Board

Attorneys 1: Garrett P. Franklyn and Lauren N. Gray, Knoxville, Tennessee, for the employer-appellant, MJ Resurrection, Inc.

Attorneys 2: William Allen, Memphis, Tennessee, employee-appellee, pro se.

Judge(s): GODKIN

In this interlocutory appeal, the employer questions the trial court’s order requiring it to provide a panel of physicians. The employee fell at work and reported the accident the same day. The employer offered medical treatment, but the employee declined. At the employer’s request, the employee signed a waiver stating that, although he reported a work- related fall, he had declined medical treatment. The waiver specified that any future claim related to the employee’s injuries would require a medical evaluation arranged through the employer’s workers’ compensation insurer and that he must first notify his supervisor before seeking medical treatment for his injuries. When the employee later requested medical treatment, the employer asserted the employee was not entitled to a medical evaluation because, after waiving treatment the day of the accident, he sought treatment a month later only when he was denied short term disability benefits. Following a hearing, the trial court ordered the employer to provide a panel of physicians to evaluate and treat any work-related injuries but denied the employee’s request for temporary disability benefits because there was inadequate medical proof to support an award of disability benefits. The employer has appealed. Upon careful review of the record, we affirm the trial court’s order and remand the case.

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