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correction prior to official publication in the North Carolina Reports and
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NO. COA07-565
NORTH CAROLINA COURT OF APPEALS
Filed:
6 May 2008
LETESHIA CROSS,
Employee-Plaintiff,
v. North Carolina Industrial Commission
I.C.
File No. 150822
FALK INTEGRATED
TECHNOLOGIES, INC.,
Employer-Defendant,
AND
AMERICAN HOME ASSURANCE c/o
AIGCS,
Carrier-Defendant.
Appeal by Plaintiff from an Opinion and Award entered 2 February
2007 by the North Carolina Industrial Commission. Heard in the Court of Appeals 10 December 2007.
Anne
R. Harris for Plaintiff-Appellant.
Robinson
& Lawing, L.L.P., by Jolinda J. Babcock, for Defendants-Appellants.
STEPHENS, Judge.
Plaintiff Lateshia Cross was employed as an office assistant
at Fox Run apartment complex when she suffered multiple injuries in a
work-related motor vehicle accident on 6 June 2001. Defendants Falk Integrated Technologies, Inc., the owners of the
apartment complex, and their insurance carrier, American Home Assurance c/o
AIGCS, accepted the claim as compensable via an I.C. Form 60 and paid Plaintiff
temporary total disability benefits from the date of the accident through 12
May 2004. Although Defendants filed
I.C. Form 24 applications on 12 September 2002 and 12 December 2003 to
terminate Plaintiff’s compensation, both applications were denied. Defendants appealed the second denial, and
the case came on for hearing before Deputy Commissioner Chrystal Redding
Stanback on 24 January 2005. The Deputy
Commissioner filed an Opinion and Award on 14 March 2006, finding that
Plaintiff was entitled to receive certain benefits. Both parties appealed to the Full Commission. In an Opinion and Award filed 2 February
2007, the Full Commission reversed the Deputy Commissioner’s decision in part,
determining that Plaintiff was not owed disability benefits after 19 March
2002. From the Opinion and Award
of the Full Commission, Plaintiff appeals.
I. Background
Plaintiff began undergraduate studies at the University of
North Carolina at Greensboro in the Fall of 1999, where she completed one year
before taking a semester off to give birth to her child. She returned to school at North Carolina A
& T in January 2001 and, after completing her spring semester, started
working for Defendants during her summer break. Plaintiff testified that it had been her intention to continue
working full-time for Defendants after the summer ended while also attending
college.
While running an office errand on 6 June 2001, Plaintiff,
who was 19 at the time, pulled out of a parking lot and was hit by another
vehicle. Plaintiff was taken to Moses
Cone Memorial Hospital and treated for a fractured left femur, a fractured
pelvis, and head trauma. Dr. Daniel F.
Murphy, an orthopedist, performed surgery to stabilize the left femur
fracture. A CT scan of Plaintiff’s head
revealed a small area of hemorrhage in the left frontal lobe of her brain. Plaintiff was released from the hospital
with crutches on 12 June 2001, and was instructed not to place any weight on
her left leg for the following weeks.
During Plaintiff’s post-surgical care, Defendants provided
medical case management through Sheila Ward, R.N., BSN, CCM. Ms. Ward testified that Plaintiff indicated
she did not intend to return to work after her recovery and, instead, would
attend school full-time. The Full
Commission found Ms. Ward’s testimony to be credible.
Plaintiff also experienced blurred vision and was treated by
ophthalmologist Dr. Kathryn Hecker in July of 2001. Dr. Hecker advised Plaintiff to perform eye exercises and watch
for improvement. No additional care was
recommended or sought, and Plaintiff did not experience any long-term vision
difficulties. Plaintiff continued treatment for her leg with Dr. Murphy. On 19 December 2001, Dr. Murphy performed
additional surgery to remove the pin that had been inserted in Plaintiff’s
femur immediately after the accident.
Plaintiff attempted to return to school at North Carolina A
& T as a full-time student in the Fall of 2001, but withdrew halfway
through the semester because it was too difficult to maintain her class
schedule while on crutches and attending physical therapy three times a
week. In January 2002, Plaintiff
enrolled as a student at Guilford Technical Community College. During this time, Plaintiff continued to
receive temporary total disability benefits.
