Tennessee Injury Lawyer Blog

Did you know that Tennessee has set up a fund that actually encourages employers to hire persons who have permanent disabilities? If you were hired with a permanent disability and have subsequently become permanently and totally disabled as a result of a work related injury, you may have a claim against Tennessee’s Second Injury Fund for lost wages and healthcare expenses, both past and future.

Enacted into law in 1945, T.C.A. § 50-6-208 provides assurance to employers that they will only be liable for the contribution of the worker’s second injury to the employee’s permanent and total disability. The Second Injury Fund pays for the rest.

To qualify for Second Injury Fund compensation, you must meet all of the following requirements:

• You must have sustained a permanent physical disability prior to becoming employed at your current job. The prior injury does not have to be work-related.


• The employer must know about the permanent and preexisting disability prior to the occurrence of the second injury.


• The combined effect of the preexisting injury and the second work-related injury must render you permanently and totally disabled. You are permanently and totally disabled if the subsequent injury prevents you from working at an occupation that would provide you an income.


• You must have sustained some percentage of the permanent and total disability from the second injury.

Remember, an injury arising out of and in the course of your employment is potentially compensable under Tennessee’s Workers' Compensation laws. If you feel that you have been permanently and totally disabled as a result of a second injury, the skilled and knowledgeable attorneys at Baker Associates can help. Know your rights under the Law, call today.