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Holcomb v. Butler Manufacturing Co.6/3/2003
PUBLISHED
From an opinion and award of the North Carolina Industrial Commission denying his workers' compensation claim, plaintiff, Robert J. Holcomb, appeals. After a careful review of the record, we hold that the Commission's findings of fact are conclusive on appeal because competent evidence in the record supports those findings. Adams v. AVX Corp., 349 N.C. 676, 681, 509 S.E.2d 411, 414 (1998), reh'g denied, 350 N.C. 108,532 S.E.2d 522 (1999). We also find that the Commission's findings of fact support its conclusion of law. Accordingly, we affirm the full Commission's opinion and award denying plaintiff's claim.
Plaintiff began working for defendant Butler Manufacturing Company (Butler) as a temporary employee in May 1994 and became a permanent employee in June 1994. Plaintiff worked as a press operator; his duties included setting up the press, changing the die in the press, loading machinery, and operating the press.
Plaintiff contends that on 29 June 1995 he was assisting a co-worker, Ralph Graham (Graham), in lifting and stacking several 100-pound "top cords" when he felt a "pop" in his back and "fell to one knee." Plaintiff testified that he told Graham "something popped in my back" and "I can't help you no more[,]" whereupon plaintiff went back to his press and continued working for the rest of his shift. Graham, however, testified at the Industrial Commission hearing that he did not recall plaintiff saying he had hurt his back. Plaintiff did not tell any other Butler employee about his back injury the rest of that day or the next, when he worked a full shift. Plaintiff thereafter did not work from 1 July 1995 through 9 July 1995 because he was on vacation with his family at the beach.
Plaintiff returned to work from vacation on 10 July 1995 but left early because of back pain. Plaintiff testified he saw his supervisor, Duncan Stewart (Stewart), that day and "told him I had hurt my back. I didn't tell him how or why." Stewart testified that Butler required its employees to immediately report any work-related injury to their supervisor and to record the injury in a logbook, and that Plaintiff failed to follow these directives. Plaintiff also testified that he saw Butler's plant manager, Dana Wilson (Wilson), as he was leaving work on 10 July 1995, and that he told Wilson "I had hurt my back . . . I was cooking out and got up out of the chair, and something happened. . . . I don't know what happened to my back." At his deposition Wilson testified that he "specifically asked" plaintiff if his back injury occurred at work, and plaintiff responded "No, it did not. It occurred while [plaintiff] was on vacation. . . . He indicated his back popped. . . . When he was getting up from a chair." Plaintiff acknowledged giving Wilson this explanation for his injury, and plaintiff testified he did so because he was concerned that classifying the injury as work-related would jeopardize Butler's eligibility for a corporate safety award and could result in plaintiff losing his job . Wilson testified that he next spoke with plaintiff in April 1996, at which time plaintiff told Wilson he had actually injured his back at work but had not reported it for fear of losing his job.
On 11 July 1995, plaintiff went to his family physician, Dr. Bradford K. Faulkenberry, complaining of severe lower back pain radiating into his legs. At his deposition Dr. Faulkenberry testified that plaintiff presented with "a three-day history of low back pain " which plaintiff said began when he "was . . . cooking out, bent over, and felt a severe pain in his low back." Plaintiff, however, testified that he told Dr. Faulkenberry he hurt his back at work on 29 June 1995 while lifting th
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