VICTOR DUNN v. TRADESMEN INTERNATIONAL, INC.

Court Description:

Authoring Judge: JUDGE ROBERT E. LEE DAVIES, SR.

Trial Court Judge: JUDGE JAMES E. LAUDERBACK

Victor Dunn ( Employee ), a Tennessee resident, was injured in Iowa while working for Tradesmen International, Inc. ( Employer ). Employer accepted the injury as compensable but disputed Tennessee s jurisdiction over the claim, contended that any award of permanent disability benefits should be limited to one and one-half times the impairment rating, and disagreed with Employee s calculation of his average weekly wage. The trial court held that it had jurisdiction, that the claim was not capped, and that Employee s proposed average weekly wage was correct. It awarded permanent partial disability benefits of 25% to the body as a whole. Employer has appealed, arguing that the trial court s ruling on the average weekly wage issue was incorrect.[1] The appeal has been referred to the Special Workers Compensation Appeals Panel for a hearing and a report of findings of fact and conclusions of law pursuant to Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 51. We affirm the judgment.

[1]Because this is the only issue presented in this appeal, we omit discussion of the evidence pertaining to the remaining issues.