## Facts

- Mary Guess worked as an assembly-line employee at a manufacturing facility in Memphis, Tennessee.
- A coworker lacerated his hand at work, and some of the coworker’s blood got onto Guess’s hand.
- Guess had no penetrating injury; she asserted she had open cuts and a fresh manicure.
- Guess believed the coworker was HIV-positive based on her observations about his health and associations, but there was no proof of his HIV status.
- Guess experienced an acute emotional reaction and later developed panic attacks, anxiety, and depression.
- Medical providers diagnosed Guess with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) attributed to her perceived workplace exposure to HIV.
- Guess repeatedly tested negative for HIV.
- The trial court awarded workers’ compensation benefits, finding a 38% disability to her mental faculties based on psychological injury.
- The employer appealed, and the Tennessee Supreme Court reviewed the case and reversed.

## Issues

1. Whether a mental injury based on perceived workplace exposure to HIV is compensable under Tennessee workers’ compensation law without proof of actual exposure.
2. Whether a claimant must prove actual HIV exposure through a medically recognized channel of transmission to recover benefits for fear-based psychological injury.

## Decision

- The Tennessee Supreme Court reversed the trial court’s award of benefits.
- The court held that a claimant seeking workers’ compensation benefits for a mental injury due to exposure to HIV must prove actual exposure through a medically recognized channel of transmission.
- Because Guess did not prove actual exposure to HIV, her PTSD and related mental conditions were not compensable.

## Legal Principles

- A mental injury may be compensable in Tennessee workers’ compensation only when tied to a qualifying work-related event; for fear-of-HIV claims, proof of actual exposure is required.
- In claims alleging psychological injury from HIV exposure, subjective belief and fear are insufficient without objective proof that exposure occurred.
- “Actual exposure” requires evidence of exposure through a medically recognized channel of transmission, not speculation about another person’s HIV status or mere contact with blood absent proof of transmission risk.

## Conclusion

The court denied workers’ compensation benefits for PTSD caused by fear of HIV where the employee could not prove actual exposure to the virus through a medically recognized transmission route, limiting compensability for disease-fear mental injuries to cases supported by objective exposure evidence.


Guess v. Sharp Mfg. Co. of Am., 114 S.W.3d 480 (Tenn. 2003)