According to the Commercial Appeal, Goodyear’s Plant in Union City, Tennessee, is to close by December 31, 2011.  The Union City, Tennessee, plant employs approximately 1,900 people who make radial tires.  All the employees will lose their jobs by the end of the year.  According to Mayor Terry Hailey, “Obviously, it’s a severe blow to the community.”  The plant opened in 1968 and the effects of the closing will radiate beyond Union City and Obion County, since workers commuted from the entire region, according to Mayor Hailey.

While working at the Union City Goodyear plant, many of the employees sustained on-the-job injuries for which they previously received compensation.  The closing of the Union City Goodyear plant may allow them to petition the Court for reconsideration of the earlier workers’ compensation award.  Thus, injured workers may be entitled to additional benefits due to the closing of the Union City Goodyear plant.

Tennessee law states that if an injured employee receives benefits for “body as a whole” injuries and the employee is subsequently no longer employed by the pre-injury employer at the same wage within 400 weeks of the date the employee returns to work for the pre-injury employer, the employee may seek reconsideration of the permanent partial disability benefits. These injuries could include neck, back, hip, or shoulder injuries.  The following is an illustration of how this could have occurred. If an injured employee at the Union City Firestone plant sustained a ruptured disc and was previously compensated for his injury, by the Goodyear plant closing said employee may seek reconsideration of the permanent partial disability benefits award.  Tennessee law also allows reconsideration for injuries worth more than 200 weeks.  These injuries include arm, leg, wrist, and ankle injuries.  Basically, the closing of the plant will enable people who had previously received workers’ compensation benefits to be able to petition the Court for additional compensation.

To seek reconsideration, the employee shall first request a benefit review conference within one year of the date on which the employee ceased to be employed by the Union City Goodyear plant.  If the parties are not able to reach an agreement regarding additional benefits at the benefit review conference, the employee shall be entitled to file a complaint seeking reconsideration in a Court within ninety (90) days of the benefit review conference.  The law firm of Nahon, Saharovich & Trotz, is the largest personal injury law firm in Tennessee.  The firm has offices in Memphis, Tennessee, and in Jackson, Tennessee.  The firm has 28 lawyers and has a section devoted to workers’ compensation.  Thus, if your job has been terminated by the closing of the Union City Goodyear plant and you had previously sustained an on-the-job injury, please contact the law firm of Nahon, Saharovich & Trotz at 901-683-7000 to speak with a Union City workers compensation attorney so that you can find out whether your could qualify for addition benefits under Tennessee law.