Plaintiff also experienced memory problems and was seen by
Dr. Jeffrey Schmidt at Guilford Neurologic Associates on 12 March 2002. Dr. Schmidt recommended testing, but noted
that Plaintiff could work with no restrictions. Neuropsychological testing was performed by Dr. Michael F.
Zelson, a clinical neuropsychologist, on 1 April and 4 April 2002. Dr. Zelson “did not identify any neuropsychological
impairment relative to the normative population.” Although Dr. Zelson opined that, compared to Plaintiff’s
pre-injury level of functioning, Plaintiff may have a mild deficit in her
ability to learn and consolidate new information, he did not anticipate that
she would have any limitations in employment of a non-professional type.
Thereafter, Dr. Schmidt released Plaintiff from care on 31
May 2002, noting that her neurological examination had been unremarkable. He assigned a permanent partial impairment of
two percent relative to her post concussion syndrome and again imposed no work
restrictions.
Plaintiff was released from Dr. Murphy’s care on 19 March
2002. At that time, he noted,
“[a]lthough she has not gotten back to running she is pretty much back to all
other activities. Residual weakness in
the left leg is definitely improving including the instability feeling around
the knee.” Plaintiff was found
to be at maximum medical improvement with a 15 percent permanent partial
impairment rating to her left lower leg.
No work restrictions were imposed and Dr. Murphy testified that, from an
orthopedic standpoint, he felt Plaintiff could have worked as an administrative
assistant starting 19 March 2002.
Although Plaintiff was released with no work restrictions in
the Spring of 2002, and testified that she was physically and mentally capable
of performing an office assistant job during this time, she made no attempt to
locate work or to contact her former employer to return to work. Thus, in September 2002, Defendants filed an
I.C. Form 24 application to terminate compensation. In her response, Plaintiff claimed that she had not been released
to unrestricted work, contrary to the medical reports. The Form 24 application was subsequently
denied. In its 2 February 2007
decision, the Full Commission determined that the 10 September 2002 Form 24
application should have been allowed and that Defendants should have been able
to terminate disability compensation as it was not owed after 19 March 2002.
On 13 August 2003, Plaintiff returned to Dr. Murphy,
reporting a several-month history of knee pain following try-outs for the North
Carolina A & T bowling team. Dr.
Murphy ordered an MRI of Plaintiff’s left knee which revealed a focal chondral
abnormality. Surgery was performed on 15 December 2003 to remove chondral loose
bodies. Defendants continued
paying total disability benefits throughout this time period.
In August of 2003, Defendants hired a vocational case
manager, Mr. Scott Perry, BS, CDMS, ORP.
Mr. Perry met with Plaintiff and her attorney on 19 August 2003 to
prepare a vocational assessment. During
the meeting, Plaintiff advised that she had no time to work because she was
caring for her infant son and attending school full-time. Although Mr. Perry identified several job
leads for Plaintiff, she did not follow up on any of them. She did, however, apply for an internship
during the Fall 2003 semester and testified that she felt capable of going to
school full-time while participating in an internship.
Defendants filed a second I.C. Form 24 application to
terminate benefits in December of 2003, but the application was again
denied. Mr. Perry then met with
Plaintiff and her attorney in February 2004.
At that meeting, Plaintiff reiterated that she did “not see how a full
or part-time job could fit into her schedule.” It was Mr. Perry’s understanding that
Plaintiff was not willing to rearrange her school schedule to accommodate a
job.
In May 2004, Plaintiff obtained an internship in Michigan earning
$3,500 per month, and Defendants thus terminated Plaintiff’s ongoing
compensation. Upon her return to North
Carolina, Plaintiff began an internship at American Express in September 2004
earning $15 per hour and working 20 hours per week. She also maintained a full-time class schedule.
After graduating with a degree in Industrial Engineering in
December 2004, Plaintiff increased her work schedule at American Express to 35
hours per week, earing $17 an hour. As
of the date of the hearing, Plaintiff was working full-time and attending the
masters program at North Carolina A & T, with plans to transfer to an MBA
program at UNC Greensboro.
II. Disability
By her first argument, Plaintiff asserts that the Full
Commission erred in concluding that she was no longer disabled from her
compensable injury after 19 March 2002.
“The term ‘disability’ means incapacity because of injury to
earn the wages which the employee was receiving at the time of injury in the
same or any other employment.” N.C.
