Lowe’s Worker Hammers Down Medical Benefits Despite Claiming Only Jesus Could Help

Case File

After sustaining an injury from a toppling load, an employee for Lowe's had a somewhat rocky relationship with a doctor treating her, eventually holding up a picture of Jesus and declaring that he was her last hope for healing. Nonetheless, as Simply Research subscribers can read from the full text of the case, she was still entitled to medical benefits and physicians' treatment under Tennessee's workers' compensation law.

Case

Lemaire v. Lowe's Home Centers, LCC, No. M2025-00128-SC-R3-WC (Tenn. 09/05/25)

What Happened?

A Lowe's employee experienced an injury at work when a load of shelving fell on her right foot. Lowe's accepted the injury as compensable and authorized medical care. The parties disputed the employee's permanent impairment rating, and the employee also sought to replace her treating physician.

The case proceeded to a compensation hearing after which the trial court entered a compensation order. The trial court awarded permanent partial disability benefits based on a 20% impairment rating, along with future reasonable and necessary medical benefits. The trial court further determined that a change in treating physician was not warranted.

Later, the employee filed a petition for benefit determination stating that her treating physician had discharged her from his care and that the employer was refusing to provide medical treatment with another physician. In response, Lowe's argued that the employee was not entitled to a new panel of physicians or further medical benefits because she had not been compliant with her medical treatment and had refused treatment based on the employee's attacking her physician's integrity and showing the physician a picture of Jesus Christ and saying, "He would be the only one to heal" her.

The trial court entered a compensation order directing Lowe's to provide the employee with a panel of physicians qualified and willing to treat the employee's injury. Lowe's appealed, and the appeals board affirmed.

Lowe's appealed to Tennesse's Supreme Court, arguing that the employee refused to allow her last two authorized treating physicians to evaluate her to determine whether additional treatment was medically necessary.

Rule of Law

Tennessee law provides that an "injured employee shall accept the benefits" according under the workers' compensation statute, but nothing in the law requires an employee to undergo optional medical treatment recommended by an authorized treating physician.

What the Tennessee Supreme Court Said

The court upheld the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board's decision that no evidence supported a finding that the employee refused to accept the medical benefits Lowe's was obligated to provide under the terms of the trial court's judgment.

Workers' Comp 101: In Newell v. Metro Carpets, LLC, No. 2015-05-0091 (WCAB Tenn. 09/28/16), an employee posted derogatory comments about his treating physician on social media, prompting the physician to discharge him from treatment. The trial court ordered the employer to replace the physician on the panel or to provide a new panel, and the WCAB affirmed, stating that there was no evidence that the employee refused to comply with a reasonable request for examination, nor was there evidence that the employee refused to accept the medical or specialized services the employer was required to furnish.

Since there were no current treatment recommendations, there was no basis for terminating the employee's right to future medical benefits.

Similarly, while the Tennessee Supreme Court upheld the WCAB's stance that while it was the physician's prerogative to end the doctor-patient relationship, which "may have been reasonable under the circumstances," it did not preclude the employee from receiving reasonable and necessary medical benefits causally related to the work injury to which she was entitled pursuant to the terms of a final judgment.

Verdict: The Tennessee Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the WCAB and adopted its opinion.

Takeaway

In Tennessee, an injured employee is not obligated to accept all treatment offered by a treating physician, and benefits will not be suspended if the employee's refusal to undergo a particular treatment is reasonable.

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