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Guck v. Daniel & Son6/28/2002
In January 2000, Mike Guck ("the employee"), a former employee of Daniel & Son, Inc. ("the employer"), brought an action against the employer in the Pike County Circuit Court seeking benefits under the Alabama Workers' Compensation Act, § 25-5-1 et seq., Ala. Code 1975; in his complaint, the employee alleged that on or about February 25, 1998, he had suffered an injury to his neck, shoulder, and back that had arisen out of and in the course of his employment. The case was subsequently transferred to the Bullock County Circuit Court.
The employer then filed a motion for a summary judgment, relying upon the pleadings and the transcribed depositions of the employee and Dr. D.L. Capistran, a chiropractor who had treated the employee during 1998. The employee filed a response in opposition to the summary-judgment motion in which he contended that factual issues remained to be decided; the employer filed a reply to that response. On April 11, 2001, the trial court rendered a summary judgment in favor of the employer; that judgment was entered on May 11, 2001. The employee timely appealed from that judgment.
The appropriate standard of review of a summary judgment is as follows:
"It is well settled that a motion for summary judgment is properly granted in situations where there is no genuine issue of material fact and the movant is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law. Clay v. River Landing Corp., 601 So. 2d 919 (Ala. 1992). In considering a motion for summary judgment, the trial court must view all reasonable inferences from the evidence in a light most favorable to the non-moving party. Wills v. Klingenbeck, 455 So. 2d 806 (Ala. 1984). Further, the movant has the burden of establishing that there is no genuine issue of material fact. Burks v. Pickwick Hotel, 607 So. 2d 187 (Ala. 1992). If the movant meets its burden, then the burden shifts to the non-moving party, who must show by substantial evidence that a genuine issue of material fact does exist in order to withstand the motion for summary judgment. Burks, 607 So. 2d 187; Clay, 601 So. 2d 919." Rich v. Warren Mfg., Inc., 634 So. 2d 1015, 1016-17 (Ala. Civ. App. 1994).
The record reveals that the employee is currently 39 years old and that his vocational background is mainly in the logging and trucking industries. At his deposition, the employee testified to having been injured on either Friday, February 25 or Saturday, February 26, 1998, while working as a treecutter for the employer on land located north of Dadeville, Alabama. According to the employee, at about 1:30 P.M. on the day he was injured, a cable attached to a "skidder" caused a half-cut tree to splinter and strike a nearby dead tree that, in turn, fell and struck the employee as he ran to avoid the tree, knocking him down. The employee arose from the ground and completed his work shift; however, he testified that he had noticed after the accident that he "just didn't feel right" in his back and neck.
The employee told his supervisor about the accident on the following Tuesday (which would have been February 29, 1998). The employee testified that his condition worsened thereafter, prompting the employer to refer the employee to Dr. Capistran. According to the employee, he consulted Dr. Capistran for a six-week period, but that consultation did not bring him any relief from the pain. The employee later consulted an orthopedic clinic in Opelika and was treated by two physicians, Dr. Taunton and Dr. Scott; he underwent physical therapy and was restricted to light-duty work. The employee was paid workers' compensation benefits for four weeks starting in late May 1998 or early June 1998, and, for a short time, continued working for the emp
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