The Supreme Court of Tennessee’s Special Workers’ Compensation Appeals Panel affirmed a decision finding that an injured worker failed to introduce evidence supporting her claim that she contracted COVID-19 at work.
As documented in Lella Yvonne Graham v. CHI Memorial Healthcare System et al., filed Nov. 26, Lella Y. Graham alleged that she contracted COVID-19 in December 2020 through regular contact with patients and co-workers at the CHI Memorial Healthcare System facility where she worked. She said the occupational exposure caused a disabling lung injury and other complications consistent with what’s commonly called “long COVID.”
CHI Memorial retained a pulmonologist as a medical expert who opined that Graham had widespread community-risk exposure to COVID-19 and that it was impossible to conclude work was the primary cause of her illness.
CHI filed a motion for summary judgment. Ms. Graham requested a continuance to obtain the opinion of a new medical expert.
The Court of Workers’ Compensation Claims in July 2024 denied her motion for a continuance and entered judgment in favor of CHI Memorial. The court credited the employer’s witness and held that summary judgment was appropriate because Ms. Graham failed to introduce any expert medical evidence to support her claim.
The Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board affirmed, citing Ms. Graham’s failure to introduce evidence on causation as supporting the entry of summary judgment.
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