Eaddy v. Smurfit-Stone Container Corp.

• Decision Date: 27 May 2003
• Docket Number: No. 3643.,3643.
• Citation: 584 S.E.2d 390,355 S.C. 154
• Court: South Carolina Court of Appeals
• Parties: Marshall EADDY, Respondent, v. SMURFIT-STONE CONTAINER CORPORATION, Self-Insured Employer, Appellant.

355 S.C. 154

584 S.E.2d 390

Marshall EADDY, Respondent, v. SMURFIT-STONE CONTAINER CORPORATION, Self-Insured Employer, Appellant.

No. 3643.

Court of Appeals of South Carolina.

Submitted April 7, 2003.

Decided May 27, 2003.

Rehearing Denied August 21, 2003.

Grady L. Beard and Marcy J. Lamar, of Columbia, for Appellant.

Steve Wukela, Jr., of Florence, for Respondent.

HUFF, J.:

In this workers' compensation action, Smurfit-Stone Container Corporation (Smurfit-Stone) appeals the trial court's order affirming the order of the South Carolina Workers' Compensation Commission (Commission) awarding medical expenses and workers' compensation benefits to Marshall Eaddy. We affirm.

FACTUAL/PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Eaddy began working at Smurfit-Stone in the mid-1960s. He primarily worked as a general mechanic, which involved strenuous physical labor at times. Prior to joining Smurfit-Stone, Eaddy spent one year as a student at Clemson University followed by one year of service in the Air Force and one year as a bank teller. Eaddy testified that while working a 7:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. shift at Smurfit-Stone on July 19 to 20, 1999, he was working on a wood chipper when he felt sharp pains. He stated the incident occurred about 12:00 or 1:00 in the morning while he was using a twenty-five to thirty pound impact wrench, helping to change out the segment on the chipper. Eaddy initially attributed the pain to gas and told his co-worker he was going to First Aid. There, a nurse gave Eaddy Alka-Seltzers, which Eaddy took. He sat down for awhile, but subsequently returned to work. Through the course of his shift, Eaddy's pain worsened and he complained to another co-worker. Around 7:00 a.m., Eaddy reported to his maintenance foreman that he was in pain stating, "I believe my guts is coming out." His supervisor told him to report to the First Aid office again and fill out a report. After doing so, Eaddy returned to his home.

Once Eaddy arrived home, he took some old pain medication and slept until the following morning. When he awoke he was still experiencing pain, so he contacted the nurse at Smurfit-Stone, who thereafter instructed him to go to the emergency room at Carolinas Hospital System in Florence. At the hospital, Eaddy complained of abdominal pain, abdominal distention, nausea, and vomiting. Dr. David Anderson saw Eaddy on July 21, 1999, and determined Eaddy had a bowel obstruction secondary to a recurrent ventral hernia.

During the course of his employment at Smurfit-Stone and prior to the present incident, Eaddy underwent four hernia operations, all performed by Dr. Reginald S. Bolick. The first operation occurred on October 26, 1987, to treat an umbilical hernia. Surgery for a second umbilical hernia took place on November 21, 1988. Dr. Bolick saw Eaddy again in December 1992 for treatment of a ventral hernia in a different location that was in his midline section above his umbilicus. He performed surgery on Eaddy on January 4, 1993 to repair this hernia, and operated on him again on January 12, 1993 when he developed a recurrence of this hernia after an episode of severe post-operative coughing.

Dr. Bolick testified, although he referred to Eaddy's third hernia as a "recurrent hernia" in his December 1992 notes, he considered this a misnomer, noting that this hernia was actually above the location of the previous umbilical hernia repair. Additionally, Dr. Bolick testified that there is some degree of inherent weakness of the tissue after one has a hernia, and given Eaddy's susceptibility to hernias, the natural progression of his condition would be to develop another one. However, he did not consider Eaddy disabled and Eaddy had no permanent impairment at that time. Dr. Bolick further stated, when he last saw Eaddy in May 1993, his repair was sound, and he discharged Eaddy from his office, releasing him to full activity. Eaddy received treatment, as well as temporary total workers' compensation benefits, for each of these hernias.

Dr. Anderson testified that he documented in his initial consultation on July 21, 1999 that Eaddy reported he was working at Smurfit-Stone the day before when "he went to lift something, he felt a pull in his abdomen and afterwards felt abdominal pain." On July 22, 1999, Dr. Anderson operated on Eaddy to repair the ventral hernia and resect a portion of incarcerated bowel. When discussing his initial assessment of Eaddy's condition as a "recurrent ventral hernia," Dr. Anderson stated, "Well, it means that he's had more than one and that it has returned" and because it was his fifth repair, it was a recurrent hernia. However, he further testified that the repairs were not always in the same location.

