Court Opinion

ID: 9849695
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 04:44:27.948728+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:20:24.769966
License: Public Domain

Judge Timmons-Goodson
concurring in part, and dissenting in part.
I concur with that portion of the majority opinion which affirms the opinion and award of the Industrial Commission. However, I disagree with the majority’s conclusion that defendant had a reasonable ground on which to defend itself at the hearing on this matter, and therefore, respectfully dissent from that portion of the majority opinion reversing the Commission’s award of attorney’s fees pursuant to section 97-88.1 of the General Statutes.
A defendant may be penalized under section 97-88.1 of the North Carolina General Statutes for stubborn, unfounded litigious defense of claims, which is inharmonious with the primary purpose of the Workers’ Compensation Act to provide compensation to injured employees. Troutman v. White & Simpson, Inc., 121 N.C. App. 48, 54, 464 S.E.2d 481, 485 (1995), disc. review denied, 343 N.C. 516 (1996); Sparks v. Mountain Breeze Restaurant, 55 N.C. App. 663, 286 S.E.2d 575 (1982); see also N.C. Gen. Stat. § 97-88.1 (1991).
The majority reverses the Commission’s award of attorney’s fees based upon the supposition that “the Commission could have found that plaintiff was not completely disabled by psychological disorders, and that plaintiff did not make reasonable efforts to secure other employment.” I disagree.
As the majority points out, disability may be proved in one of four ways. See Russell v. Lowes Product Distribution, 108 N.C. App. 762, 765, 425 S.E.2d 454, 457 (1993), limited by Kisiah v. W.R. Kisiah Plumbing, 124 N.C. App. 72, 476 S.E.2d 434 (1996). In this case, plaintiff has established her disability by presenting compelling evidence that she is unable to work in any employment as a result of her injury. Having established her disability in this regard, defendant’s litigousness becomes no less unfounded simply because plaintiff chose not to establish her disability in any other manner. This Court noted in *227Sparks that an employer with a legitimate doubt about its employee’s credibility, based on substantial evidence of conduct by the employee inconsistent with her alleged claim, will not be held to have acted unreasonably under section 97-88.1. See Sparks, 55 N.C. App. at 664, 286 S.E.2d at 576. In the present case, defendant had no “substantial” evidence of conduct by plaintiff which was inconsistent with her claim of disability, and therefore, I would not excuse defendant’s unreasonable behavior.
Upon plaintiff’s release from the hospital after the 8 July 1994 accident, defendant encouraged plaintiff to return to work, ostensibly, so that her wages would not be interrupted. However, defendant was unable to furnish plaintiff with any meaningful employment. Instead, plaintiff was made to lie in the locker room and later the medical department for two and one-half weeks. Thereafter, she was assigned to light duty work, which consisted of picking up litter in the company break room. Essentially, from the time of her release from the hospital on or about 10 July until 17 August 1994, plaintiff did not perform any “meaningful work.” During this time period, plaintiff was noted by her supervisor to be very teary, and to throw up often. Defendant, however, was seemingly oblivious to plaintiff’s need to be separated from the work environment and to be compensated for her injury. It was not until Drs. Lechner and Sims took her out of work that plaintiff was relieved of these menial tasks.
When defendant initially denied this claim, it had no medical or psychological information that plaintiff’s psychological symptoms were not related to her electric shock of 8 July 1994. In fact, Dr. Sims in a 30 September 1994 letter to defendant’s personnel director stated, “I feel that Ms. Cooke’s injury and subsequent psychological difficulties are a direct result from of [sic] injury. . . . [and] that the manner in which [she] is being dealt with is exacerbating her situation and is unjustified.” Further examination by an independent psychologist and neuropsychologist hired by defendant resulted in similar opinions. Defendant steadily denied all of the medical and psychological evidence, and reached back to plaintiff’s sister’s suicide to find causation for the deterioration of plaintiff’s physical and psychological health. Medical prompting to enroll plaintiff in a rehabilitation program went unheeded by defendant. Defendant points to a private investigator’s testimony and videotapes in support of its contentions that plaintiff performed tasks outside of Dr. Lechner’s restrictions. Notably, the private investigator was not hired until six months after the denial of plaintiff’s claim and several months after *228defendant’s independent psychological evaluation confirming the diagnosis and opinion of Dr. Sims as to the cause of plaintiffs psychological condition. Moreover, the tapes submitted by defendant are unclear and are not the “substantial” evidence needed to support defendant’s claim that plaintiff is able to use the hand in other than a “claw-like” position.
Based upon defendant’s treatment of plaintiff after her injury on the job and defendant’s subsequent refusal to pay, I maintain that defendant’s conduct is precisely the type of employer stubbornness that section 97-88.1 was intended to punish. I would, therefore, respectfully dissent from that part of the majority opinion reversing the award of attorney’s fees based upon defendant’s “stubborn, and unfounded litigiousness.”