Hill v. Hanes Corp., 144A86

• Citation: 319 N.C. 167,353 S.E.2d 392
• Decision Date: 04 March 1987
• Docket Number: No. 144A86,144A86
• Court: United States State Supreme Court of North Carolina
• Parties: Ivan Frank HILL, Employee-Plaintiff v. HANES CORPORATION, Employer, and Aetna Life & Casualty Insurance Company, Carrier-Defendants.

Page 392

353 S.E.2d 392

319 N.C. 167

Ivan Frank HILL, Employee-Plaintiff v. HANES CORPORATION, Employer and Aetna Life & Casualty Insurance Company, Carrier-Defendants.

No. 144A86.

Supreme Court of North Carolina.

March 4, 1987.

William Z. Wood, Jr., Winston-Salem, for plaintiff-appellee.

Womble, Carlyle, Sandridge & Rice by Keith W. Vaughn and Nancy R. Hatch, Winston-Salem, for defendants-appellants.

EXUM, Chief Justice.

The employee-plaintiff, Irvin Frank Hill, sustained a compensable injury by accident while working for his employer, Hanes Corporation, on 12 March 1979 when he slipped, fell, and struck his upper back between the shoulder blades on the corner of a machine. As a result he was temporarily totally incapacitated for work. He later developed a "20 percent disability in the usage of both legs" caused by a thickening of the membrane surrounding his spinal cord at the point of impact. Finally he developed a mental depression, which the Industrial Commission found totally incapacitated him for work and was causally related to his earlier injury.

The Commission awarded Hill compensation under N.C.G.S. § 97-29 for temporary total disability due to his back injury; under the scheduled injury statute, N.C.G.S. § 97-31(15), for a 20 percent loss of use of both legs; and under N.C.G.S. § 97-29 for total disability caused by depression for so long as the depression persisted. The Court of Appeals affirmed. It also denied defendants' motion for a new hearing by the Commission. This motion, filed with the Court of Appeals pending that Court's decision on the merits, was made pursuant to Civil Procedure Rule 60(b)(2) (newly discovered evidence) and (6) ("any other reason justifying relief ...").

Questions presented are whether the Court of Appeals correctly concluded: (1) there was evidence sufficient to support the Commission's finding that Hill's depression totally incapacitated him for work and was causally related to his physical injuries suffered on the job; (2) the Commission properly awarded compensation under both N.C.G.S. § 97-31, the scheduled injury statute, and N.C.G.S. § 97-29 for total disability due to depression; and (3) defendants' Rule 60(b) motion should have been denied. We think the Court of Appeals made the correct conclusion in the first two instances and affirm its decision on these issues. We conclude that it erred in addressing defendants' Rule 60(b) motion, vacate its denial of that motion, and remand the motion to the Court of Appeals for further remand to the Industrial Commission for initial determination.

I.

All parties agree that the employee, Irvin Frank Hill, sustained a compensable injury by accident while working for his employer, Hanes Corporation, on 12 March 1979 when he slipped, fell, and struck his upper back between the shoulder blades on the corner of a machine. Taking into consideration the unchallenged evidence before and findings of the Industrial Commission, there seems to be no dispute between the parties as to the following facts: Hill's accident on 12 March 1979 caused him to experience pain in the back, but he continued to work until worsening pain in his back caused him to consult with Dr. Charles Gunn, Jr., who was employed by Hanes and whose duties included caring for patients at the plant where Hill worked. Dr. Gunn, upon taking a history of Hill's injury and noting Hill's complaint of pain in the thoracic, or chest, area of his spine, advised plaintiff to stop working. Following Dr. Gunn's advice, plaintiff did not return to work until 11 April 1979. He continued to work until 9 July 1979 when he began to experience such weakness in his legs that it became difficult for him to stand. He left work on 9 July 1979 and has done no work for wages since that date.

By agreements dated 18 April 1979 and 18 December 1979 defendants voluntarily agreed to pay plaintiff the sum of $156.79 per week (two thirds of Hill's average weekly wage of $235.19) for the "necessary weeks" for "temporary total" disability.

There also seems to be no dispute in the case regarding the nature of Hill's physical injuries. The blow to his back caused a thickening of the membranes around his spinal cord. An October 1979 myelogram "revealed almost complete obstruction" of the space around the spinal cord at thoracic vertebrae 9-10. This insult to the spinal cord caused Hill to experience loss of sensation and weakness in both legs. Surgery to relieve the condition performed in October 1979 resulted in little improvement. According to the testimony of the neurosurgeon who performed the October 1979 surgery and who followed Hill as a patient through 1980, the weakness in Hill's legs in November 1980 so limited "his ability to perform his original job ... that I believe him to be totally disabled. I do believe that Mr. Hill could theoretically perform some type of activities, particularly on the basis of part-time work and not full time, since he feels very easily exhausted and tired after most or any activity." The neurosurgeon rated Hill as having a 20 percent loss of use of each leg.

