 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Smalls v. Walker3/24/2000
Sm-101
In this personal injury action, the plaintiff, Frank B. Smalls, III appeals from the trial court's grant of summary judgment to the defendants, Tashon Walker and Donald Scott Boyd. The trial court granted summary judgment to appellees on the ground that Smalls's claim against them was barred by the doctrine of judicial estoppel. Smalls contends that the doctrine does not apply and that because a genuine issue of material fact remains for jury resolution, summary judgment was not warranted. We do not agree, and we therefore affirm the judgment.
The record shows that Smalls was employed as a route salesman for the Coca-Cola Company and was injured in a work related accident on January 17, 1995. His neck was injured, and he was eventually diagnosed with a cervical sprain. He applied for and received workers' compensation benefits as a result of this accident. He was released to full duty on April 12, 1995. Smalls's job involved delivering cases of drinks to stores on his route.
On May 13, 1995, Smalls was involved in a second collision, in which Walker reacted to Boyd's erratic driving by backing up and hitting Smalls's bumper. Smalls maintains this accident resulted in little injury to him and no damage to his vehicle. According to Smalls, he had been experiencing disabling pain from the first accident that eventually rendered him completely disabled.
Because his pain became increasingly severe, Smalls saw a neurologist, who determined that Smalls had disk herniations. Smalls was placed on bed rest. Further tests confirmed disk protrusion and spinal cord compression. He continued to have severe pain and developed depression.
Believing that the second, minor accident was not the cause of his problems, but that they continued to result from his first, work related accident, Smalls again sought workers' compensation benefits. The employer contested the claim, and a hearing was held. Smalls testified at that hearing that he was barely injured in the second collision and that the symptoms he experienced after the second collision remained those he had been having continuously since the first accident. Smalls maintained his disability was the result of the work related injury of January 17, 1995.
In his findings of fact and conclusions of law on the second claim, the ALJ found that Smalls's testimony and the medical evidence differed and the medical evidence was "more reliable and more credible." The ALJ found that medical records showed that the second accident was not minor, that it was sufficient to aggravate a pre-existing condition, and that any disability since that time was related to that non-work accident. Workers' compensation benefits were therefore denied.
Smalls appealed this decision. Because Smalls could not work and had overwhelming medical bills, he filed a petition for Chapter 13 bankruptcy in June 1996. He did not list a claim against Walker and Boyd as a potential asset. His plan was confirmed, and he continues to make small monthly payments to his creditors under that plan.
Smalls's appeals of his workers' compensation claim were exhausted in December 1996. He filed suit against Walker and Boyd in March 1997. When he became aware of the necessity of including the claim against Walker and Boyd as an asset, he instructed both his bankruptcy counsel and his personal injury counsel "to do whatever was necessary to correct the unintentional oversight."Walker and Boyd filed motions for summary judgment, both relying upon judicial estoppel to bar recovery by Smalls.
The trial court found that Smalls testified at his workers' compensation hearing that he was not injured in the secon
Page 1 2 3 4 Georgia Personal Injury Attorneys
Personal Injury Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|