 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
ELLISON v. THERMA TRU11/15/2000
refuse to stand Arkansas law on its head and compound the Commission's blatant error by incorrectly applying a substantial evidence standard of review to a plain question of law. Whether a party presents prima facie evidence of a proposition is an issue of legal sufficiency, not a matter of credibility or persuasiveness. In this case the relevant inquiry is whether the proof was legally sufficient to establish that appellant is in the odd-lot category of disabled workers, meaning that she cannot obtain and hold regular and continuous employment unless extraordinary good will, sympathy, or other similar special circumstances operate in her favor. The Commission recounted the proof about appellant's compensable back injury, respiratory disease, limited education, manual labor work history, and the fact that those conditions affected appellant to the point that Therma Tru's doctor directed that she discontinue trying to
work. Appellant has testified that she is unable to work. She plainly made a prima facie showing of being in the odd-lot category. Our decisions in Patterson, Buford, and Arkansas Lime Co., supra, and a host of other odd-lot cases, when coupled with other appellate decisions holding that credibility and persuasiveness are not proper matters to be considered in deciding if a party has made a prima facie case, deserve more deference than the spurious reasoning employed by the Commission in this case.
What is equally disquieting is that the majority has analyzed the Commission's decision on whether appellant made a prima facie case under the substantial evidence standard of review, the standard we use to review the Commission's findings of fact. Werbe and the other decisions previously cited show that whether a party has made a prima facie case is a question of law; we review those rulings to determine if the law regarding legal sufficiency was properly applied, not whether the ultimate decision reached by the trier of fact is supported by substantial evidence. The majority does not burden its opinion with supporting authority for its unprecedented conclusion with good reason; no such authority can be found anywhere else in American jurisprudence.
The Commission was wrong when it assessed appellant's credibility to determine whether she made a prima facie showing of being in the odd-lot category of disabled workers. The Commission was wrong when it denied appellant's claim for permanent total disability benefits despite the employer's failure or refusal to prove that a single job existed for someone with appellant's physical restrictions, tenth grade education, and history of performing only manual labor. The majority is wrong to turn its back on the entire history of Arkansas case law regarding the odd-lot doctrine and the equally authoritative record of our case law showing that it is reversible error to assess credibility and weigh the evidence in determining whether a party has made a prima facie case. Therefore, I respectfully dissent and hope the Arkansas Supreme Court will grant review and reverse the Commission's unfair result and misguided reasoning.
I am authorized to state that Robbins, C.J., and Neal, J., join this opinion.
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Arkansas Personal Injury Attorneys
Personal Injury Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|