Abels v. Renfro Corp.

• Decision Date: 01 December 1992
• Docket Number: No. 9117SC839,9117SC839
• Citation: 423 S.E.2d 479,108 N.C.App. 135
• Parties: Virginia P. ABELS, Plaintiff, Appellee, v. RENFRO CORPORATION, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: North Carolina Court of Appeals

Page 479

423 S.E.2d 479

108 N.C.App. 135

Virginia P. ABELS, Plaintiff, Appellee, v. RENFRO CORPORATION, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 9117SC839.

Court of Appeals of North Carolina.

Dec. 1, 1992.

Plaintiff first worked for defendant, a hosiery manufacturer, from 1949 until the time of her pregnancy in 1962. Plaintiff resumed her employment as a knitter with defendant in 1972. At the time of her discharge on 19 August 1987, plaintiff's duties included overseeing approximately 40 knitting machines and inspecting the quality of manufactured socks.

Plaintiff claimed that she was injured twice during her employment. Plaintiff alleged that she injured her back and leg when she slipped and fell on some flat cardboard boxes while attempting to get a spool of yarn on 15 June 1984. Plaintiff reported her injury to defendant but did not file a workers' compensation claim at that time. Plaintiff alleged that her second injury occurred on 26 June 1987, when one of defendant's employees, in the process of moving boxes, struck her from behind, injuring the back of her head, her upper back, her neck, and her ribs.

Defendant discharged plaintiff on 19 August 1987. Approximately six weeks after her termination, plaintiff filed workers' compensation claims for her alleged 15 June 1984 and 26 June 1987 injuries. Plaintiff filed suit against defendant on 25 November 1987, alleging that defendant violated G.S. § 97-6.1 by discharging her in retaliation for her filing the workers' compensation claims. Defendant argued that plaintiff was discharged because of the poor quality of her work and that prior to her discharge, plaintiff received several warnings from management to either improve the quality of her work or face termination.

On 31 October 1988, a Deputy Commissioner of the North Carolina Industrial Commission entered an order denying plaintiff compensation for her alleged injuries, ruling that the 1984 claim was barred by the statute of limitations and that the 1987 claim was not based on a compensable injury. This decision was affirmed by the Full Commission on 13 June 1989 and by the North Carolina Court of Appeals on 21 August 1990.

A jury trial on the retaliatory discharge claim began on 22 January 1991. On 23 January 1991, the trial court ruled that defendant could not introduce as substantive evidence the findings of the Deputy Commissioner, the Full Commission, or the Court of Appeals. The trial court further ruled that plaintiff's testimony before the Deputy Commissioner could be used only for impeachment purposes. On 28 January 1991, the jury returned a verdict finding that plaintiff was wrongfully discharged and awarding her $82,200 in damages as follows: $60,000 for loss of earnings, $12,000 for loss of health insurance benefits, $7,200 for loss of defendant's contributions to Social Security, $2,000 for loss of profit sharing, and $1,000 for mental and emotional distress. On 25 March 1991, the trial court ordered plaintiff's reinstatement to her former position with defendant.

On 26 March 1991, the trial court denied defendant's motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict, motion for a new trial, and motion to compel plaintiff to undergo a medical examination in the event of reinstatement. On 10 April 1991, the trial court granted defendant's motion to stay reinstatement of plaintiff as an employee pending appeal and motion to stay execution of the judgment pending appeal. On 29 April 1991, defendant again filed a motion to compel a medical examination of plaintiff. The trial court dismissed this motion on 3 May 1991. Defendant appeals.

Franklin Smith and Brian K. Flatley, Elkin, for plaintiff-appellee.

Constangy, Brooks & Smith, by W.R. Loftis, Jr. and Robin E. Shea, Winston-Salem, for defendant-appellant.

EAGLES, Judge.

Defendant brings forth six assignments of error. After a careful examination of the record before us, we affirm.

I.

In its first assignment of error, defendant argues that the trial court erred by excluding the Industrial Commission's findings that plaintiff's alleged injuries were not compensable. Defendant contends that the trial court should have admitted these findings based on the principles of res judicata. We disagree.

Regarding the application of the doctrine of res judicata, our Supreme Court has stated:

As we recently noted in Duke 1988 [State ex rel. Utilities Commission v. Public Staff, 322 N.C. 689, 370 S.E.2d 567 (1988) ]:

The doctrine of res judicata treats a final judgment as the full measure of relief to be accorded between the same parties on the same "claim" or "cause of action." C. Wright, Federal Practice and Procedure, § 4402 (1969). "The essential elements of res judicata are: (1) a final judgment on the merits in an earlier suit, (2) an identity of the cause of action in both the earlier and the later suit, and (3) an identity of parties or their privies in the two suits." Hogan v. Cone Mills Corporation, 315 N.C. 127, 135, 337 S.E.2d 477, 482 (1985).

