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Trivette v. Mid-South Management11/19/2002
PUBLISHED
Defendants appeal an opinion and award entered 28 February 2001 by the Full Commission ("Commission") of the North Carolina Industrial Commission awarding plaintiff, Linda Trivette, compensation for a work-related injury and an order entered 22 May 2001 by the Commission denying defendants' motion to reconsider the opinion and award. We affirm.
This appeal arises from a worker's compensation claim filed by plaintiff alleging injury to her lower back during her employment by defendant, Mid-South Management, Inc. After plaintiff filed her claim, defendant admitted liability for medical expenses but did not admit liability for any disability, and this litigation ensued. The Commission awarded plaintiff benefits for temporary total disability for the period from 22 June 1993 through 9 July 1993 and for medical expenses. Plaintiff appealed and this Court (1) affirmed the Commission's determination that plaintiff was not entitled to an award of benefits for total disability for the worsening of a pre-existing condition, and (2) remanded to the Commission for findings regarding the issue of whether plaintiff has sustained, and is entitled to compensation for, permanent partial impairment. See Trivette v. MidSouth Mgmt., Inc., 141 N.C. App. 151, 541 S.E.2d 523 (2000) (Table).
On 28 February 2001, the Commission found that, in addition to the benefits previously awarded, plaintiff was entitled to compensation for a 5% permanent partial impairment of her lower back and compensation for temporary total disability from 31 May 1994 until 7 January 1997 when plaintiff reached maximum medical improvement. Defendants appeal to this court contending (1) that the Commission exceeded the scope of its authority in awarding compensation for temporary total disability from 31 May 1994 until 7 January 1997, and (2) that even if the Commission acted within its authority, the evidence did not support the Commission's findings of fact and conclusions of law concerning temporary total disability benefits. We affirm the 28 February 2001 award of the Commission.
In their first argument, defendants contend that the Commission exceeded its authority in awarding compensation for temporary total disability for the period from 31 May 1994 until 7 January 1997. Defendants argue that the Commission was instructed to address one issue on remand, the issue of permanent partial impairment, and that it was error for the Commission to address any other issue. In Hogan v. Cone Mills Corp., 315 N.C. 127, 137, 337 S.E.2d 477, 483 (1985), the Supreme Court observed that " lthough the Industrial Commission is not a court with general implied jurisdiction, it is clothed with such implied power as is necessary to perform the duties required of it by the law which it administers." The Industrial Commission, as part of its judicial powers, "has inherent power to set aside one of its former judgments," because the "power to provide relief against the operation of a former judgment is an integral part of the judicial power." Hogan, 315 N.C. at 137, 139, 337 S.E.2d at 483, 484; see also Jenkins v. Piedmont Aviation Servs., 147 N.C. App. 419, 424, 557 S.E.2d 104, 107-08 (2001) (holding that in certain circumstances, because of the judicial functions of the Commission, it may set aside a previous decision, even though it was not appealed). The Commission has the authority to set aside its former decisions in their entirety, which certainly includes the authority to set them aside in part in some circumstances, in the interest of justice. Moreover, in Crump v. Independence Nissan, 112 N.C. App. 587, 589, 436 S.E.2d 589, 592 (1993), this Court noted that "if necessary, the full commission must resolve matters in c
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