Opinion ID: 1060368
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Total and Permanent Disability

Text: The defendant asserts that there is not enough evidence to support the trial court's determination of total and permanent disability. We disagree. As stated earlier, two doctors found the plaintiff suffered a 39% permanent medical impairment. The plaintiff himself testified before the trial court as to his injuries and continuing disability, and there was evidence that the plaintiff's disability was caused by the plaintiff's work for the defendant. In addition, after reviewing the record, we are of the opinion that the Special Workers' Compensation Appeals Panel erred in concluding that Dr. McKnight's testimony was too speculative to support an award based on psychological injuries. In our view, the record does not preponderate against the trial court's finding that the work-related injuries aggravated the plaintiff's psychological problems. Therefore, we reject the Panel's finding on this issue and affirm the judgment of the trial court. With respect to the notice issue raised by the defendant and addressed by the Special Workers' Compensation Appeals Panel, we agree with the Panel that Beyond the oral notice given by the plaintiff to people authorized to receive notice, we find the written form filed by the plaintiff with the defendant satisfies the requirement of written notice as to the physical injuries of the plaintiff.