Court Opinion

ID: 8294543
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2022-10-17 10:59:09.818979+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T16:43:58.709706
License: Public Domain

Justice PLEICONES,
dissenting:
I respectfully dissent. I believe the Court of Appeals correctly held that the Commission’s decision was supported by substantial evidence, and I would affirm the denial of benefits to Claimant.
Because we granted certiorari to review a decision of the Court of Appeals, our standard of review requires us to determine whether the Court of Appeals properly held that the Commission’s findings were supported by substantial evidence in the record.4
While I am sympathetic to Claimant’s struggle with depression, I cannot find error with the Court of Appeals’ conclusion. Claimant was an experienced LPN whose patients suffered from severe mental retardation and cognitive disabilities. The Department produced sufficient evidence to show that: (a) the change in the type of patients under Claimant’s care was neither unexpected nor unusual; (b) Claimant was trained to handle aggressive patients; and (c) although unfortunate, it was not unusual for Department nurses to be subjected to aggressive and sometimes violent behavior. Despite the fact that Claimant presented ample evidence to support her position, the Commission’s findings must be upheld if supported by substantial evidence. See Shealy v. Aiken County, 341 *354S.C. 448, 455, 535 S.E.2d 438, 442 (2000) (substantial evidence is not evidence viewed solely from one side; it is evidence, when the whole record is considered, that would allow reasonable minds to reach the conclusion the Commission reached).
The Commission found that Claimant was not exposed to unusual and extraordinary conditions in her employment, and in light of the entire record, this conclusion is tenable. Accordingly, I would affirm the Court of Appeals because the Commission’s findings are supported by substantial evidence.

. Under the Administrative Procedures Act, we may not substitute our judgment for that of a state agency as to the weight of evidence on questions of fact, but we may reverse or modify decisions which are clearly erroneous in view of the substantial evidence on the whole record. Welch Moving and Storage Co., Inc. v. Pub. Serv. Comm’n of S.C., 301 S.C. 259, 261, 391 S.E.2d 556, 557 (1990). Baxter, cited by the majority as stating the applicable standard of review, does not apply to this case. Baxter involved a certified appeal directly from the circuit court pursuant to Rule 204, SCACR.