Tennessee § 50-6-201 - Notice of injury.

§ 50-6-201. Notice of injury.

Every injured employee or the injured employee's representative shall, immediately upon the occurrence of an injury, or as soon thereafter as is reasonable and practicable, give or cause to be given to the employer who has no actual notice, written notice of the injury, and the employee shall not be entitled to physician's fees or to any compensation that may have accrued under this chapter, from the date of the accident to the giving of notice, unless it can be shown that the employer had actual knowledge of the accident. No compensation shall be payable under this chapter, unless the written notice is given to the employer within fifteen (15) days after the occurrence of the accident, unless reasonable excuse for failure to give the notice is made to the satisfaction of the tribunal to which the claim for compensation may be presented. The notice of the occurrence of an accident by the employee required to be given to the employer shall state in plain and simple language the name and address of the employee and the time, place, nature, and cause of the accident resulting in injury or death. The notice shall be signed by the claimant or by some person authorized to sign on the claimant's behalf, or by any one (1) or more of the claimant's dependents if the accident resulted in death to the employee. No defect or inaccuracy in the notice shall be a bar to compensation, unless the employer can show, to the satisfaction of the workers' compensation judge before which the matter is pending, that the employer was prejudiced by the failure to give the proper notice, and then only to the extent of the prejudice. The notice shall be given personally to the employer or to the employer's agent or agents having charge of the business at which the injury was sustained by the employee. In those cases where the injuries occur as the result of gradual or cumulative events or trauma, then the injured employee or the injured employee's representative shall provide notice of the injury to the employer within fifteen (15) days after the employee: Knows or reasonably should know that the employee has suffered a work-related injury that has resulted in permanent physical impairment; or Is rendered unable to continue to perform the employee's normal work activities as the result of the work-related injury and the employee knows or reasonably should know that the injury was caused by work-related activities. [Deleted by 2013 amendment, effective July 1, 2014.] Acts 1919, ch. 123, § 22; Shan. Supp., § 3608a171; Code 1932, § 6872; impl. am. Acts 1980, ch. 534, § 1; T.C.A. (orig. ed.), § 50-1001; Acts 2001, ch. 219, § 1; 2006, ch. 1014, § 3; 2013, ch. 289, § 29; 2016, ch. 1056, § 1. Compiler's Notes. Acts 2013, ch. 289, § 103 provided that the act, which amended subsection (a) and deleted subsection (c), shall be known and may be cited as the “Workers' Compensation Reform Act of 2013.” Acts 2016, ch. 1056, § 6 provided that section 1 of the act, which amended this section to change the notice provisions, shall apply to injuries that occur on or after July 1, 2016. The 30 day notice period effective prior to July 1, 2016 is applicable to injuries that occurred between July 1, 2014 and June 30, 2016. Amendments. The 2013 amendment, effective July 1, 2014, added (a)(1)-(3); and deleted (c) which read: “Within thirty (30) calendar days of the notice of injury, the insurer, employer, or self-insured pool or trust shall file with the department, on a form prescribed by the department, a wage statement detailing the employee's wages for the previous fifty-two (52) weeks, unless the employer stipulates that the maximum weekly workers' compensation rate applies in the particular matter. In the event the insurer, employer, or self-insured pool or trust knowingly and intentionally fails to timely file the wage statement, a workers' compensation specialist may deem the employee's compensation rate to be the maximum workers' compensation rate effective on the date of injury. This subsection (c) shall apply only to accidents that result in death or personal injury of such a nature that the injured person either does not return to the person's employment within seven (7) days after the occurrence of the accident or has a permanent impairment resulting from the accident. If the employer, insurer or self-insured pool fails to file the wage statement within thirty (30) days and the maximum rate is imposed, then the employer, insurer or self-insured pool may file a wage statement at a later time. If the late filed wage statement reflects that the compensation rate is less than the maximum compensation rate, the employer, insurer or self-insured pool may then reduce the compensation rate.” The 2016 amendment substituted “fifteen (15) days” for “thirty (30) days” in the second sentence of (a)(1) and near the end of (b). Effective Dates. Acts 2013, ch. 289, § 106. July 1, 2014; provided, that, for purposes of promulgating rules and regulations, making appointments and making necessary provisions for the implementation of the act, the act shall take effect April 29, 2013. Acts 2016, ch. 1056, § 6. July 1, 2016. Cross-References. Notice as to occupational disease, § 50-6-305 . Penalty for late filing of accident reports, § 50-6-118 . Workers' Compensation Appeals Board Decisions. An employee alleged a repetitive motion injury to her right hand and wrist while performing housekeeping and janitorial activities for her employer. The employer argued that because the employee was diagnosed with de Quervain's tenosynovitis on September 27 following “a few week history of right wrist and thumb pain,” and because she conducted her own “research” to determine the possible causes of her condition, she should have given written notice of her alleged work injury within fifteen days of the September 27 diagnosis. The Workers' Compensation Appeals Board disagreed. First, an employee is not required to give written notice of an alleged gradual injury until he or she “knows or reasonably should know” that he or she suffered a “work-related injury” that “resulted in permanent physical impairment.” There was no evidence the employee knew or reasonably should have known on September 27 that her condition was both “work-related” and “resulted in permanent physical impairment.” Second, there was insufficient evidence the employee was restricted from working or rendered unable to perform normal work activities until after her appointment with an orthopedic surgeon on October 26, 2017. It is undisputed she reported her alleged work-related condition to the employer no later than November 3, 2017, which was within fifteen days of the date she was restricted from working by the surgeon. Accordingly, the employer received legally sufficient notice of the employee's alleged work-related condition. Miller v. Old Folks Mission Center, Inc., 2019 TN Wrk Comp App Bd LEXIS 1. An employee reported back pain after lifting totes at work and sought medical benefits from her employer. After the employee was seen by an onsite nurse and a physician at an urgent care facility, the employer declined to authorize a referral to an orthopedic specialist because the employee was unable to identify a specific date of injury, a specific incident, or a set of incidents allegedly causing her back condition. The employer also asserted the employee failed to provide proper notice of a work injury and failed to show her back condition arose primarily from a work accident. Following an expedited hearing, the trial court ordered the employer to provide the employee a panel of orthopedic specialists, and the employer has appealed. First, the employer asserted that the employee did not provide timely written notice of the injury and did not even provide timely verbal notice of an accident. However, the employee credibly testified that she reported ongoing back pain to an assistant manager, and received medical treatment from the employer's on-site clinic. Thus, the employer had actual notice of the employee's alleged injury. Moreover, it was undisputed the employer provided the employee a panel of physicians pursuant to the workers' compensation law, and she was treated by an authorized physician. The employer offered no proof that any alleged defective notice caused it prejudice. Second, the employee was likely to prevail at trial in proving a set of incidents sufficiently identifiable by time and place of occurrence, where the employee offered unrefuted testimony that her low back pain began while she was lifting heavy totes at work in September 2018, and she further testified, again without contradiction, that she reported her back pain to an assistant manager on multiple occasions and, ultimately, was seen by an on-site nurse and by a panel-selected physician at an urgent care facility. Ibarra v. Amazon Fulfillment Services, Inc., 2020 TN Wrk Comp App Bd LEXIS 13.