Central Maloney, Inc. v. York

• Decision Date: 18 January 1984
• Docket Number: No. CA83-229,CA83-229
• Citation: Central Maloney, Inc. v. York, 663 S.W.2d 196, 10 Ark.App. 254 (Ark. App. 1984)
• Parties: CENTRAL MALONEY, INC. and Aetna Casualty & Surety Company, Appellants, v. Charles Wayne YORK, Appellee.
• Court: Arkansas Court of Appeals

Page 196

663 S.W.2d 196

10 Ark.App. 254

CENTRAL MALONEY, INC. and Aetna Casualty & Surety Company, Appellants, v. Charles Wayne YORK, Appellee.

No. CA83-229.

Court of Appeals of Arkansas En Banc.

Jan. 18, 1984.

Ramsay, Cox, Lile, Bridgforth, Gilbert, Harrelson & Starling, Pine Bluff, for appellants.

F. Wilson Bynum, Jr., P.A. by F. Wilson Bynum, Jr., Pine Bluff, for appellee.

CORBIN, Judge.

Appellee, Charles Wayne York, was awarded workers' compensation benefits. He testified that the press brake machine he was operating on September 14, 1981, on behalf of his employer, Central Maloney, Inc., appellant, "cycled through", jerking him off his feet and causing an injury to his back. We affirm.

While there were conflicts in the testimony of appellee, his witnesses and that of the employer, appellants concede that there was substantial evidence to support a decision either upholding or denying appellee's claim.

Attorneys for appellants and appellee have provided this Court with excellent briefs and participated in intelligent as well as stimulating oral arguments. The issue raised on appeal is narrowed in scope to: How do you reconcile the requirement that a claimant prove his injury by a preponderance of the evidence with the doctrine of liberal construction? This issue was apparently triggered by a statement contained in the administrative law judge's opinion, which was adopted by a majority of the full Commission, to-wit:

After a review of the entire record in this claim, it is my opinion that the claimant has proved by a preponderance of the evidence that he suffered a compensable injury on or about September 14, 1981. This decision is necessarily reached after drawing every legitimate inference possible in favor of the claimant and after following a liberal approach in determining whether or not the claimant received a compensable injury. This is as is mandated by the Arkansas Court of Appeals. [See Bunny Bread, et al. v. Shipman, 267 Ark. 926, 561 S.W.2d 692 (Ark.App.1980).]

Appellants contend that this statement by the administrative law judge indicates that the administrative law judge was compelled to find for appellee. Appellants' attorney further argues that the rule of liberal construction has reached the point where if the claimant adduces substantial evidence, the administrative law judge is compelled or required to find for the employee. He goes further and contends that a claimant would never lose a case if the doctrine is applied as he visualizes it. In support of this position, appellants rely on an opinion of Judge Newbern in Johnson v. Valmac Industries, 269 Ark. 626, 599 S.W.2d 440 (Ark.App.1980), wherein it was stated:

[W]e have no quarrel with the philosophy of workers' compensation, and certainly none with the notion that the act should be interpreted whenever there is doubt as to its meaning, in favor of the claimant. But to say that when there is doubt remaining as to a factual issue, and the doubt has been caused by conflicting or equivocal testimony, the resolution of that doubt by the commission must always favor the claimant, is to rob the commission of its fact-finding function which is definitely prescribed by the statute and not to be deprived by us. (Emphasis by the Court.)

A dissent by Justice George Rose Smith in Boyd Excelsior Fuel Co. v. McKown, 226 Ark. 174, 288 S.W.2d 614 (1956), was noted by Judge Newbern and is relied upon by appellants. Justice Smith's dissent in the Boyd case, supra, states in part as follows:

What, then, can be the explanation for the reversal of the Commission's decision upon a question of fact? The answer apparently lies in the final words of the majority opinion, where it is said that compensation cases should be liberally construed and that doubtful cases should be resolved in favor of the claimant. It is undoubtedly true that the compensation law itself should be liberally construed in favor of the workman. It may also be true that the commissioners, within the limits of their consciences, should construe the evidence liberally in the claimant's favor. But if the majority mean that it is reversible error for the Commission to fail to take a liberal view of the evidence in favor of the claim, the decision is demonstrably wrong for several reasons.

It is important to note that Justice Smith has since joined with a majority of the Arkansas Supreme Court in subsequent decisions dealing with this issue.

