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Fish v. Steelcase Inc.11/1/1994
ubject to review by the appellate courts. Id. We find the Commission erred in two respects. First, the Commission appears to have applied the pre-1983 interpretation of N.C. Gen. Stat. § 97-2(6). Finding of Fact #21 states:
21. Plaintiff's accident, if one occurred, came while he was engaged in his normal work routine of pushing desks. It did not involve any departure from his ordinary duties.
Nothing in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 97-2(6) precludes compensation for a back injury which occurs in the normal work routine. The 1983 amendment allows for coverage when a specific traumatic incident occurs within the normal work routine. The Industrial Commission's interpretation of the statute requiring an unusual occurrence or departure from ordinary duties misapprehends current law.
Second, the Commission erred in finding the injury did not occur at a judicially cognizable time. In the present case, the plaintiff presented evidence that he suffered a specific injury which can be placed in a judicially cognizable time period and that the injury was not the result of a gradual deterioration. The Deputy Commissioner found that the plaintiff identified "mid-April" as the time of injury. Other findings place the incident at some time between 8 April and 1 May. Even though there are a variety of possible dates for the specific traumatic incident, the plaintiff's evidence, if believed, satisfies the judicially cognizable time requirement.
To justify its denial of the plaintiff's claim, the Industrial Commission relied on the plaintiff's inability to name the specific date on which the injury occurred. The final finding of fact states that plaintiff's claim that the injury occurred on 17 April 1989 "cannot be accepted as credible."
This finding is simply a misunderstanding of the burden the plaintiff must meet to prove a back injury . Judicially cognizable does not mean "ascertainable on an exact date." Instead, the term should be read to describe a showing by plaintiff which enables the Industrial Commission to determine when, within a reasonable period, the specific injury occurred. The evidence must show that there was some event that caused the injury, not a gradual deterioration. If the window during which the injury occurred can be narrowed to a judicially cognizable period, then the statute is satisfied.
We therefore hold the Commission erred by applying the incorrect legal standard to the evidence presented. The cause is remanded to the Commission for a determination under the correct legal standard.
Reversed and remanded.
Judges EAGLES and LEWIS concur.
Disposition
Reversed and remanded.
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