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Fish v. Steelcase Inc.11/1/1994
y 1993, adopted the opinion of the Deputy Commissioner. Plaintiff timely appealed to this Court. On appeal, plaintiff contends that the Industrial Commission erred in not ruling (1) that his injury arose out of and in the course of employment, and (2) that it was a direct result of a specific traumatic incident of his work. We agree.
For purposes of workers' compensation, N.C. Gen. Stat. § 97-2(6) defines a back injury as one arising "out of and in the course of the employment, and . . . the direct result of a specific traumatic incident of the work assigned . . . ." N.C. Gen. Stat. § 97-2(6) (1993 Cum. Supp.). Prior to its amendment in 1983, this statute required that there be some type of unusual circumstance for a back injury to be compensable under the Workers Compensation Act. Bradley v. E.B. Sportswear, Inc., 77 N.C. App. 450, 335 S.E.2d 52 (1985). With the 1983 amendment, the Legislature intended to relax this requirement. Id. at 452, 335 S.E.2d at 53. The amended statute provides two theories on which a back injury claimant can proceed: (1) that claimant was injured by accident; or (2) that the injury arose from a specific traumatic incident. Richards v. Town of Valdese, 92 N.C. App. 222, 224, 374 S.E.2d 116, 118 (1988), disc. review denied, 324 N.C. 337, 378 S.E.2d 799 (1989).
An accident is an "unlooked for and untoward event which is not expected or designed by the person who suffers the injury ." Adams v. Burlington Industries Inc., 61 N.C. App. 258, 260, 300 S.E.2d 455, 456 (1983) (quoting Hensley v. Cooperative, 246 N.C. 274, 278, 98 S.E.2d 289, 292 (1957)). Because plaintiff has not alleged that his injury was the result of an accident, the only issue in this case is whether the plaintiff presented sufficient evidence to support a finding of a specific traumatic incident.
While the case law interpreting the specific traumatic incident provision of N.C. Gen. Stat. § 97-2(6) requires the plaintiff to prove an injury at a cognizable time, this does not compel the plaintiff to allege the specific hour or day of the injury. As we stated in Richards, the General Assembly did not intend to limit the definition of specific traumatic incident to an instantaneous occurrence. Richards, 92 N.C. App. at 225, 374 S.E.2d at 118-19. Events which occur contemporaneously, during a cognizable time period, and which cause a back injury , fit the definition intended by the legislature. Id. at 225, 374 S.E.2d at 119. To hold otherwise would defeat the purpose of the amendment.
The issue in this case is whether plaintiff presented credible evidence that the injury occurred at a judicially cognizable time. The Full Commission adopted the Deputy Commissioner's Conclusions that, as a matter of law, plaintiff sustained a back injury neither as a result of an accident, nor as a result of a specific traumatic injury. The Conclusion that plaintiff suffered no injury as a result of a specific traumatic injury is error, and the opinion and award must be reversed and the cause remanded.
The findings of fact by the Industrial Commission are conclusive on appeal, if there is any competent evidence to support them, and even if there is evidence that would support contrary findings. Richards, 92 N.C. App. at 225, 374 S.E.2d at 118. Conclusions of law based on these findings, however, are s
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