Appeals Court Affirms Decision In Workers' Comp Case Involving Dissimilar Diagnoses

JACKSON, Tenn. - An appeals court has affirmed a lower court ruling that a factory worker's lung disease was more likely caused by decades of smoking, rather than decades of asbestos exposure. Jones v. Firestone Tire and Rubber, No. W1999-02235-SC-WCM-CV (Tenn. Sup. Ct.).

The court wrote on April 27 that it could not reevaluate the credibility of the expert witnesses, nor could it say that the evidence preponderated against the finding of the trial judge.

Plaintiff James Norman Jones worked at a Firestone factory for 20 years until 1983. He alleged in his suit against his former employer that he …