BRITTNEY RUSSELL v. WERNER ENTERPRISES, INC., ET AL. - Articles

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BRITTNEY RUSSELL v. WERNER ENTERPRISES, INC., ET AL.

Posted by: Azya Thornton on Aug 13, 2025

Court: TN Workers Comp Appeals Board

Attorneys 1: John Barringer and Jenna McNair, Nashville, Tennessee, for the employer-appellant, Werner Enterprises, Inc.

Attorneys 2: Adam Brock-Dagnan, Nashville, Tennessee, for the employee-appellee, Brittney Russell.

Judge(s): CONNER

In this interlocutory appeal, the employer questions the trial court’s decision to award benefits following an expedited hearing based on its determination that the assault the employee suffered was inherently connected to her employment. The employee sustained serious injuries when she was assaulted while loading her delivery truck at a customer’s location. The employer argued that the employee’s injuries arose from a purely personal dispute that had no connection to her employment or, in the alternative, that the incident was a random, “neutral force” assault without sufficient connection to the employment. The trial court concluded that the assault was inherently connected to the employment because it was perpetrated by the husband of a customer who inserted herself in a verbal dispute between the employee and the store manager regarding the manner in which the employee was performing her job. The employer has appealed. Having carefully considered the record and arguments of counsel, we affirm the trial court’s decision and remand the case.

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