Gen. Stat. §97‑2(9) (2005). The
burden is on the employee to establish both the existence and the degree of
disability. Hall v. Thomason
Chevrolet, Inc., 263 N.C. 569, 139 S.E.2d 857 (1965). The employee may prove disability in one of
four ways:
(1)
the production of medical evidence that he is physically or mentally, as a
consequence of the work related injury, incapable of work in any employment;
(2) the production of evidence that he is capable of some work, but that he
has, after a reasonable effort on his part, been unsuccessful in his effort to
obtain employment; (3) the production of evidence that he is capable of some
work but that it would be futile because of preexisting conditions, i.e., age,
inexperience, lack of education, to seek other employment; or (4) the
production of evidence that he has obtained other employment at a wage less
than that earned prior to the injury.
Russell v. Lowes Prod. Distrib., 108 N.C. App.
762, 765, 425 S.E.2d 454, 457 (1993) (citations omitted).
After an employee has established
disability, the burden shifts to the employer “to show not only that suitable
jobs are available, but also that the [employee] is capable of getting one,
taking into account both physical and vocational limitations.” Kennedy v.
Duke Univ. Med. Ctr., 101 N.C. App. 24, 33, 398 S.E.2d 677, 682
(1990). An employer can overcome the
presumption of disability by providing evidence that:
(1)
suitable jobs are available for the employee; (2) that the employee is capable
of getting said job taking into account the employee’s physical and vocational
limitations; (3) and that the job would enable employee to earn some wages.
Franklin v. Broyhill Furniture Indus., 123 N.C. App.
200, 209, 472 S.E.2d 382, 388, cert. denied, 344 N.C. 629, 477 S.E.2d 39
(1996). When suitable employment is not
available, the employer may provide vocational rehabilitation services to
assist the employee in finding work that is suitable.
In this case, Plaintiff contends that she
met her burden of establishing disability under the second prong of Russell
by producing evidence that she was capable of some work, but that, after a
reasonable effort on her part, she was unsuccessful in her effort to obtain
suitable employment. Citing Russos
v. Wheaton Indus., 145 N.C. App. 164, 551 S.E.2d 456 (2001), disc.
review denied, 355 N.C. 214, 560 S.E.2d 135 (2002), and Foster v. U.S.
Airways, Inc., 149 N.C. App. 913, 563 S.E.2d 235, disc. review
denied, 356 N.C. 299, 570 S.E.2d 505 (2002), Plaintiff asserts that her
“reasonable effort to obtain employment” was satisfied by her pursuit of her
engineering degree. Plaintiff’s
argument is misplaced.
In Russos, the Court concluded
that the plaintiff was entitled to paralegal training as a type of vocational
rehabilitation service. Since the
parties there had entered into a Form 21 agreement, a presumption of disability
had attached in favor of the plaintiff and the burden of proof accordingly
shifted to the defendant to overcome that presumption. The Court held that the defendant had not
met its burden of overcoming the presumption of disability and, thus, the
defendant was required to pay the plaintiff’s temporary total disability
benefits while the plaintiff completed paralegal training, as the paralegal
training “was a reasonable attempt at rehabilitation given the totality of the
circumstances.” Russos, 145 N.C.
App. at 166, 551 S.E.2d at 458. Those
circumstances included the uncontested fact that, unlike the case sub judice,
the plaintiff in Russos was released to work with restrictions on
lifting, pushing, pulling, and reaching activities which her employer could not
accommodate.
In Foster, as in Russos,
the parties had entered into a Form 21 agreement and the defendant did not
carry its burden of overcoming the presumption of disability that had attached
in favor of the plaintiff. The Court
stated:
The
evidence in this case shows that plaintiff was not qualified to earn the same
wages in another field that she received as a flight attendant. The evidence shows that “CRA representatives
had stated that it would be impossible for them to place plaintiff in a job
that paid the same as her old job and thereafter conducted a job search for
inappropriate lower paying jobs.” The
evidence also shows that the DVR representative stated “that plaintiff did not
have the educational background or job skills to transfer into a job that was
going to pay her anywhere near the $35,000 per year she had earned at
USAir.” In addition, the evidence shows
that receiving a Social Work degree would serve as the foundation for plaintiff
to qualify for a higher wage in another field.