According to Dr. Anderson, he could not state how long the hernia had existed prior to the surgery, but "the intestines had been out in the hernia sac for at least twenty-four hours" at the time of surgery, and his intestines most likely became incarcerated and trapped when Eaddy lifted the object at work, leading to the onset of pain. Concerning the impact of Eaddy's job on his health, Dr. Anderson testified that it had been "a big problem, in that ... he does a tremendous amount of physical work and in doing that, he's putting a tremendous amount of stress on the incisions and that this, in part, has led to why he's had to have so many hernia repairs." He further opined that if Eaddy continued to go about his work activities, "he's going to develop a recurrent hernia, and each time that we do this it's almost like playing Russian Roulette." He testified Eaddy could, at most, do "sedentary type work," but that any kind of physical work at all, including a "simple task in the yard," would mean Eaddy was "taking his health into severe risks." Eaddy's co-worker, Russell Suggs, confirmed that Eaddy complained to him that he was sick and needed to go to First Aid on the night in question. He stated Eaddy was "feeling his stomach" and that "it seemed like that's where he was hurting." Eaddy's maintenance superintendent, Jimmy Burroughs, testified that on the date of Eaddy's alleged accident, Eaddy came to the office and told him and the foreman "that he had pulled something loose or pulled the hernia loose again."

Eaddy testified that from 1993, when he had his fourth hernia surgery, up until July 20, 1999, he had not felt any tearing feelings nor had any trouble with pain in his abdomen. His co-worker Harold Clay verified that from 1993 to 1999, Eaddy never complained to him about having any problems with his stomach.

Although Eaddy agreed that he had not made any attempts to return to employment, he testified he did not know of any kind of work for which he was qualified that he was capable of performing. Eaddy was fifty-eight years old at the time of the hearing before the single commissioner in May 2000.

In October 1999, Eaddy sought permanent disability workers' compensation benefits for his hernia. Smurfit-Stone denied his claim. In an August 2000 order, the single commissioner found (1) Eaddy sustained an injury resulting in a hernia or rupture on July 20, 1999; (2) the hernia or rupture appeared suddenly; (3) the hernia or rupture was accompanied by pain; (4) the hernia or rupture immediately followed an accident; (5) the hernia or rupture did not exist prior to the accident for which compensation is claimed; (6) Eaddy sustained an accident arising out of and in the course of his employment at Smurfit-Stone; (7) Eaddy is entitled to all medical, surgical, hospital, and other required treatments for the hernia; (8) Eaddy is totally and permanently disabled, and entitled to a permanent award of workers' compensation; and (9) because of Eaddy's total and permanent disability, he is entitled to have all resulting and necessary nursing services, medicines, prosthetic devices, sick travel, medical, hospital and other treatment or care be paid during Eaddy's life, without any regard to any limitation in the Act, including the maximum compensation limit. Smurfit-Stone appealed to the full commission, which affirmed the single commissioner's findings. It then appealed to the circuit court, which affirmed the full commission. This appeal follows.

ISSUES

I. Did the circuit court err in finding Eaddy sustained a compensable injury?

II. Did the circuit court err in finding Eaddy was totally and permanently disabled?

III. Did the circuit court err in failing to find Smurfit-Stone was entitled to a credit for accident and sickness benefits, as well as previous workers' compensation payments?

IV. Did the circuit court err in affirming the full commission's order because the order was made in violation of the South Carolina Administrative Procedures Act (APA)?

STANDARD OF REVIEW

The APA establishes the standard of review for decisions by the South Carolina Workers' Compensation Commission. Lark v. Bi-Lo, Inc., 276 S.C. 130, 135, 276 S.E.2d 304, 306 (1981); Adkins v. Georgia-Pacific Corp., 350 S.C. 34, 36-37, 564 S.E.2d 339, 340 (Ct.App.2002). An appellate court may reverse or modify a decision if the findings or conclusions of the commission are "clearly erroneous in view of the reliable, probative, and substantial evidence on the whole record." S.C.Code Ann. § 1-23-380(A)(6) (Supp.2002); Adams v. Texfi Indus., 341 S.C. 401, 404, 535 S.E.2d 124, 125 (2000). Substantial evidence is evidence that, considering the entire record, allows reasonable minds to reach the same conclusion reached by the full commission. Miller v. State Roofing Co., 312 S.C. 452, 454, 441 S.E.2d 323, 324-25 (1994).

LAW/ANALYSIS

I. Compensable Injury

Smurfit-Stone first argues the circuit court erred in affirming the full commission's finding that Eaddy sustained a compensable hernia injury. It contends Eaddy failed to prove the necessary statutory elements under S.C.Code Ann. § 42-9-40, and further failed to prove an injury by accident arising out of and in the course of his employment pursuant to S.C.Code...