Marini v. City of King

CourtNorth Carolina Industrial Commission
DecidedMay 17, 2010
DocketI.C. NO. 888532.
StatusPublished

This text of Marini v. City of King (Marini v. City of King) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering North Carolina Industrial Commission primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Marini v. City of King, (N.C. Super. Ct. 2010).

Opinion

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The Full Commission has reviewed the prior Opinion and Award based upon the record of the proceedings before Deputy Commissioner Deluca and the briefs and arguments before the Full Commission. The appealing party has shown good grounds to reconsider the evidence. The Full Commission REVERSES the Opinion and Award of the Deputy Commissioner and enters the following Opinion and Award.

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The Full Commission finds as fact and concludes as matters of law the following which were entered into by the parties at the hearing before the Deputy Commissioner as:

STIPULATIONS *Page 2
1. The date of injury which is the subject of this claim is January 26, 2008.

2. On January 26, 2008, the parties were subject to and bound by the provisions of the North Carolina Workers' Compensation Act.

3. On January 26, 2008, defendant-employer employed three or more employees.

4. On January 26, 2008, defendant-employer was insured by the North Carolina League of Municipalities.

5. Defendants accepted plaintiff's claim as compensable by filing a Form 60 on October 20, 2008.

6. The issues before the Commission are what is plaintiff's proper average weekly wage to use for calculation of his compensation rate and whether plaintiff is entitled to additional disability and medical compensation, including treatment of plaintiff's seizures.

7. Stipulated Exhibits 1 and 2 were entered into the record.

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Based upon the greater weight of the competent and credible evidence of record in this matter, the Full Commission makes the following:

FINDINGS OF FACT
1. At the time of the hearing before the Deputy Commissioner, plaintiff was a 35 year old man with some college education in the field of law enforcement. Plaintiff lives in King, North Carolina, with his parents, where he has lived since November 2008.

2. Plaintiff began working full time for the Forsyth County Sheriff's Department in the Forsyth County Jail in May, 2003. Plaintiff's 2007 Forsyth County W-2 form indicated he earned $31,078.80 as a corrections officer with Forsyth County. Plaintiff principally earned his wages working for the Forsyth County Sheriff's Department. *Page 3

3. Plaintiff also worked part time for TSI in Kernersville and earned $10.00 an hour working 10-30 hours per week. Plaintiff began this employment between the end of 2004 and beginning of 2005 and worked in their warehouse.

4. Plaintiff first began working for defendant-employer as a volunteer firefighter in 2001. He was not paid for any of the work he did for the fire department at that time. Defendant-employer later changed its guidelines so that some of its volunteer firefighters could be paid for some of the work they performed. Plaintiff returned to work as a firefighter for defendant-employer in 2006.

5. As of 2006, defendant-employer had four levels of firefighters in the fire department. The four levels included full-time firefighters, part-time fill-in firefighters, paid-on-call firefighters, and volunteer firefighters. Plaintiff was classified by defendant-employer as a paid-on-call firefighter.

6. Plaintiff was paid $6.15 per hour for responding to calls as a firefighter for defendant-employer. Plaintiff was required to perform a minimum of eight hours per month of firefighter activities, as well as four hours per month of training. Plaintiff was paid on an hourly basis for these activities. If plaintiff did not perform these minimum activities, his relationship with the fire department could be terminated.

7. Plaintiff decided at the time of each call whether or not he would respond to the call. Plaintiff was not reprimanded if he chose not to respond. Plaintiff's response to pages or calls was voluntary and response to every call was not required.

8. Plaintiff entered his time in a log book kept at the fire department. Plaintiff was required to keep up with his own time related to calls. Plaintiff received payment for the time that he entered in the log book. Plaintiff was not allowed to claim time for all work performed, *Page 4 but was allowed to claim times when he responded to calls and some other activities. Defendant-employer did not always pay for plaintiff's response to every call. Calls to the fire station were categorized, with Tier I calls handled by staff present at the fire house and Tiers II and III calls used for more serious emergencies for which personnel were summoned to respond. Plaintiff responded to some Tier I calls without receiving payment.

9. Plaintiff performed some tasks for which he did not receive compensation, including when he cleaned equipment and trucks, when he refilled oil and water cans, and when he manned radios. At the hearing plaintiff described his work experience: "[M]ost of the stuff I done was volunteer. I stayed twenty-four hours at the station, volunteered, yes, on my own time, my choice. But, you know, the only time I got paid if I ran a call. I didn't get paid for those twenty-four hours that I done, and I cleaned up and stuff. I just got paid for my calls."

10. Plaintiff was allowed to respond to emergency calls in his personal vehicle or drive to the station and ride on station vehicles. Plaintiff was not reimbursed for mileage or for the use of his personal vehicle in his response to emergency calls.

11. Plaintiff received a paycheck at the end of each month from defendant-employer. At the end of the year, plaintiff received a W-2 from defendant-employer, which was not submitted as part of the evidence of record. There is no evidence in the record concerning plaintiff's actual wages from defendant-employer, but on all the forms submitted by defendants, plaintiff's average weekly wage is shown as $30.00 per week, which is the statutory minimum.

12. In the early hours of January 26, 2008, plaintiff responded to an emergency call from defendant-employer. Plaintiff proceeded in his personal vehicle to the fire department after his beeper sounded several times. Plaintiff was not paid for his response to the call on January 26, 2008. *Page 5

13. Before plaintiff arrived at the fire department, plaintiff's truck collided with another emergency responder vehicle. Emergency Medical Services arrived at the scene. The medical reports indicate plaintiff lost consciousness and that he complained of head pain.

14. Plaintiff was transported by ambulance to Forsyth Hospital's Emergency Department. Plaintiff was treated for a concussion and left thigh and knee contusions. Emergency Department records note plaintiff had a large scalp hematoma. Plaintiff was instructed to follow-up with a neurologist, Dr. Bey. Plaintiff was instructed not to work for seven days.

15. Dr. Heidi Marlowe-Rogers, plaintiff's general practitioner, treated plaintiff after his motor vehicle accident. On January 30, 2008, Dr. Marlowe-Rogers assessed plaintiff with scalp laceration, facial contusions, subconjunctival hemorrhage, right hip pain, left knee pain, left thigh contusions and superficial abrasions elsewhere status post motor vehicle accident. Dr. Marlowe-Rogers prescribed Oxycodone, Valium, Ibuprofen, and Ambien. Plaintiff was written out of work from January 26, 2008 to February 10, 2008. On February 8, 2008, plaintiff returned to Dr. Marlowe-Rogers and she noted depressive symptoms in addition to the previous post motor vehicle accident impressions. Plaintiff was written out of work until February 25, 2008.

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Bluebook (online)
Marini v. City of King, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/marini-v-city-of-king-ncworkcompcom-2010.