Freeman v. Southwire Co., No. A04A2145.
| Court | Georgia Court of Appeals |
| Writing for the Court | BLACKBURN, Presiding. |
| Citation | 269 Ga. App. 692,605 S.E.2d 95 |
| Docket Number | No. A04A2145. |
| Decision Date | 22 September 2004 |
| Parties | FREEMAN v. SOUTHWIRE COMPANY. |
605 S.E.2d 95
269 Ga. App. 692
v.
SOUTHWIRE COMPANY
No. A04A2145.
Court of Appeals of Georgia.
September 22, 2004.
Certiorari Denied February 21, 2005.
Ernest C. Barrett, Carrollton, for appellee.
BLACKBURN, Presiding Judge.
We granted Sandra Freeman permission to appeal the superior court's affirmance of the Workers' Compensation Board's ("Board") decision to deny her workers' compensation benefits. Adopting the findings of the administrative law judge ("ALJ"), the Board had ruled that her refusal to continue performing the specially-tailored lighter-duty job which accommodated her work-related injury was unjustified under OCGA § 34-9-240(a), where the basis for that refusal was [269 Ga. App. 693] a new debilitating nonjob-related disease which she had contracted after she had been working in the lighter-duty position. We agree with the Board and the superior court and affirm.
Because the relevant facts are not in dispute, and because Freeman contends that the Board applied an erroneous theory of law to the facts, we apply a de novo standard of review. Hill v. Omni Hotel at CNN Center.1
In the absence of legal error, the factual findings of the State Board of Workers' Compensation must be affirmed by the superior court and by the Court of Appeals when supported by any evidence in the administrative record. However, erroneous applications of law to undisputed facts, as well as decisions based on erroneous theories of law, are subject to the de novo standard of review.
(Citation and punctuation omitted.) Id.
The relevant facts show that Freeman's job as an inspector for Southwire involved repetitive hand movements to cut and manipulate certain wires, which caused Freeman to develop carpal tunnel syndrome. At the doctor's recommendation that this portion of her job be eliminated, Southwire reduced Freeman's job responsibilities to lighter duties so that she needed only to inspect machines and wire samples in the plant as she walked around, with no cutting or manipulation involved. Freeman agrees that this lighter duty was suitable to her capacity as restricted by the carpal tunnel syndrome. She performed this lighter duty until she developed Sjogren's disease, which caused her ankles and legs to swell and prevented her from walking throughout the plant to conduct the inspections. It is undisputed that this new disease was nonwork-related. Because the Sjogren's...
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Frett v. State Farm Emp. Workers' Comp., A18A0820
...that the Board applied an erroneous theory of law to the facts, we apply a de novo standard of review." Freeman v. Southwire Co. , 269 Ga. App. 692, 693, 605 S.E.2d 95 (2004).In the absence of legal error, the factual findings of the State Board of Workers' Compensation must be affirmed by ......
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Anchorage Chrysler v. Daimlerchrysler, No. S-11421.
...case cited above. 34. See, e.g., Zaverl v. Hanley, 64 P.3d 809, 817 n. 16 (Alaska 2003) (jury instructions); Freeman v. Southwire Co., 269 Ga.App. 692, 605 S.E.2d 95, 96 (2004) (explaining that factual decisions "based on erroneous theories of law . . . are subject to the de novo standard o......
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Martines v. Worley & Sons Const., No. A05A1985.
...We have held that "[t]he statutory test focuses on the time that the lighter-duty employment is offered." Freeman v. Southwire Co., 269 Ga.App. 692, 694, 605 S.E.2d 95 (2004). Evidence that Martines was unable to work two days later is not evidence that he was unable to work at the time the......
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Brunton v. State, No. A04A1453.
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Frett v. State Farm Emp. Workers' Comp., A18A0820
...that the Board applied an erroneous theory of law to the facts, we apply a de novo standard of review." Freeman v. Southwire Co. , 269 Ga. App. 692, 693, 605 S.E.2d 95 (2004).In the absence of legal error, the factual findings of the State Board of Workers' Compensation must be affirmed by ......
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Anchorage Chrysler v. Daimlerchrysler, No. S-11421.
...case cited above. 34. See, e.g., Zaverl v. Hanley, 64 P.3d 809, 817 n. 16 (Alaska 2003) (jury instructions); Freeman v. Southwire Co., 269 Ga.App. 692, 605 S.E.2d 95, 96 (2004) (explaining that factual decisions "based on erroneous theories of law . . . are subject to the de novo standard o......
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Martines v. Worley & Sons Const., No. A05A1985.
...We have held that "[t]he statutory test focuses on the time that the lighter-duty employment is offered." Freeman v. Southwire Co., 269 Ga.App. 692, 694, 605 S.E.2d 95 (2004). Evidence that Martines was unable to work two days later is not evidence that he was unable to work at the time the......
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Daniel v. Bremen-Bowdon Inv. Co., A18A1764
...theory of law to the facts, we apply a de novo standard of review." (Citation and punctuation omitted.) Freeman v. Southwire Co. , 269 Ga. App. 692, 693, 605 S.E.2d 95 (2004).In the absence of legal error, the factual findings of the State Board of Workers’ Compensation must be affirmed by ......