Panel Upholds Award of Benefits for Worker's Industrial Hearing Loss

The Tennessee Supreme Court’s Special Workers' Compensation Appeals Panel upheld an award of permanent partial disability benefits to a worker for his hearing loss. Case: Bell v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., No. W2015-01675-SC-R3-WC, 08/07/2017, published. Facts: Steven Bell worked for the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. for 37 years. Shortly after he retired in 2011, he filed a claim for benefits for his occupational hearing loss. When Bell began working for Goodyear in 1974, an audiogram indicated that he already had severe high frequency hearing loss. Subsequent tests showed ...