Foster, 149 N.C. App. at 924, 563 S.E.2d at
242. Further, as in Russos, the
plaintiff in Foster was released to work with restrictions that
precluded her return to her pre-injury job as a flight attendant. Thus, the
Court held that the plaintiff was entitled to total disability benefits and
that her pursuit of a community college degree was a proper method of
vocational rehabilitation pursuant to N.C. Gen. Stat. §97‑25.
Unlike in Russos and Foster
where a Form 21 agreement established a presumption of disability in favor of
the plaintiffs, in this case the parties did not enter into a Form 21 agreement[Note
1] and Plaintiff thus was required to offer sufficient evidence to
establish disability. The evidence
established, however, that at the time of her accident, Plaintiff was working
full-time as an office assistant earing $8 per hour, having completed three
semesters of college. After her release
from the hospital, Plaintiff repeatedly told Ms. Ward that she did not intend
to work following her recovery and, instead, planned to attend school
full-time. Importantly, Plaintiff was
released to work with no work restrictions by 19 March 2002 and, although she felt
“she was physically and mentally capable of working and returning to a job as
an office assistant,” she chose to return to school instead. Such evidence does not support Plaintiff’s
contention that she was disabled after 19 March 2002 and is sufficient evidence
to support the Commission’s findings that “[P]laintiff was fully capable of
earning the same wages she earned at the time of the accident by March 19,
2002,” and that “[w]hile [P]laintiff could have earned the same wages that she
earned at the time of the accident, she instead chose to attend school
full-time.”
Furthermore, neither the defendant in Russos
nor the defendant in Foster was able to overcome the presumption of
disability created by the Form 21 agreement by showing that suitable jobs were
available for the plaintiffs. In this
case, however, even had Plaintiff proven disability, Defendants offered
vocational assistance to Plaintiff and
identified
several available positions that were suitable for [P]laintiff, including jobs
as a leasing agent at an apartment complex, receptionist, office assistant,
customer service representative, collections agent, medical records
coordinator, and data entry clerk.
These jobs paid between $8.00 and $10.00 per hour, and did not require
[P]laintiff to have obtained a college education. [P]laintiff failed to apply
for any of the jobs.
Finally, while Plaintiff attempts to
offer her educational pursuits as evidence of disability under the second prong
of Russell, the Court in both Russos and Foster only
approved the plaintiffs’ educational pursuits as proper methods of vocational
rehabilitation after disability had been established, and did not consider such
evidence for purposes of establishing disability. Accordingly, as Plaintiff failed to offer sufficient evidence to
establish disability, Plaintiff’s first argument is overruled.
III. Maximum Medical Improvement
Plaintiff also argues that because she
was not at maximum medical improvement with regard to her leg injury on 19
March 2002, the Commission erred in finding that Plaintiff’s disability ended
on 19 March 2002 and that she was, therefore, not entitled to receive temporary
total disability benefits after that date.
“Disability” is defined by a diminished
capacity to earn wages, not by physical impairment. N.C. Gen. Stat. §97‑2(9). “Maximum medical improvement” is
the point at which an injury has stabilized.
Carpenter v. Indus. Piping Co., 73 N.C. App. 309, 311, 326 S.E.2d
328, 330 (1985). While an employee may
seek a determination of her entitlement to permanent disability benefits under
N.C. Gen. Stat. §§97-29 or 97-30, or scheduled benefits under N.C. Gen. Stat.
§97-31 only after reaching maximum medical improvement, Effingham v. Kroger
Co., 149 N.C. App. 105, 561 S.E.2d 287 (2002), temporary disability
benefits may be terminated before an employee reaches maximum medical
improvement if that employee is capable of earning the same wages as prior to
injury, and thus, unable to prove disability.
Here, as discussed above, Plaintiff
failed to prove she was disabled after 19 March 2002. On that date, Plaintiff was released from care for her left leg
with a 15 percent permanent partial impairment rating and no work
restrictions. According to her treating
physician, Plaintiff was fully capable of returning to her job as an office
assistant. Furthermore, Plaintiff
herself testified that she was “physically and mentally capable of working and
returning to a job as an office assistant” after 19 March 2002. Although Plaintiff returned to Dr. Murphy a
year and a half later, complaining of knee pain following bowling activities at
school, and underwent further surgery on 15 December 2003, Plaintiff offered no
evidence that she was not capable of earning the same wages after 19 March 2002
that she was earning prior to her accident.[Note 2] As a finding of maximum medical improvement
is not necessary to terminate temporary disability benefits, and since
Plaintiff failed to establish disability after 19 March 2002, the assignments
of error on which this argument is based are overruled.
