In this recent case, S.E. was serving a sentence at the Coffee County jail in Tennessee, where he was assigned to a work detail that involved cleaning up public properties in the City of Manchester, Tennessee. S.E. fell off a pickup truck while on the job and injured his head. He sued both the City of Manchester and Coffee County for his injuries, medical expenses, and damages. Coffee County settled with S.E., but S.E. continued to pursue claims against the City of Manchester. In response, the City moved to dismiss S.E.’s complaint, arguing that it was immune from liability under the GTLA. The trial court agreed and dismissed the case. S.E. appealed.

On appeal, S.E. argued that under the exception to the GTLA for negligent acts by employees, the City was not immune from liability because a police officer with the City of Manchester was supervising the work detail at the time. The City countered by pointing to Tennessee Statute 41-2-123(d)(2), which provides that states, municipalities, and their employees are not liable to prisoners or a prisoner’s family for death or injuries sustained on work detail, other than for medical treatment due to the injury while the prisoner is in prison. Here, medical treatment had been provided to S.E. after his injury, and the City took the position that it was not liable for any additional claims. In response, S.E. argued that the GTLA took precedence over the statute identified by the City. After reviewing the two statutes, the Court of Appeals disagreed.

Most people do not realize how prevalent cases of TBI are or how truly overwhelming injuries of this nature can be. TBI is often missed during initial treatment and diagnosis because trying to stabilize a person and save them is the most urgent objective at that time. The death rate from traumatic brain injuries at one time in our history was very high because there were no fancy machines to monitor the brain, and surgery techniques were crude and rudimentary. Many people died due to pressure on the brain or because of impalement, bruising and the disruption the injury caused to major functions of the brain. Although the methods for diagnosis and treatment have advanced significantly, TBI still has a long-lasting impact, which is the main concern a brain injury lawyer will address in their case.

TBI has two classifications recognized by both the medical community and brain injury lawyer advocates: mild and severe. In many cases of mild brain injury, MRI and CAT scans often show nothing abnormal, and the individual will often have mild discomfort and minor problems for a few hours to a day or two afterwards These include headache, slow reflexes, memory problems, lapses of logic, irritability, attention deficits, mild confusion, sudden mood swings, temporary changes in personality and frustration. Severe brain injury can produce symptoms that involve the higher level cognitive functions, trouble breathing, heart rate issues, inability to respond to stimuli and complete loss of consciousness. Survivors may have trouble controlling their arms or legs, have abnormal speech patterns, lose their ability to think logically or experience sudden and drastic personality changes and emotional problems.

The effects of TBI can be profound. For many people with severe TBI, long-term rehabilitation is often necessary, and a brain injury lawyer can get someone the help they need.