Opinion ID: 2134248
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: facts

Text: On February 2, 1994, George T. Terry, a Georgia resident, saw a newspaper advertisement in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution for employment as a truck driver with Heartland Express, Inc., an Iowa company headquartered in Coralville, Iowa. In responding to the advertisement, Terry called the Heartland terminal in Forest Park, Georgia. Later, Terry filled out an application at this terminal and turned it into an employee at the terminal, who told Terry that he would forward the application to Coralville for approval. As instructed, Terry called this employee two days later and was told he was hired. As a truck driver for Heartland, Terry covered a number of states, including Iowa. He picked up and dropped loads in Iowa three to four times per month. Some months, Terry did not come into Iowa at all. Terry took dispatch orders out of Coralville three to seven times per week, sent completed logs to Iowa, and received his pay from Iowa. On October 4, 1995, Terry was driving for Heartland in Louisiana. When he tried to lock the double doors of his semi-trailer in hurricane winds, the right door came loose, striking him in the forehead. The blow knocked him unconscious. Later, with some difficulty stemming from dizziness and nausea, Terry drove to Memphis, Tennessee. On October 6, he returned to Atlanta, Georgia, where he saw a doctor on October 11. The doctor determined that Terry had suffered a brain injury. Within days of the injury, Heartland filed an Iowa First Report of Injury. In December 1995, Heartland filed an Iowa First Supplemental Claim Activity Report and began paying weekly benefits.