The neurosurgeon recommended that Hill be given a psychological evaluation, and on 8 November 1981, Hill came under the care of Dr. Branham, a psychiatrist. Dr. Branham diagnosed Hill as suffering from depression. According to Dr. Branham, Hill's depression manifested itself in insomnia, difficulty in concentration, accentuation of pain, psychomotor slowing and loss of interest in activities he formerly found enjoyable. Dr. Branham's testimony will be discussed in more detail below.

The Commission made unchallenged findings (paraphrased except where quoted) as follows:

1. Plaintiff sustained an injury by accident on 12 March 1979 when he slipped, fell, and struck his back between the shoulders, experiencing back pain.

2. His pain worsened, but he returned to work on 11 April 1979 and continued to work through 9 July 1979. He has done no work for wages since that date.

3. While under the care of Dr. Gunn in August 1979 he complained of back pain and loss of feeling, burning sensations and weakness in his lower extremities.

4. He was seen by Drs. Griffin and Jackson for evaluation of lower extremity weaknesses. Dr. Jackson hospitalized him in October 1979 for a myelogram. The myelogram revealed complete obstruction at thoracic vertebrae 9-10, for which plaintiff underwent a bilateral exploratory laminectomy with decompression of arachnoidal adhesions and blockage. The surgery was performed by Dr. Ernesto de la Torre to whom plaintiff had been referred by Dr. Jackson.

5. By 1 November 1980 plaintiff's "physical condition" had stabilized and he had reached "maximum medical improvement physically. His physical condition has remained essentially unchanged since that date." Plaintiff has sustained a 20 percent permanent partial disability of each leg.

6. Before March 1979 plaintiff had never experienced depression or other psychological problems. He is 54 years old, was a professional baseball player for nine years and has worked for defendant employer for 24 years before his injury in 1979.

7. Since 9 July 1979 plaintiff has been physically unable to perform the job he was doing or any other job offered to him by defendant employer. Because of the injury he has suffered he has been and remains unable to sit or stand on a prolonged basis.

II.

The Commission concluded that Hill was entitled to compensation under N.C.G.S. § 97-29 for total disability due to "stress induced depression which rendered him totally disabled from 8 November 1982 ... for so long as he remains so disabled." This conclusion was based on the Commission's Finding No. 8 (paraphrased except where quoted):

On 8 November 1982 plaintiff came under the care of Dr. Branham, a psychiatrist and has since then remained under Dr. Branham's treatment, including antidepressant medications, for depression. "As a result of the injury by accident ... and the attendant residuals in his lower extremities and his inability to work, he experienced stress which at least by 8 November 1982 resulted in depression and rendered him totally disabled." Plaintiff "continues to experience sleep disturbance, difficulty in concentration, accentuation of pain, psychomotor slowing, sexual dysfunction, and constriction of interest by reason of ... stress induced depression" and he remains totally disabled through 16 September 1983 when he was last examined by Dr. Branham.

The first question for decision is whether there is evidence in the record to support Finding No. 8, as a majority of the Court of Appeals concluded.

On appeals from the Industrial Commission, the Commission's findings of fact must be sustained if there is competent evidence in the record to support them. Lawrence v. Hatch Mill, 265 N.C. 329, 144 S.E.2d 3 (1965). This is so even if there is evidence which would support a contrary finding, because "courts are not at liberty to reweigh the evidence and to set aside the findings of the Commission, simply because other inferences could have been drawn and different conclusions might have been reached." Rewis v. Insurance Co., 226 N.C. 325, 330, 38 S.E.2d 97, 100 (1946).

Dr. Branham testified:

I saw Mr. Hill because of weakness in his legs, pain in his back, which had been present since an injury at work. Subsequent to the injury, the weakness and the pain persisted which resulted in bringing about some symptoms of a disease which we call depression. These symptoms as I saw in Mr. Hill were represented by dysphoria or depression, difficulty in sleep pattern, trouble in concentration, accentuation of the pain already being experienced, psychomotor slowing, constriction of interest in general in his usual way of going about conducting his life, which had been seriously altered in so much as he was unable to function in an employment situation.

Dr. Branham testified unequivocally, "I don't feel Mr. Hill is in a situation in which...