Hamilton v. Bob Bennett Ford

• Citation: 518 S.E.2d 599,336 S.C. 72
• Decision Date: 01 June 1999
• Docket Number: No. 3004.,3004.
• Court: Court of Appeals of South Carolina
• Parties: William Leroy HAMILTON, Appellant, v. BOB BENNETT FORD, Employer, and South Carolina Automobile Dealers Association, Carrier, Respondents.

336 S.C. 72

518 S.E.2d 599

William Leroy HAMILTON, Appellant, v. BOB BENNETT FORD, Employer, and South Carolina Automobile Dealers Association, Carrier, Respondents.

No. 3004.

Court of Appeals of South Carolina.

Submitted May 13, 1999.

Decided June 1, 1999.

Rehearing Denied August 28, 1999.

Lex A. Rogerson, Jr.; and S. Belinda Ellison, both of Lexington, for Appellant.

L. Elaine Mozingo, of Barnes, Alford, Stork & Johnson, of Columbia, for Respondents.

ANDERSON, Judge:

In this Workers' Compensation case, William Leroy Hamilton appeals the Circuit Court's affirmance of the Full Commission's order denying his claim for benefits. The Commission found the statute of limitations barred his action. We reverse and remand.

FACTS/PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Hamilton was employed as an auto mechanic. He sustained an admitted injury on September 9, 1992, while working at Bob Bennett Ford when he fell as he stepped off a hydraulic lift hitting his back and his hip. After the accident, Hamilton was treated by Dr. Walter Connor, his family doctor, who diagnosed bursitis of the right hip.

The Form 12A, Employer's First Report of Injury, identified the date and circumstances of the accident and the employees who knew of the accident. It described Hamilton's injuries as pulled ligaments on the hip and right leg.

On November 24, 1992, Hamilton and Bob Bennett executed an Agreement for Compensation and a Receipt of Compensation. Under the rules and regulations of the Workers' Compensation Commission, an Agreement for Compensation is a Form 15 and a Receipt of Compensation is a Form 17. The Form 15 listed the date of the accident, the part of the body injured, the compensation rate, and the date Hamilton began receiving temporary total disability, which was September 16, 1992. The Workers' Compensation Commission approved the Form 15 on December 23, 1992. The Form 17 stated Hamilton received temporary compensation from September 16, 1992, to September 20, 1992, and returned to work without restriction on September 21, 1992. The Form 17 provided:

I agree that I was disabled for the period indicated and I was paid compensation as shown above. I UNDERSTAND THAT I GIVE UP NO RIGHTS TO COMPENSATION FOR FUTURE DISABILITY, FOR PERMANENT DIABILITY, DISFIGUREMENT, OR MEDICAL CARE.

Hamilton returned to work on September 21, 1992, and continued his employment with Bob Bennett for approximately two years. In April of 1994, Hamilton began seeing Dr. Gregory Konduros, a general practitioner, who referred him to Dr. Ralph Owings, an orthopaedic surgeon. Dr. Owings saw Hamilton on April 27, 1994. Dr. Owings diagnosed Hamilton as having a herniated disc and spinal stenosis. After treating Hamilton with steroid injections, Dr. Owings operated on his back on July 28, 1994. Hamilton has not worked since April, 1994.

Hamilton's wife contacted Bob Bennett's insurance carrier in either late 1993 or June of 1994 requesting additional benefits. Dr. Owings advised the insurance representative in writing that the herniated disc was causally related to the September, 1992, accident. By letter dated November 1, 1994, the carrier informed Hamilton that it was denying his claim for any future Workers' Compensation benefits.

On December 9, 1996, Hamilton filed a Form 50 alleging he was entitled to total disability or, in the alternative, permanent partial disability, payment of medical treatment for herniated disc, and temporary total disability benefits arising out of the admitted injury. In its Form 51, Bob Bennett denied the claim asserting the "[s]tatute of limitations ha[d] run for filing [a] claim." The Single Commissioner found Hamilton's claim was barred by the applicable statute of limitations. The Full Commission and the Circuit Court affirmed.

ISSUES

I. Did the Circuit Court err in affirming the Full Commission's finding the statute of limitations barred Hamilton's claim?

II. Did the Circuit Court err in affirming the Full Commission's ruling allowing the admission of certain hearsay testimony?

