Opinion ID: 1372525
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: employer benefit theory

Text: In Guest v. Iron & Metal Co., 241 N.C. 448, 85 S.E.2d 596 (1955), this Court held that if the acts of the employee benefit his employer to any appreciable extent, then the injury or death is compensable. Appreciable means noticeable. The American Heritage Dictionary 64 (1980). It is not necessary that the benefit be measured in dollars or cents or in other quantitative methods. In our case, the assistance of Timothy Roberts to Mr. Winters, the man previously struck by an automobile, was related to his employment because Burlington Industries was benefited to an appreciable extent. The actions of Mr. Roberts, in which he tried to save the life of a stranger injured on the highway, benefited Burlington Industries by increasing the employer's goodwill. To me, it is indisputable that Burlington's goodwill was benefited by the tragic events in question. This is demonstrated by the local and regional newspapers that carried the story. The Lexington Dispatch printed: A designer for Burlington Furniture in Lexington was killed on rain-slick Interstate 85 Thursday night after he stopped to direct traffic around the body of a pedestrian who had been fatally injured moments before. .... John Buckner, division personnel manager at Burlington, said this morning that Roberts had worked as a furniture designer for Burlington since July. It is going to be a tragic loss for us. I just do not know the facts at this time ... we are trying to gather facts at this time. The Thomasville newspaper printed: Roberts was a graduate of Fieldale-Collinsville High School and Kendall School of Design in Grand Rapids, Mich. He was employed as a furniture designer with Burlington Industries. Similar articles appeared in the Greensboro Daily News, the Greensboro Record, and the High Point Enterprise. Also, in the December issue of Furniture Today, an article appeared concerning this accident which stated: A 29-year-old staff designer for Burlington Furniture in Lexington, N.C., in the act of being a good Samaritan, was struck and killed as he attempted to aid a man lying on a busy interstate highway. The article was of three columns and contained a headline stating, BURLINGTON'S TIM ROBERTS [] DESIGNER KILLED WHILE AIDING HURT MAN. Furniture Today is a trade publication generally circulated throughout the furniture industry. The majority's holding that these articles are too remote and too immeasurable to result in any benefit to Burlington is simply unsupported by this record. The goodwill of Burlington can only have been benefited by the publications presenting its employee in heroic proportions to the public and to the furniture industry.