In an opinion and award filed 18 August 1994, Deputy Commissioner Lawrence B. Shuping, Jr., concluded Arrington was not entitled to permanent and total disability benefits. The Full Commission reversed Deputy Commissioner Shuping and awarded Arrington permanent and total disability benefits. Defendants also allege Arrington provided insufficient notice of his intent to seek permanent and total disability benefits and, therefore, defendants were unprepared to present evidence at the hearing. The term 'disability' means incapacity because of injury to earn the wages which the employee was receiving at the time of injury in the same or any other employment . N.C. Gen. Stat.
Disability therefore refers to a diminished capacity to earn money rather than physical infirmity.
102 N.C. App. In the present case, Arrington currently holds a custodial position at Texfi. The custodial position pays an hourly wage in excess of what Arrington received as a chemical mixer, his pre-injury position. If the proffered job is generally available in the market, the wages earned in it may well be strong, if not conclusive, evidence of the employee's earning capacity. In Peoples , plaintiff sought permanent and total disability benefits because he allegedly contracted a debilitating lung disease while working for defendant.