Alabama Workers' Comp Blawg

  • 18
  • Jan
  • 2025

Tennessee Appellate Board Holds TTD Not Owed When Accommodated Duty Refused Due to Doctor Imposed Driving Restriction

             

On October 21, 2024, the Tennessee Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board reversed a trial court’s order that reinstated temporary disability benefits. The employee had been put on driving restrictions that prevented her from driving to and from her accommodated duty work assignment. When the employee refused an offer of accommodated duty because she could not drive, her TTD was suspended. The trial court ordered TTD to be paid and the employer filed an interlocutory appeal. The Board considered arguments of the parties, the long established Going and Coming Rule (travel to and from work is not in the course of employment), and the exceptions to same. Since there was no specific statute or regulation mandating otherwise, the Board reversed the trial court.

                

My Two Cents: Since this is a Tennessee case it does not constitute controlling authority in Alabama. However, it can certainly by relied on as persuasive authority. Especially when you consider that neither state considers an employee’s commute to and from work to occur in the course of employment. The Tennessee Board distinguished travel to and from an accommodated job from traveling to and from medical appointments. The difference being that mileage is reimbursable for medical appointments but not for accommodated jobs. This turned out to be an important distinction since the reimbursement of mileage expense is an exception to the Going and Coming Rule in Tennessee. Just as it is in Alabama!

                      

This blog submission was prepared by Mike Fish, an attorney with Fish Nelson & Holden, LLC, a law firm dedicated to representing self-insured employers, insurance carriers, and third-party administrators in all matters related to workers’ compensation. Fish Nelson & Holden is a member of the National Workers’ Compensation Defense Network. If you have any questions about this submission or Alabama workers’ compensation in general, please contact Fish by e-mailing him at mfish@fishnelson.com or by calling him directly at 205-332-1448.

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