What Do You Think?
In Tennessee, a heart attack at work may be compensable if it is precipitated by an unusual event. But how unusual does it have to be? Are we talking about a DJ being crushed when a UFO lands on his station? Or more like a bank teller getting robbed? Or something in between? The state’s Supreme Court, in the case of a driver who died at work, recently addressed the issue of how abnormal the event has to be.
The driver for a recycling company was hauling metal when a deputy pulled him over. The deputy later noted that the driver had a nervous demeanor. He did not at first tell him why he pulled him over. He pulled him over because some of the metal was hanging off the truck. In the prior year, no other employee at the company had been pulled over for similar reasons.
The deputy eventually explained why he pulled him over and told the driver he could not leave until he rearranged several large pieces of steel on the side of the road. Typically, a machine loaded and unloaded the trailer.
The driver climbed in the summer heat into and out of the very tall trailer. After 10 minutes, the deputy became concerned when the driver did not reappear. He climbed the ladder to the top of the trailer and saw him on his back looking up with a blank stare. The driver’s wife sought death benefits.
In Tennessee, an employee may recover benefits for a heart attack that is caused by a mental or emotional stimulus, rather than physical exertion. To be compensable however, there must have been a climactic event or series of incidents of an unusual or abnormal nature. The ordinary mental stress of one’s job won’t justify an award.
Was driver’s heart attack compensable?
A. Yes. Given all the circumstances, including the fact that the driver was pulled over because metal was hanging off the truck, was told he could not leave, and was forced to climb in and out of the truck, the event was unusual.
B. No. Drivers get pulled over all the time. Thus, the driver’s wife couldn’t show that there was an unusual event.
If you selected A, you agreed with the court in Taylor v. Dale’s Recycling, No. W2025-01193-SC-R3-WC (Tenn. 05/21/26), which held that the heart attack was precipitated by an unusual event.
What kinds of injuries are usual or unusual in your state? Check out Simply Research.
The court considered all of the facts and circumstances, including whether the event was a normal occurrence for workers in the driver’s field.
While professional truck drivers are expected to face routine traffic stops, this stop was not routine, the court said. Here, the employee, already nervous, was asked to exit his vehicle before being told why. “Employee was then told he could not leave the scene unless he rearranged several large pieces of steel on the side of the road, despite the fact that a machine typically loaded his trailer,” the court said. He had to climb up and down into a large trailer on a hot day.
Evidence that, during the prior year, no employee had been pulled over and instructed to rearrange their loads bolstered the finding that, under the circumstances, the event that led to the heart attack was unusual.
