McAdams v. Safety Kleen Systems, Inc.

720 S.E.2d 896, 218 N.C. App. 166, 2012 N.C. App. LEXIS 70
CourtCourt of Appeals of North Carolina
DecidedJanuary 17, 2012
DocketNo. COA11-805
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 720 S.E.2d 896 (McAdams v. Safety Kleen Systems, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of North Carolina primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
McAdams v. Safety Kleen Systems, Inc., 720 S.E.2d 896, 218 N.C. App. 166, 2012 N.C. App. LEXIS 70 (N.C. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinions

STROUD, Judge.

[167]*167On 24 March 2011, the Industrial Commission filed an Opinion and Award awarding plaintiff “temporary total disability compensation in the amount of $754.00 per week[.]” Defendants appealed. We need not substantively address defendants’ arguments on appeal as we must remand for further findings of fact and appropriate conclusions of law based on those findings before such arguments can properly be addressed.

I. Background

It is undisputed that plaintiff sustained a compensable injury when he “was involved in a work-related motor vehicle accident” on 22 March 2007. The dispute involves the type and extent of plaintiff’s injuries arising from this accident. In its Opinion and Award the Commission made the following findings of fact:

1. At the time of the hearing before the Deputy Commissioner, plaintiff was 42 years of age. Plaintiff has his GED, and an employment history of working as a truck driver or as a heavy equipment operator. Plaintiff was employed as a vacuum customer service representative with Safety Kleen beginning in July 2004.
8. On March 22, 2007, plaintiff was involved in a work-related motor vehicle accident. Defendants admitted the claim as compensable and have paid plaintiff temporary total disability benefits since that time at the maximum weekly compensation rate for 2007 of $754.00. Defendant’s also have paid for all approved, related medical treatment.
9. Following the accident, plaintiff prepared a written accident report. Plaintiff checked a box on the form indicating that he was not injured in the accident.
10. In describing the accident on that form, plaintiff wrote:
While making a left hand turn across a two lane other driver was on the inside lane. I crossed the road with plenty of time to make my turn. She then veered to the outside lane for no apparent reason, resulting in hitting me in the rear.
11. The accident report prepared by the police officer who responded to the accident reported:
I asked Driver Number 1 (plaintiff) what happened and he [168]*168said he was turning left onto Old Tybee from Highway 80 and saw Vehicle Number 2 coming towards him. Driver Number 1 said Driver Number 2 struck the rear passenger side tires of his vehicle. I asked Driver Number 2 what happened and she said driver of Vehicle Number 1 turned in front of her.
12. Plaintiffs handwritten report and the report of the investigating officer were prepared in close proximity to the accident.
13. In his May 30, 2007 visit with Dr. Dockery, plaintiff indicated that his vehicle was stopped on the side of the road and that he had started to exit the vehicle when the other car, traveling at a speed of 74 mph, read ended his vehicle. He further reported that he was thrown about the cab and may have suffered a loss of consciousness. Plaintiff gave this same account to a physical therapist on June 26, 2007, to Dr. VanNess on July 16, 2007, and to Dr. Hill on November 20, 2007.

The Commission then makes numerous findings of fact regarding the opinions of the various doctors regarding plaintiff’s alleged injuries. In summary, the doctors’ conclusions ran the gamut, with some of the doctors concluding plaintiff had a variety of injuries and medical conditions and was “unable to return to work” and other doctors concluding that plaintiff had not sustained any serious injury and that “there was nothing preventing [plaintiff] from returning to work[.]” But the Commission failed to make any finding of fact as to what injuries plaintiff actually sustained as a result of his 22 March 2007 accident. The Commission did not reconcile the drastically different versions of the accident as described in findings of fact 9, 10, and 11 as compared to finding of fact 13, nor did it make any finding of fact as to what actually happened.

II. Necessary Findings of Fact
On review of a decision of the Commission, we are limited to reviewing whether any competent evidence supports the Commission’s findings of fact and whether the findings of fact support the Commission’s conclusions of law. An appellate court does not have the right to weigh the evidence and decide the issue on the basis of its weight. The court’s duty goes no further than to determine whether the record contains any evidence tending to support the finding.
[169]*169The Full Commission is the sole judge of the weight and credibility of the evidence____Moreover, the Commission must make specific findings with respect to crucial facts upon which the question of plaintiff’s right to compensation depends.

Sheehan v. Perry M. Alexander Constr. Co., 150 N.C. App. 506, 510-11, 563 S.E.2d 300, 303 (2002) (emphasis added) (citations and quotation marks omitted). Furthermore,

[i]t is impossible to exaggerate how essential the proper exercise of the fact-finding authority of the Industrial Commission is to the due administration of the Workmen’s Compensation Act. The findings of fact of the Industrial Commission should tell the full story of the event giving rise to the claim for compensation. They must be sufficiently positive and specific to enable the court on appeal to determine whether they are supported by the evidence and whether the law has been properly applied to them. It is obvious that the court cannot ascertain whether the findings of fact are supported by the evidence unless the Industrial Commission reveals with at least a fair degree of positiveness what facts it finds. It is likewise plain that the court cannot decide whether the conclusions of law and the decision of the Industrial Commission rightly recognize and effectively enforce the rights of the parties upon the matters in controversy if the Industrial Commission fails to make specific findings as to each material fact upon which those rights depend.

Thomason v. Red Bird Cab Co., 235 N.C. 602, 605-06, 70 S.E.2d 706, 709 (1952) (emphasis added); see also Lane v. American Nat’l Can Co., 181 N.C. App. 527, 531, 640 S.E.2d 732, 735 (2007), disc. review denied, 362 N.C. 236, 659 S.E.2d 735 (2008) (“This Court has long held that findings of fact must be more than a mere summarization or recitation of the evidence and the Commission must resolve the conflicting testimony.”) “For an injury to be compensable under the Worker’s Compensation Act, the claimant must prove three elements: (1) that the injury was caused by an accident; (2) that the injury was sustained in the course of the employment; and (3) that the injury arose out of the employment^]” Hollar v. Furniture Co., 48 N.C. App. 489, 490, 269 S.E.2d 667, 669 (1980), accordingly, findings of fact regarding these elements are “crucial facts upon which the question of plaintiff’s right to compensation depends.” Sheehan, 150 N.C. App. at 511, 563 S.E.2d at 303; see Hollar, 48 N.C. App.

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Bluebook (online)
720 S.E.2d 896, 218 N.C. App. 166, 2012 N.C. App. LEXIS 70, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mcadams-v-safety-kleen-systems-inc-ncctapp-2012.