The employer blamed his health history – here's why that strategy backfired
A minor scratch from trailer components cost one trucking company over $700,000.
On March 5, 2026, Tennessee's Workers' Compensation Appeals Board ruled that Marten Transport, Limited must cover the medical bills of a truck driver who lost his arm after a scratch sustained on the job became catastrophically infected. The decision, which runs to the heart of how employers handle workers' compensation claims involving employees with preexisting health conditions, is a sharp reminder that trying to shift the blame onto an employee's medical history is a strategy with serious limits.
The facts of the case are hard to forget. Terry Gandy, a truck driver who picked up loads from a Shelbyville distribution center and delivered them to Walmart locations across Tennessee and Kentucky, alleged he scratched his wrist on trailer components during a delivery run in April 2023. It seemed minor. He said he applied some Neosporin, possibly wiped it clean, and kept working.
Days later, the skin around the wound had turned black. By April 22, Gandy could barely walk or speak clearly when he pulled back into the Shelbyville yard. His manager, thinking he was drunk, took him to the emergency room. Doctors stabilized him but determined he needed more specialized care, and transferred him by medical flight to Vanderbilt University Medical Center. It was there that physicians identified the true extent of what was...
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