Massey v. WR Grace & Company

334 S.E.2d 122, 286 S.C. 434, 1985 S.C. LEXIS 471

• Court: Supreme Court of South Carolina
• Decided: August 21, 1985
• Docket: 22362
• Status: Published

Opinions

Ness, Justice:

This is a worker’s compensation case. Respondent claimant, David Massey, was denied benefits by the Industrial Commission because his injury was not job related. The circuit court reversed holding claimant had proved a com-pensable injury. We affirm.

Claimant is a sixty year old man who had been employed in appellant’s mineral ore plant for twelve years. His duties included throwing out large rocks before the ore mixture reached the grate. He worked seven days a week and had not missed a day in over a year at the time of the injury.

The day of the injury, claimant testified he felt a catch in his back which continued to get worse day after day. His physician testified claimant had ruptured a disc rendering him incapable of continuing work as a hard laborer.

The decision of the Industrial Commission will not be overturned by the circuit court or this Court unless clearly erroneous in view of the substantial evidence in the record. Mitchem v. Fiske-Carter Construction Company, 278 S. C. 180, 293 S. E. (2d) 701 (1982); Lark v. Bi-Lo, Inc., 276 S. C. 130, 276 S. E. (2d) 304 (1981).

After reviewing the testimony, we agree with the circuit court the evidence supporting a compensable injury is overwhelming and there was no evidence in the record to support the decision of the Industrial Commission.

We affirm the Circuit Court’s finding of a compensable injury and the award of benefits to respondent-claimant.

Affirmed.

Littlejohn, C. J., and Harwell and Chandler, JJ., concur. Gregory, J., dissenting in separate opinion.