The Supreme Court of Tennessee held that a worker’s psychological injuries were attributed to an assault at his workplace and were compensable.

Christopher Tidwell worked as a youth service officer for the Natchez Trace Youth Academy in Waverly, Tennessee. On June 28, 2015 he was restraining a resident and received an injury that ultimately required him to have surgery. A pushpin or thumbtack had been used by the student who punched Tidwell in the face.

He took a week off after the incident and returned to light duty work where he would not be required to interact with residents. On several shifts staff members had not yet arrived to replace him and he was required to wake up children. He said he was worried one of the residents could “blindside” him and on one of these occasions he hyperventilated. He was treated for anxiety and depression in addition to his physical injury. He sought workers’ comp benefits for both physical and psychological injuries. He said he could not return to a position that would require him to work with troubled youth and could not return to his prior factory job because the incident made him unable to get along with people.

He had been released for full duty without restrictions but did not contact the academy before they considered him to have abandoned his position. There was conflicting evidence about whether his doctor had told him he was released for full duty, or if he was released physically but needed to be cleared by a psychiatrist.

A trial court determined he suffered a work-related injury and developed depression and PTSD as a result, saying that he required a psychiatric evaluation before he could return to work. The court awarded him $100,000 in disability and additional unpaid temporary total disability benefits and discretionary costs.

The Supreme Court agreed with their decision but reversed the awarding of the discretionary costs. They said he had made a meaningful return to work after the incident and his physician indicated he should not return to work without release by a psychiatrist. The academy also said he could not prove he suffered a compensable psychiatric injury, but the testimony from Mr. Tidwell and the medical evidence was credible. They reversed the discretionary costs for expert witness fees because they held that award violated the Tennessee workers’ comp fee schedule for expert witness depositions.

Read more here.