STANDARD OF REVIEW

The Administrative Procedures Act establishes the standard of review for decisions by the South Carolina Workers' Compensation Commission. Lark v. Bi-Lo, Inc., 276 S.C. 130, 276 S.E.2d 304 (1981). In an appeal from the Commission, this Court may not substitute its judgment for that of the Commission as to the weight of the evidence on questions of fact, but may reverse where the decision is affected by an error of law. S.C.Code Ann. § 1-23-380(A)(6) (Supp.1998); Lark, supra; Stephen v. Avins Constr. Co., 324 S.C. 334, 478 S.E.2d 74 (Ct.App.1996). See also Smith v. Union Bleachery/Cone Mills, 276 S.C. 454, 456, 280 S.E.2d 52, 53 (1981) (court may reverse or modify agency's decision "`if substantial rights of the appellant have been prejudiced because the administrative findings, inferences, conclusions or decisions are ... affected by other error of law.'"); Lyles v. Quantum Chem. Co. (Emery), 315 S.C. 440, 434 S.E.2d 292 (Ct.App. 1993) (in reviewing decision of Workers' Compensation Commission, Court of Appeals will not set aside its findings unless they are not supported by substantial evidence or they are controlled by error of law). The appellate court's review is limited to deciding whether the Commission's decision is unsupported by substantial evidence or is controlled by some error of law. See Lark v. Bi-Lo, Inc., 276 S.C. 130, 276 S.E.2d 304 (1981).

In this case, the issue of whether the statute of limitations bars Hamilton's claim is a question of law, rather than of fact. See Mize v. Sangamo Elec. Co., 251 S.C. 250, 161 S.E.2d 846 (1968); Lesley v. Lesley, 53 S.C. 44, 30 S.E. 635 (1898).

LAW/ANALYSIS

I. Statute of Limitations

Hamilton contends the Full Commission erred in concluding his Workers' Compensation claim was time barred. He argues the approved Form 15 satisfied the statute of limitations. We agree.

"The right to compensation under [the Workers' Compensation act] is barred unless a claim is filed with the [C]ommission within two years after an accident." S.C.Code Ann. § 42-15-40 (Supp.1998). In statutorily debarring stale claims filed by delinquent claimants, the General Assembly established a bright line, time-oriented, all-encompassing defense. The sometimes harsh and onerous statute of limitations defense has been ameliorated by a commonsensical and practical approach emanating from our Supreme Court. In a line of concatenated rulings beginning with Gold v. Moragne, 202 S.C. 281, 24 S.E.2d 491 (1943), a doctrine has emerged which satisfies the mandate of § 42-15-40.

In Gold, the employee fractured his neck in a work related accident on May 27, 1938. Immediately after the accident, the employee was given medical and hospital treatment by his employer and the insurance carrier. No written instrument specifically designated as a claim was filed with the Industrial Commission within the one year statute of limitations in effect at the time. Instead, an agreement, which was dated July 20, 1938, and signed by all the parties, was filed with and approved by the Industrial Commission on July 22, 1938, less than sixty days after the accident occurred. Pursuant to the agreement, the employee would receive weekly compensation until terminated in accordance with the provisions of the Workers' Compensation Act. The agreement stated the date of the injury, the place and cause of the accident, and the nature of the injury.

Weekly installments were paid up to and including June 9, 1939, a little over a year after the accident, but were then discontinued by the employer and insurance carrier. The employee hired an attorney who scheduled a hearing. At the hearing, the employee moved to amend the notice of hearing to include a claim for reasonable compensation for serious bodily disfigurement. The motion was overruled on the ground that the employee could call for another hearing on disfigurement at a later date. In an order dated May 9, 1942, the employee was awarded a lump sum settlement for partial disability. On August 7, 1940, the employee gave written notice to the Commission requesting a hearing with reference to compensation for disfigurement. For the first time, the employer and the insurance carrier took the position that any claim for disfigurement was barred by the statute of limitations. The Single Commissioner held the claim for compensation for disfigurement was not barred by the statute of limitations. The Full Commission affirmed. The Circuit Court, however, reversed finding the claim had not been filed with the Commission within one year after the accident and was, thus, barred by the statute of limitations. In reversing the decision of the Circuit Court, the Supreme Court declared:

While it was unquestionably the purpose of the limitations written in the Act to protect employers and insurance carriers against "long delayed demands," as stated in our case of Wallace v. Campbell Limestone Company, 198 S.C. 196, 17 S.E.2d 309, 311, it is also evident that this Section should be given a liberal construction, especially in view of the fact that in all bona fide cases (except death cases) the claimant is an injured person, and frequently must be confined in a hospital, as was the claimant in this case. And moreover, many of the claimants are without counsel, as was the claimant in this case until after the expiration of the one-year period. Furthermore, the extent of the injury is not always immediately apparent; nor was it in this case.

Hence the Courts construing similar statutory provisions are practically in accord in holding that these statutes do not contemplate the filing of a claim having the same particularity as a formal pleading or stating "all the elements of a cause of action"; and that the law would be sufficiently complied with if the claim in whatsoever form sets forth enough facts to apprise the employer of the time, place, and character of the accident, and the general nature of the

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