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Medley v. North Carolina Department of Correction1/31/1992
EXUM, Chief Justice.
This appeal arises from a medical negligence claim filed with the North Carolina Industrial Commission by plaintiff, an inmate at Odom Correctional Institution, against the Department of Correction (DOC) under the North Carolina Tort Claims Act, N.C.G.S. § 143-291. Defendant filed answer and motion to dismiss the claim insofar as it was based on the alleged negligence of Dr. John H. Stanley, a physician who had treated plaintiff. The motion to dismiss was grounded on the allegation that at the time of the alleged negligence Dr. Stanley was an independent contractor and not an officer, employee, involuntary servant or agent of the state within the meaning of the Tort Claims Act. On 23 January 1989 Deputy Commissioner Page issued an order holding that Dr. Stanley was an independent contractor not subject to the Tort Claims Act. The order treated defendant's motion as one for summary judgment as to Dr. Stanley and granted that motion. Plaintiff appealed the order to the Full Commission pursuant to N.C.G.S. § 143-292. On 25 August 1989 the Full Commission entered a decision and order affirming Deputy Commissioner Page's order. Plaintiff appealed the Commission's decision to the Court of Appeals pursuant to N.C.G.S. § 143-293.
The Court of Appeals agreed that Dr. Stanley was not an employee of DOC, but it reversed the decision below on the ground
that DOC had a nondelegable duty to provide medical care to inmates. Defendant petitioned this Court for discretionary review, which we granted on 30 August 1990.
We need not review the Court of Appeals' ruling that Dr. Stanley was as a matter of law not an employee of DOC. We conclude that regardless of whether Dr. Stanley was an employee or an independent contractor, he was as a matter of law an agent of the state because he was performing a nondelegable duty for the state. We, consequently, affirm the Court of Appeals' decision.
I.
Pleadings and evidence presented to the Industrial Commission tend to show the following:
Plaintiff, a diabetic, developed an infection under his left great toenail in April 1984. On 3 April 1984 Dr. Stanley examined plaintiff at Odom Correctional Institution (Odom) and diagnosed plaintiff's infection as being due to an ingrown toenail. Dr. Stanley prescribed an antibiotic. On 6 April 1984 Dr. Stanley again examined plaintiff and removed the toenail. Four days later, on 10 April 1984, Dr. Stanley again examined plaintiff and found the toe was quite dark. He transferred plaintiff to Central Prison Hospital for further surgical treatment. At Central Prison another physician diagnosed plaintiff as suffering from diabetic gangrene of the left great toe and performed a limited amputation of the toe. The wound from that operation failed to heal, and an above-knee amputation was performed on the leg on 14 May 1984.
Dr. Stanley began working as the unit physician at Odom Correctional Institution on 1 July 1981. The contract relevant to this action required Dr. Stanley, for a five-year period beginning 1 January 1984, at a salary of $1,250 a month, to provide medical services for inmates at Odom twice weekly and in emergency situations at any time. Either party could terminate the agreement upon thirty days' written notice to the other. Dr. Stanley was not provided benefits, such as a retirement pension, enjoyed by full-time state employees. Nor was any money withheld from his pay for taxes or social security benefits.
Richard K. Panek, Director of Health Services for DOC's Division of Prisons, stated in an affidavit that physicians working in pri
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