IV. Permanent Disability
Plaintiff next assigns error to the
Commission’s conclusion that she was not entitled to benefits for a two percent
permanent disability rating to her head.
“In case of the loss of or permanent injury to any important external or
internal organ or part of the body for which no compensation is payable under
any other subdivision of this section, the Industrial Commission may award
proper and equitable compensation not to exceed twenty thousand dollars
($20,000).” N.C. Gen. Stat. §97‑31(24)
(2005); see, e.g., Russell v. Lab. Corp. of Am., 151 N.C. App. 63,
564 S.E.2d 634, disc. review denied, 356 N.C. 304, 570 S.E.2d 111 (2002)
(considering the brain an important internal organ for purposes of compensation
under N.C. Gen. Stat. §97‑31(24)).
“[T]he Commission has discretion as to whether an award under N.C. Gen.
Stat. §97‑31(24) is warranted, and its decision will not be overturned on
appeal unless it is manifestly unsupported by reason, or so arbitrary that it
could not have been the result of a reasoned decision.” Russell, 151 N.C. App. at 67, 564
S.E.2d at 637 (quotation marks and citations omitted).
In Russell,
the
Commission made relevant findings of fact that on the date of the accident, 29
May 1996, x‑rays, a CT head scan, and brain MRI and EEG tests were
performed and all results indicated plaintiff had normal brain function; that
an additional MRI was performed in October 1996 which indicated plaintiff had
normal brain function; and that in June 1999 plaintiff underwent an independent
medical examination wherein the results of her latest MRI were confirmed to be
normal, her mental testing status and speech function were both normal, and the
doctor observed that plaintiff was very physically active and had reached
maximum medical improvement. The
Commission found, in sum, that “[a]ll physical examinations and testing, such
as the MRI’s of the brain, show no physical damage to the brain.” The Commission also made findings of fact
pertaining to plaintiff’s physically active lifestyle, her enrollment in
college, and her articulate and alert demeanor at the hearing.
Id.
“In light of these [uncontested] findings, [the Court could not]
conclude that the decision to deny compensation for a permanent brain injury
under N.C. Gen. Stat. §97‑31(24) was wholly arbitrary or manifestly
unsupported by reason, though there may have been evidence to the
contrary.” Id.
Unlike in Russell, the Commission
in this case made no findings of fact to support its conclusion to deny
Plaintiff compensation for a permanent brain injury under N.C. Gen. Stat. §97‑31(24). The Commission found that “[P]laintiff
returned to Dr. Schmidt on May 31, 2002, at which time he released her from his
care, imposing a two percent (2%) permanent partial disability rating relative
to her post-concussion syndrome.” This
finding of fact does not support, and in fact tends to contradict, the
Commission’s conclusion that “[P]laintiff has also requested compensation for a
two percent (2%) rating to the head, which the Full Commission finds to be
unsupported by the evidence of record and is, thus, denied. N.C. Gen. Stat. §97-31.”
Plaintiff’s medical records from her
treatment by Dr. Jeffrey J. Schmidt were entered into evidence. The notation from her 12 March 2002 visit
stated:
[A]
report of a CT scan of [Plaintiff’s] head immediately after [her car accident]
indicates a small left frontal lobe hemorrhage . . . .
. . . .
[Plaintiff]
did not attend summer classes following her accident . . . . Since returning to classes this winter, she
has had significant problems with her memory and other cognitive difficulties
and had to drop her calculus class. She
seems to have some element of both retrograde and antegrade memory problems and
has difficulty integrating the material. . . .
She finds she has to “write everything down[.]” She finds herself telling people things over
and over. She notes her spelling has
suffered. She also reports blurred
vision when she has to read quite a bit . . . . She is also experiencing headaches . . . .
. . . .
My
impression is that Ms. Cross has a history of concussion sustained in a motor
vehicle accident which occurred on 06/06/2001.