In writing for a unanimous court in American Red Cross v. Wilson, 257 Ark. 647, 519 S.W.2d 60 (1975), Justice Fogleman stated:

We agree with appellants that a claimant bears the burden of proving that his injury was the result of an accident that arose in the course of his employment, and that it grew out of, or resulted from the employment. We do not agree, however, with their argument that the Workmen's Compensation Act does not mandate that the Commission view the evidence liberally in favor of the claimant. To the contrary, the Commission, in considering a claim, must follow a liberal approach and draw all reasonable inferences favorably to the claimant. (citation omitted.) It was the duty of the Commission to draw every legitimate inference possible in favor of the claimant and to give her the benefit of the doubt in making the factual determination. (citations omitted.) The same rules apply, of course, in determining whether the accident grew out of and occurred within the course of the employment. (citation omitted.)

Again, four years later Justice Fogleman in writing for a unanimous court in O.K. Processing, Inc. v. Servold, 265 Ark. 352, 578 S.W.2d 224 (1979), stated:

The appellants raise two points for reversal. The first of these relates to a statement in the final opinion of the Workmen's Compensation Commission to the effect that, when all doubts are resolved in favor of the claimant, it must be concluded that the administrative law judge's finding that the claimant is totally disabled is correct. The appellants contend that in resolving all doubts in the claimant's favor the commission failed to weigh the evidence according to the accepted standard requiring the claimant to prove the compensability of his or her claim by a preponderance of the evidence. It is true, as appellants contend, that there is no presumption that a claim for workers' compensation comes within the purview of the law, i.e., that it arose out of, and in the course of, the claimant's employment. (citations omitted) But, in a long line of cases, this court has held that, in light of the beneficent and humane purposes of the Workers' Compensation Law (citation omitted), all doubtful cases should be resolved in favor of the claimant. (citations omitted.) This does not mean that a claimant does not have to meet the burden imposed upon him by a preponderance of the evidence. (citations omitted.) It does mean that, in determining where the preponderance of the evidence lies, the Workmen's Compensation Commission must draw all legitimate inferences and resolve doubts in favor of the claimant, viewing and construing the evidence in favor of the claimant and the purpose of the statutes to compensate those, who, by reasonable construction, are within the terms of the Workers' Compensation Law. (citations omitted.) The commission obviously did not err in resolving all doubts favorably to appellee.

The doctrine of liberal construction has evolved through precedent handed down by the Arkansas Supreme Court to its present state which is best summarized in O.K. Processing, Inc., supra.

A review of cases handed down by the Arkansas Court of Appeals leads us to the same conclusion. A few highlighted cases recognizing and adopting the doctrine of liberal construction include: Mountain Valley Superette v. Bottorff, 4 Ark.App. 251, 629 S.W.2d 320 (1982) [whether claimant was independent contractor rather than employee]; City of Sherwood v. Lowe, 4 Ark.App. 161, 628 S.W.2d 610 (1982) [whether injury causing claimant's death arose out of and in course of employment]; Dedmon v. Dillard Dept. Stores, Inc., 3 Ark.App. 108, 623 S.W.2d 207 (1981) [whether claimant had shown by preponderance of evidence that she sustained accidental injury arising out of and in course of employment]; and Williams & Johnson v. Nat'l Youth Corps, 269 Ark. 649, 600 S.W.2d 27 (Ark.App.1980) [whether joint employment occurred so that both employers liable for compensation].

The rule of liberal construction is not a substitute for a claimant's burden of establishing an injury by a preponderance of the evidence. It has often been stated that the most important rule of the Workers' Compensation Act is to carry out its humane purpose. The Commission is required by statute to make a determination of whether a claimant has established a compensable injury by a preponderance of the evidence. We believe that the doctrine of liberal construction can co-exist with the claimant's burden of proof without robbing the Commission of its fact-finding responsibility. We do not agree with appellants' contention that the application of the rule of liberal construction will always result in a decision in favor of claimant.

Turning to the facts of the case at bar, in addition to appellee's testimony at the hearing, the record reflects that appellee presented the testimony of two fellow employees, his wife and brother-in-law in order to establish his entitlement to benefits as a result of an alleged on-the-job injury by a preponderance of the evidence. Appellee stated at the hearing that he had recurring problems with a "stiff back" which would normally "work itself out" after a short period of time and from which he suffered no pain. He further testified that the stiff back in no way interfered with his work and that he had a stiff back on September 14, 1981. Appellee stated that while running metal side panels into the press brake machine on this date, the machine suddenly slammed through, jerking him off his...