Duke 1988, 322 N.C. at 692, 370 S.E.2d at 569; see, e.g., In re Trucking Co., 285 N.C. 552, 560, 206 S.E.2d 172, 177-78 (1974). More specifically, in addressing the issue of whether a Commission order can be deemed res judicata this Court has held that "only specific questions actually heard and finally determined by the Commission in its judicial character are res judicata, and then only as to the parties to the hearing." Utilities Commission v. Area Development, Inc., 257 N.C. 560, 570, 126 S.E.2d 325, 333 (1962) (emphasis added).

State ex rel. Utilities Commission v. Thornburg, 325 N.C. 463, 468, 385 S.E.2d 451, 453-54 (1989).

Here, defendant's res judicata arguments fail because this is a claim of retaliatory discharge under G.S. § 97-6.1 and is not the same cause of action that plaintiff brought before the Industrial Commission. A different set of rights was determined in each forum. "North Carolina law has long prohibited the use of a previous finding of a court as evidence of the fact found in another tribunal. Masters v. Dunstan, 256 N.C. 520, 124 S.E.2d 574 (1962)." Reliable Properties, Inc. v. McAllister, 77 N.C.App. 783, 787, 336 S.E.2d 108, 110 (1985), disc. review denied, 316 N.C. 379, 342 S.E.2d 897 (1986). In Masters, 256 N.C. at 524, 124 S.E.2d at 576-77, our Supreme Court held that:

An estoppel by judgment arises when there has been a final judgment or decree, necessarily determining a fact, question, or right in issue, rendered by a court of record and of competent jurisdiction, and there is a later suit involving an issue as to the identical fact, question or right theretofore determined, and involving identical parties or parties in privity with a party or parties to the prior suit. Cannon v. Cannon, 223 N.C. 664, 28 S.E.2d 240 [1943]; Distributing Co. v. Carraway, 196 N.C. 58, 144 S.E. 535 [1928].

The purpose of the Industrial Commission hearing is to determine whether the employee has suffered an injury for which he or she is entitled to receive compensation under the Workers' Compensation Act. See Hanks v. Utilities Co., 210 N.C. 312, 186 S.E. 252 (1936); Hogan v. Cone Mills Corp., 315 N.C. 127, 337 S.E.2d 477 (1985); G.S. § 97-77; G.S. § 97-91. An employee's G.S. § 97-6.1 civil case is brought independently of the Industrial Commission hearing in order to protect the employee's right to file a workers' compensation claim before the Industrial Commission, notwithstanding the Commission's adverse findings regarding the employee's alleged injury. The public policy behind G.S. § 97-6.1 is to promote an open environment in which employees can pursue their remedies under the Workers' Compensation Act without the fear of retaliation from their employers. See Wright v. Fiber Industries, Inc., 60 N.C.App. 486, 299 S.E.2d 284 (1983); Henderson v. Traditional Log Homes, Inc., 70 N.C.App. 303, 319 S.E.2d 290, disc. review denied, 312 N.C. 622, 323 S.E.2d 923 (1984).

II.

In its second assignment of error, defendant contends that the trial court erred by excluding defendant's evidence of similarly situated employees. One set of employees included those who were discharged for the poor quality of their work. Another set of employees included those who returned to their jobs without incident after filing workers' compensation claims. Defendant argues that the exclusion of this evidence was reversible error. We disagree.

Defendant bases its argument on the manner in which "disparate treatment" employment discrimination cases are litigated under federal law. Defendant asserts in its brief that "[a] policy that is applied equally to all employees--even an unfair policy--does not constitute unlawful discrimination." In this regard, defendant argues that "[a]n action for retaliatory discharge [under G.S. § 97-6.1] is analogous to an action for employment discrimination under federal law." We disagree.

Defendant appears to argue that an employer who treats all employees alike could potentially discharge all employees who file workers' compensation claims and be free of the sanctions of the Workers' Compensation Act. Defendant's interpretation would circumvent the intent of the legislature and must not prevail.

Defendant's reasoning is inconsistent with the legislature's intent in creating G.S. § 97-6.1 and with the overall goals of the Workers' Compensation Act. In Wright, 60 N.C.App. at 491, 299 S.E.2d at 287, this Court interpreted the legislature's intent in enacting G.S. § 97-6.1 as follows:

Clearly, G.S. 97-6.1 was intended to prevent employers from firing or demoting employees in retaliation for pursuing their remedies under the Workers' Compensation Act. If G.S. 97-6.1 were limited only to retaliatory acts which occurred after the employee filed his claim, an employer could easily avoid the statute by firing the injured employee before he filed. We do not think the legislature intended the statute to be so easily circumvented.

The courts of this State have recognized that the ...