DAVID RAINEY v. U.S. XPRESS, INC., ET AL. - Articles

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Posted by: Azya Thornton on Aug 28, 2025

Court: TN Workers Comp Appeals Board

Attorneys 1: C. Scott Johnson, Chattanooga, Tennessee, for the employer-appellant, U.S. Xpress, Inc.

Attorneys 2: Ashley B. McGee, Hendersonville, Tennessee, for the employee-appellee, David Rainey.

Judge(s): WEAVER

In this interlocutory appeal, the employer challenges the trial court’s award of medical and temporary disability benefits. The employee, a commercial truck driver, claimed that the cab of his truck shook violently over a ninety-minute period as he attempted to park at a truck stop, causing an injury to his cervical spine. The employer initially accepted the claim as compensable based on the authorized physician’s opinion and provided medical and temporary disability benefits. The employer then retained an orthopedist to perform a medical records review, and that physician concluded the employee had reached maximum medical improvement with respect to his alleged work-related accident. Consequently, the employer ceased paying temporary disability benefits. The employer also reviewed data from the truck’s vehicle monitoring systems, and, because those reports did not reflect the alleged event as described by the employee, it denied any further benefits. The treating physician eventually recommended cervical spine surgery and opined the need for surgery was caused primarily by the alleged work accident, but the employer had, by that point, denied the claim. The employer then asked the orthopedist it previously retained for the medical records review to perform a medical examination of the employee, and he opined that even if the incident occurred as described by the employee, it was less than fifty percent the cause of the need for the recommended surgery. After an expedited hearing, the trial court found the employee was likely to prevail at trial in showing that his cervical spine condition arose primarily out of the event he had described. It also determined the authorized treating physician offered the most probable explanation of the primary cause of the need for surgery, and it awarded additional medical and temporary disability benefits. The employer has appealed. Upon careful consideration of the record and the arguments of counsel, we reverse the trial court’s order and remand the case.

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