TENNESSEE BUREAU OF WORKERS’ COMPENSATION

IN THE COURT OF WORKERS’ COMPENSATION CLAIMS 

AT NASHVILLE 

SONIA PURVIS, ) Docket No. 2019-06-1189

Employee, )

v. )

)

CLARKSVILLE MONTGOMERY 

COUNTY CAA,

)

) State File No. 58922-2018

Employer,

ACCIDENT FUND INSURANCE CO. 

OF AMERICA, 

 Carrier. 

)

)

)

)

) Judge Joshua Davis Baker

EXPEDITED HEARING ORDER 

DENYING BENEFITS

The Court held an expedited hearing on December 12, 2019, to consider Ms. 

Purvis’s request for temporary disability benefits and reinstatement of medical benefits. 

Clarksville Montgomery County Community Action Agency (CMCCAA) terminated her 

medical benefits when she refused to sign releases for medical records from providers 

who treated her for previous work-related accidents and other conditions. CMCCAA

asked that the Court deny her requests. For the reasons below, the Court denies Ms. 

Purvis’s request for temporary disability and reinstatement of her medical benefits.

History of Claim

The crux of the parties’ disagreement concerns the cause of Ms. Purvis’s current 

need for treatment. Before her most recent injury, she injured her right shoulder and neck

at work in 2011. She settled that claim with Auto-Owners Insurance for benefits that 

included lifetime future medical treatment. Additionally, Ms. Purvis suffers from lupus;

a condition she testified regularly causes her considerable pain.

Ms. Purvis suffered her most recent workplace accident on August 8, 2018, when 

she fell while walking up a wheelchair ramp. She claimed she injured her hip, back, 

FILED

Dec 18, 2019

11:33 AM(CT)

TENNESSEE COURT OF

WORKERS' COMPENSATION

CLAIMS
2

neck, right shoulder and right arm in the accident. CMCCAA accepted the claim and 

offered a panel of physicians from which she chose Doctor’s Care.

1

Ms. Purvis saw providers at Doctor’s Care three times. While she agreed that 

none of the physicians took her off work, Ms. Purvis said she could not work because of 

severe pain. She testified that the physicians were essentially prohibited from taking her 

off from work but introduced no proof to support her testimony.

Following the 2018 accident, Auto-Owners canceled Ms. Purvis’s treatment 

provided through her 2011 workers’ compensation settlement. It asserted that the 2018 

accident was an “intervening cause” of her current need for treatment. 

CMCCAA also suspended Ms. Purvis’s medical benefits, claiming that it could 

not determine if the 2018 accident caused her need for treatment, considering her lupus 

and the prior injury. It asked Ms. Purvis to provide releases so it could submit her 

records to the authorized treating physician for a causation opinion.

Ms. Purvis gave a release for one doctor but failed to do so for other doctors who 

treated her for the 2011 accident. She also refused to sign releases for providers treating 

her for lupus, arguing that her lupus had no relevance to her workers’ compensation 

claim.

Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law

Ms. Purvis has the burden of proving entitlement to the requested benefits. To 

carry that burden, she must present sufficient evidence to prove she would likely prevail 

at a hearing on the merits. McCord v. Advantage Human Resourcing, 2015 TN Wrk. 

Comp. App. Bd. LEXIS 6, at *7-8, 9 (Mar. 27, 2015). The Court finds she failed to carry 

that burden.

While the parties agree that Ms. Purvis had an accident at work and CMCCAA 

initially provided treatment for her injuries, CMCCAA terminated those benefits when 

questions arose about the medical cause of her need for treatment. Thus, the parties

dispute medical causation.

Ms. Purvis must prove medical causation through a doctor’s opinion to prevail at 

this hearing; she cannot prove her claim through lay testimony alone. See Berdnik v. 

Fairfield Glade Cmty. Club, 2017 TN Wrk. Comp. App. Bd. LEXIS 32, at *11 (Mar. 31, 

2017); Scott v. Integrity Staffing Solutions, 2015 TN Wrk. Comp. App. Bd. LEXIS 24, at 

*12 (Aug. 18, 2015). Ms. Purvis provided no medical opinion to prove her current need 

for treatment arose primarily from her 2018 accident, so she failed to establish she would 

 

1 Neither party introduced any medical records.
3

likely prevail on this issue at trial. Accordingly, the Court denies her claim for 

reinstatement of her medical benefits. 

The Court’s denial does not prevent Ms. Purvis from getting medical proof of 

causation. CMCCAA terminated benefits because it questioned whether her need for 

treatment arose from other conditions, but it did so only after asking Ms. Purvis several 

times to sign releases so the authorized treating physician could review her records. The 

Court finds CMCCAA’s decision to suspend her benefits reasonable under the 

circumstances, and this hearing may have been avoided if Ms. Purvis had signed the 

requested releases.

Given that Ms. Purvis did not establish the likelihood of proving medical 

causation, the Court also denies her request for temporary disability benefits. See Jewell 

v. Cobble Constr. and Arcus Restoration, 2015 TN Wrk. Comp. App. Bd. LEXIS 1, at 

*21 (Jan. 12, 2015). 

It is ORDERED as follows: 

1. Ms. Purvis’s request for temporary disability and reinstatement of her medical 

benefits is denied. 

2. This matter is set for a status conference on Monday, March 9, 2020, at 9:00 

a.m. (CDT). You must call 615-741-2113 or toll-free 855-874-0474 to 

participate in the Hearing. Failure to call might result in a determination of 

issues without your participation.

ENTERED DECEMBER 18, 2019. 

___________________________________ 

 Joshua Davis Baker, Judge 

Court of Workers’ Compensation Claims
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APPENDIX

Exhibits:

1. Ms. Purvis’s Affidavit

2. HIPAA Medical Release

Technical Record:

1. Petition for Benefit Determination

2. Dispute Certification Notice

3. Request for Expedited Hearing

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I certify that a correct copy of this Order was sent as indicated on December 18, 

2019.

Name Regular 

Mail

Via

Fax

Via 

Email

Service sent to:

Sonia Purvis X X 804 Parkview Ct.

Clarksville, TN 37042

epurvis496@aol.com

Gordon Aulgur X gordon.aulgur@accidentfund.com 

rosemary.marlatt@accidentfund.com

____________________________________________

Penny Shrum, Court Clerk

Court of Workers’ Compensation Claims

Wc.courtclerk@tn.gov