Fort James Operating Co. v. Crump12/17/2004
Earnestine Crump sued her employer, Fort James Operating Company d/b/a Georgia Pacific ("Fort James"), on December 7, 1999, seeking to recover workers' compensation benefits for an injury she allegedly sustained to her lower back on March 25, 1998, while lifting a roll of plastic during the course of her employment with Fort James. Fort James answered Crump's complaint on January 7, 2000. On June 7, 2000, Crump testified in her deposition that she also injured her back on November 5, 1998. On January 2, 2001, Fort James amended its answer, admitting that Crump had pulled a muscle in her back during the course of her employment on March 25, 1998, and alleging, among other things, that any work-related injury occurring on any date other than March 25, 1998, i.e., the alleged injury she testified to in her deposition as occurring on November 5, 1998, is barred by the applicable statute of limitations.
On June 5, 2001, Crump amended her complaint to allege that she had also injured her back on November 5, 1998, while lifting a roll of plastic during the course of her employment with Fort James. On June 15, 2001, Fort James moved to strike the amended complaint, arguing that the claim asserted for the alleged injury suffered on November 5, 1998, is barred by the applicable statute of limitations. The trial court entered an order on September 10, 2001, denying Fort James's motion to strike the amended complaint. Thereafter, Fort James answered the amended complaint, again raising the defense of the statute of limitations.
On January 28, 2002, Fort James moved the trial court for a summary judgment, again arguing that the amended complaint alleging an injury on November 5, 1998, is barred by the applicable statute of limitations. The trial court denied Fort James's motion on February 19, 2002. Following an ore tenus proceeding, the trial court, on August 30, 2002, entered an order finding Crump 100% permanently and totally disabled and awarded benefits accordingly. On September 27, 2002, Fort James moved the court to vacate and/or amend its judgment or for a new trial. The trial court, on December 23, 2002, entered an order amending its judgment of August 30, 2002. Fort James appeals.
This case is governed by the 1992 Workers' Compensation Act, § 25-5-1 et seq., Ala. Code 1975. That Act provides that an appellate court's review of the standard of proof and its consideration of other legal issues in a workers' compensation action shall be without a presumption of correctness. § 25-5-81(e)(1), Ala. Code 1975. It further provides that when an appellate court reviews a trial court's findings of fact, those findings will not be reversed if they are supported by substantial evidence. § 25-5-81(e)(2). Our supreme court "has defined the term 'substantial evidence,' as it is used in § 12-21-12(d), [Ala. Code 1975,] to mean 'evidence of such weight and quality that fair-minded persons in the exercise of impartial judgment can reasonably infer the existence of the fact sought to be proved.'" Ex parte Trinity Indus., Inc., 680 So. 2d 262, 268 (Ala. 1996), quoting West v. Founders Life Assurance Co. of Florida, 547 So. 2d 870, 871 (Ala. 1989). This court has also concluded: "The [1992 Workers' Compensation] Act did not alter the rule that this court does not weigh the evidence before the trial court." Edwards v. Jesse Stutts, Inc., 655 So. 2d 1012, 1014 (Ala. Civ. App. 1995).
At the time of trial, Crump was 55 years old and had a 10th-grade education. Her employment history had consisted of factory labor and domestic housecleaning. Crump had been employed by Fort James for approximately 25 years and was working as a "wrapper operator" at the time of the incidents giving rise to this acti
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