Presenter
Abbie Hudgens, Administrator, TN Bureau of Workers' Compensation
Three Finalists
Nancy Brown
Claims Manager, Accident Fund Insurance Company of America
Nancy Brown has been with Accident Fund since 2013 and was named the 2017 Employee of the Year. As Claims Manager, she is responsible for overseeing workers’ compensation claims handling for customers in Tennessee and North Carolina. She is a certified adjuster in Tennessee and was instrumental in getting Accident Fund approved to be the first company listed as a certified adjusting entity in Tennessee. Included in her nomination was an article with the following quote from an injured worker at his hearing, “Judge, Nancy Brown is my adjuster, and she is absolutely awesome.” She was nominated by Tim Manring, Sr. Business Development Consultant, Accident Fund who said Nancy Brown has had a “major impact on thousands of injured workers, getting them back to work and getting the fair settlements they deserve.”
Jason Denton
Member, Rochelle, McCulloch & Aulds, LLC
Jason Denton was admitted to the bar in Tennessee in 2013 and represents injured workers in Middle Tennessee. He is a board member of the Tennessee Association for Justice (TAJ). He started and was co-chair of the TAJ Workers’ Compensation Litigation Group for the Tennessee Trial Lawyers Association. Mr. Denton is serving his second term on the Tennessee Workers’ Compensation Advisory Council, having been appointed by both Governor Bill Haslam and Governor Bill Lee. He was nominated by Rebecca Blair who said in her nomination, “When other attorneys stopped representing injured workers after the 2014 changes, Jason stayed involved…Jason gives his mind and his heart to our State, this System, and, most importantly, to the injured workers of Tennessee.”
Shirley Vincent
Owner, Guardian Medical Consulting, LLC
Shirley Vincent is a registered nurse and a board-certified case manager. While working for Crawford & Company she was awarded the Crawford US Quality Award for her work with workers with catastrophic injuries. In 2009, she founded Guardian Medical Consulting, LLC, a case management and medical-legal consulting services firm in Tennessee, Mississippi, and Arkansas. She was nominated by Martha Herron, an Occupational Health Nurse with Nucor Memphis, a client of Mrs. Vincent. Ms. Herron said in her nomination, “Shirley understands the needs of injured workers, and how important it is to collaborate with the injured worker, medical team, and the employer to have the best outcome for all involved so the injured worker can return to work.”
A distinguished panel of workers' compensation experts served as judges for this award.
- Jennifer Wolf, Executive Director, International Assoc. of Industrial Boards and Commissions
- Gary Cannon, Executive Director, South Carolina Workers' Compensation Commission
- Ron Dressler, Director, Division of Industrial Accidents, Utah Labor Commission
Session Description
Sue Ann Head was appointed as the Assistant Director of the Tennessee Workers’ Compensation Division in May 1979, and the Director in 1982. She went on to lead the agency for over 30 years. Her service to the workers’ compensation community did not end with state government. Sue Ann served on the Executive Committee of the Southern Association of Workers’ Compensation Administrators (SAWCA), including time as the President. She also served on the Board of Trustees for the International Workers’ Compensation Foundation (IWCF), oversaw legislative reforms passed in 1992 and 2004 and implemented most of the programs within the Bureau today. She was the guiding force behind the first presentation of this conference. Sue Ann passed away in May 2018.
As part of this conference, the Bureau will award the Sue Ann Head Award for Innovation and Excellence in Tennessee Workers’ Compensation. This award honors the legacy of Administrator Sue Ann Head, who retired in 2012 after more than 40 years of service to the agency. Terry Hill, Partner at Manier & Herod, won the inaugural Award in 2019.
The recipient of the Award, an individual or stakeholder who has introduced new strategies to claims management that have resulted in positive measurable outcomes, gone above and beyond the standards expected in administering the workers’ compensation program, instilled a workers’ compensation culture based on trust, cooperation and mutual interests, understood the concerns of injured workers and their families, and set an example to others in the field will be recognized during this session.