She had a documented small left frontal lobe hemorrhage undoubtably
relating to her concussion. She is
experiencing subjective cognitive difficulties currently interfering quite a
bit with her school work although she is able to function quite well on a day
to day basis.
Additionally, the notation from her 31 May 2002
visit stated:
The
patient had been seen by Dr. Michael Zelson at the Moses Cone Outpatient Rehab.
Center. She underwent thorough
neuropsychological evaluation in early April, and overall she was found to be
able to function well in most situations.
“Compared to her estimated pre injury level of functioning, however, she
did exhibit a mild though clinically significant decrement in her ability to
learn and consolidate new information into memory.” . . .
. . . .
[H]er
headaches have eased off quite a bit. . . . [S]he does
continue to have some trouble retaining certain material. . . .
. . . .
Ms.
Cross has a history of post concussion syndrome with mild traumatic brain
injury, . . . The prognosis for improvement from her
cognitive problems is quite good but there is some possibility that she may
never completely recover. At this
point, I would like to release her from routine neurologic follow up and would
apply a rating of permanent partial impairment of 2% relative to her post
concussion syndrome. . . .
Thus, unlike in Russell where a CT scan
performed on the day of the accident indicated that the injured employee had
normal brain function, in this case the CT scan performed the day of the
accident indicated that Plaintiff had “a small left frontal lobe
hemorrhage[.]” Furthermore, unlike in Russell
where the injured employee’s mental testing status was found to be normal,
here, “[c]ompared to [Plaintiff’s] estimated pre injury level of functioning .
. . she did exhibit a mild though clinically significant decrement in her
ability to learn and consolidate new information into memory.” Consequently, Dr. Schmidt assigned a two
percent permanent partial impairment rating for the post-concussion syndrome
Plaintiff sustained. In light of this
uncontradicted evidence, we conclude that the Commission’s conclusion of law
denying Plaintiff’s claim for benefits under N.C. Gen. Stat. §97-31(24) is
unsupported by its findings of fact.
Accordingly, we remand this matter to the Industrial Commission for
appropriate findings of fact and conclusions of law as to whether Plaintiff is
entitled to benefits under N.C. Gen. Stat. §97-31(24).
V. Credit
Plaintiff next contends the Commission
erred in awarding Defendants a credit for benefits paid after 19 March 2002,
and in applying said credit against Plaintiff’s permanent partial impairment
rating.
“The decision of whether to grant a
credit is within the sound discretion of the Commission.” Shockley v. Cairn Studios, Ltd., 149
N.C. App. 961, 966, 563 S.E.2d 207, 211 (2002), disc. review denied, 356
N.C. 678, 577 S.E.2d 888 (2003). As
such, the decision by the Commission to grant or deny a credit to the employer
for payments previously made will be reversed only for an abuse of
discretion. Shockley, 149 N.C.
App. 961, 563 S.E.2d 207.
Payments
made by the employer to the injured employee during the period of his
disability, or to his dependents, which by the terms of this Article were not
due and payable when made, may, subject to the approval of the Commission be
deducted from the amount to be paid as compensation.
N.C. Gen. Stat. §97‑42 (2005). The analysis of whether an employer is
entitled to a credit under N.C. Gen. Stat. §97‑42 is limited to a
determination of whether the payments for which the employer seeks credit were
“due and payable” when made. Foster
v. Western‑Electric Co., 320 N.C. 113, 357 S.E.2d 670 (1987); Moretz
v. Richards & Assocs., Inc., 316 N.C. 539, 342 S.E.2d 844
(1986). “Payments are due and payable
under section 97-42 when the employer has accepted the plaintiff’s injury as
compensable and initiated payment of benefits.” Thomas v. B.F. Goodrich, 144 N.C. App. 312, 318, 550
S.E.2d 193, 197, disc. review denied, 354 N.C. 228, 555 S.E.2d 276
(2001).
