                                                                                                    FILED
                                                                                                Jan 27, 2020
                                                                                               10:38 AM(ET)
                                                                                            TENNESSEE COURT OF
                                                                                           WORKERS' COMPENSATION
                                                                                                  CLAIMS




                TENNESSEE BUREAU OF WORKERS' COMPENSATION
               IN THE COURT OF WORKERS' COMPENSATION CLAIMS
                              AT CHATTANOOGA

Jack Fee,                                              )    Docket No. 2019-01-0396
                   Employee,                           )
v.                                                     )
Mohawk Industries, Inc.,                               )    State File No. 38017-2019
           Employer,                                   )
And                                                    )
Liberty Mutual Insurance Company,                      )    Judge Audrey Headrick
           Carrier.                                    )


                                  EXPEDITED HEARING ORDER


       The Court held an Expedited Hearing on January 16, 2020, to determine whether
Tennessee has jurisdiction over Mr. Fee's workers' compensation claim. Mohawk
asserted that Georgia Workers' Compensation Law is Mr. Fee's exclusive remedy. For
the reasons below, the Court holds that Tennessee does not have jurisdiction.

                                             History of Claim

       Mr. Fee, a Georgia resident, worked as an over-the-road driver for Mohawk, a
Georgia corporation, when he sustained serious injuries during a motor vehicle accident
while driving through Tennessee. Mr. Fee's delivery route from Georgia to Maryland
required him to drive through Tennessee three times per week for approximately three
hours each trip. Mohawk accepted Mr. Fee's claim under Georgia's workers'
compensation law and paid for all of his medical treatment. 1

        Mr. Fee filed a Petition for Benefit Determination seeking Tennessee benefits and
later filed a Request for Expedited Hearing for a determination regarding jurisdiction.
Mohawk argued Tennessee Code Annotated section 50-6-115(a) and (c)(2) provides that
Georgia law is Mr. Fee's exclusive remedy.


1
    It is unclear from Mr. Fee's testimony whether he received any temporary disability benefits.

                                                       1
                       Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law

       To prevail at an expedited hearing, Mr. Fee must show a likelihood of prevailing
at a hearing on the merits. Tenn. Code Ann. § 50-6-239(d)(1) (2019). The Court holds
he did not.

                                      Jurisdiction

       The 2013 Workers' Compensation Reform Act substantially changed Tennessee
Code Annotated section 50-6-115, which is the extraterritorial statute that previously
dealt only with employees injured out-of-state. The Reform added, in part, subsections
(a) and (c)(2):

       (a) For purposes of this section, an employee is considered to be
           temporarily in a state working for an employer if the employee is
           working for such employee's employer in a state other than the state
           where such employee is primarily employed for no more than fourteen
           (14) consecutive days, or no more than twenty-five (25) days total,
           during a calendar year.

       (c)(2) The benefits under the workers' compensation insurance or similar
       laws of the other state, or other remedies under similar law, are the
       exclusive remedy against the employer for any injury, whether resulting in
       death or not, received by the employee while temporarily working for that
       employer in this state.

        With no guiding post-Reform case law, the Court considers the application of the
statutory language. Hadzic v. Averitt Express, 2015 TN Wrk. Comp. App. Bd. LEXIS
 14, at *8 (May 18, 2015) (courts must consider the plain and ordinary meaning of the
statutory language when no guiding precedent exists). Here, it is undisputed that Mr.
Fee, a Georgia resident, was "primarily employed" in Georgia. It is also undisputed that
Mr. Fee's time spent in Tennessee consisted of approximately three hours on the
interstate, three times per week, traveling from Georgia to Maryland. Mr. Fee drove that
route for two to three months before his accident. The Court finds that he was
"temporarily" working in Tennessee. Under section 50-6-115, the fact that Mr. Fee's
accident occurred in Tennessee is not sufficient to give Tennessee jurisdiction.
Therefore, as directed by subsection (c)(2), the Court holds that Georgia has exclusive
jurisdiction of Mr. Fee's workers' compensation claim.

IT IS, THEREFORE, ORDERED as follows:

   1. Tennessee does not have jurisdiction over Mr. Fee's workers' compensation claim.


                                           2
   2. This case is set for a Status Hearing on Wednesday, March 25, 2020, at 1:00 p.m.
      Eastern Time. The parties must call423-634-0164 or toll-free at 855-383-0001 to
      participate. Failure to call might result in a determination of the issues without the
      party's participation.

      ENTERED January 27,2020.




                                           Workers' Compensation Judge


                                       APPENDIX

Exhibits:
       1. Affidavit of Mr. Fee

Technical record:
   1. Petition for Benefit Determination
   2. Dispute Certification Notice
   3. Request for Expedited Hearing
   4. Show Cause Order
   5. Order on Show Cause Hearing
   6. Notice of Expedited Hearing




                                             3
                             CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

 I certifY that a copy of this Expedited Hearing Order was sent as indicated on January 27,
 2020.

        Name              Certified      Email       Service sent to:
                           Mail
Scott Wesson,                              X         scottwesson@warrenandgriffin.com
Employee's Attorney                                  kay_@warrenandgriffin.com
Bryan Lindberg,                            X         blindberg@hallboothsmith.com
Employer's Attorney




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