The record reflects that Defendant
considered Plaintiff’s claim to be compensable and filed a Form 60 Employer’s
Admission of Employee’s Right to Compensation on 28 June 2001. Defendant commenced disability payments
retroactive to the date of Plaintiff’s accident. On 12 September 2002, Defendants filed a Form 24 Application to
Terminate or Suspend Payment of Compensation in which Defendants maintained
that Plaintiff was “not owed temporary total disability benefits after her
releases to work, which occurred no later than March 19, 2002.” Although Defendant’s application was denied
by Special Deputy Commissioner Elizabeth M. “Lacy” Maddox on 31 January 2003,
the Full Commission found that
[D]efendants
filed a Form 24 application on September [12], 2002. Contrary to her testimony at the hearing before the Deputy
Commissioner, [P]laintiff claimed in the response to the Form 24 application
that she had not been released to full duty work. It is clear from the record that by September 2002, [P]laintiff
was aware that she had been released to work with no restrictions. Thus, the Full Commission finds that Form 24
application to terminate benefits, filed on September [12], 2002, was
improvidently denied by Special Deputy Order of January 31, 2003.
Accordingly, Defendants accepted
Plaintiff’s injury as disabling only until 19 March 2002 and denied Plaintiff’s
claim after that point. Inasmuch as the
Full Commission found that Defendant’s Form 24 application to terminate
benefits was improvidently denied, and Plaintiff has failed to establish
disability beyond 19 March 2002, payments made after 19 March 2002 were not
“due and payable.” Thus, the Commission
was within its statutory authority to order that such payments be deducted from
Plaintiff’s award of permanent partial impairment benefits.
However, as Plaintiff correctly asserts,
“[t]he Commission’s Opinion and Award does not specify the exact amount of the
credit, or the exact dates of the payments which were allegedly subject to the
credit.” Although the Full
Commission concluded that “[D]efendants are entitled to a credit for all
temporary total disability benefits paid to the [P]laintiff after March 19,
2002[,]” the Full Commission also concluded, and neither party assigned as
error, that Plaintiff was “entitled to temporary total disability
benefits . . . for the four weeks following her December 15,
2003 surgery[.]” Moreover, the
amount of the credit must be calculated in light of the Commission’s further
determination of whether Plaintiff is entitled to benefits for the permanent
partial impairment rating to Plaintiff’s brain, as discussed above. Accordingly, we remand to the Full
Commission for findings of fact and conclusions of law consistent with this
opinion on the amount of credit due to Defendants.
VI. Third-party Claim
By her final assignment of error,
Plaintiff contends the Commission erred in finding as fact that Plaintiff was
paid $25,000 to resolve her claim against the driver of the other vehicle
involved in the accident.
Plaintiff filed a third-party negligence
action against the driver of the vehicle which hit her. Defendants asserted a lien upon Plaintiff’s
third-party recovery pursuant to N.C. Gen. Stat. §97-10.2. Plaintiff made an Application to Extinguish
Workers’ Compensation Lien and, upon review of the application, Judge Michael
E. Helms distributed the total amount of the $37,501.00 settlement as follows:
(1) $15,000 to Defendants in full satisfaction of the workers’ compensation
lien, (2) $9,375.25 to Plaintiff’s counsel as an attorney’s fee for the
third-party claim, and (3) $13,125.75 to Plaintiff.
The Commission found as fact that Plaintiff
“was paid $25,000[] to resolve the [third-party] claim.” However, even if the Commission considered
the attorney’s fees paid out of Plaintiff’s recovery, Plaintiff would have been
deemed to have received $22,501, $2,499 less than the Commission’s calculation
of Plaintiff’s recovery. Thus, the
evidence does not support the Commission’s challenged finding of fact. However, this finding was not crucial to the
determination of Plaintiff’s entitlement to benefits. Thus, without the questioned finding of fact, the same result
would have been obtained. We therefore
consider any error in the finding to be nonprejudicial. Atwater v. Radio Station WJRI, Inc., 28
N.C. App. 397, 221 S.E.2d 88 (1976).
Accordingly, Plaintiff’s assignment of error is overruled.
For the above-stated reasons, we
AFFIRM IN PART, AND REVERSE AND REMAND
WITH INSTRUCTIONS IN PART.
Chief Judge MARTIN and Judge McGEE
concur.
1. No presumption of disability is
created by a Form 60 agreement. Sims
v. Charmes/Arby’s Roast Beef, 142 N.C. App. 154, 542 S.E.2d 277, disc.
review denied, 353 N.C. 729, 550 S.E.2d 782 (2001).
2. Plaintiff was awarded temporary
total disability benefits for the four weeks following her 15 December 2003
surgery, and neither party appealed this award.