Holliday v. Tropical Nut & Fruit Co.
| Citation | 242 N.C.App. 562,775 S.E.2d 885 |
| Decision Date | 18 August 2015 |
| Docket Number | No. COA14–1030.,COA14–1030. |
| Court | Court of Appeal of North Carolina (US) |
| Parties | Timothy W. HOLLIDAY, Employee, Plaintiff, v. TROPICAL NUT & FRUIT CO., Employer, Farmington Casualty Co., Carrier, Defendants. |
Ganly & Ramer, Asheville, by Thomas F. Ramer, for plaintiff-appellee.
Northup McConnell & Sizemore, PLLC, Asheville, by Charles E. McGee, for defendants-appellants.
Tropical Nut & Fruit Co. ("Tropical") and Farmington Casualty Co. (collectively "Defendants") appeal from the Opinion and Award of the North Carolina Industrial Commission ("the Commission") awarding Timothy W. Holliday ("Plaintiff") workers' compensation benefits. On appeal, Defendants argue that the Commission erred in (1) concluding that Plaintiff's injury arose out of his employment; (2) determining that Plaintiff sustained a compensable injury by accident; and (3) awarding Plaintiff temporary total disability benefits. After careful review, we affirm the Commission's Opinion and Award.
Plaintiff is a 54–year–old man who, at the time of his injury, had been employed by Tropical as a territory manager and outside sales representative in Asheville, North Carolina for approximately one and a half years. From 18 August to 20 August 2011, Plaintiff attended Tropical's annual three-day National Sales and Marketing Conference ("the Conference") in Charlotte, North Carolina. At the Conference, Tropical discussed the past year's sales, introduced new products, held training sessions, discussed prospective strategies for the company, presented end-of-year awards, and provided an opportunity for the employees to meet vendors as well as colleagues who worked for Tropical in various other locations.
Attendance at the Conference was mandatory for Plaintiff. He was paid his normal salary during the three days the Conference was held, and he was not permitted to bring his spouse or children to the Conference.
On 18 August 2011, the first evening of the Conference, Tropical organized a social event at Sports Connection in Charlotte for the members of its sales staff who were attending the Conference. The activities consisted of bowling and laser tag. Tropical paid all of the expenses for the activities, assigned the employees to teams, and informed the employees which activity they would be assigned to participate in—laser tag or bowling—upon their arrival at the event.
Plaintiff's first assigned activity was laser tag. During the game, Plaintiff was "covering the floor [of the laser tag arena], and going up and down ramps, and twisting and bending around columns, trying to catch people ... with the laser." Approximately 15 minutes into the game, Plaintiff "started feeling some sharp pain" in his leg, which became severe when he attempted to continue the game. As a result, Plaintiff remained in one location and "[took] it a little easier ... until the thirty minutes was up."
At that point, Plaintiff was "in quite a bit of pain" and "had a very noticeable limp." He sat down to remove his laser tag gear and informed his general manager that he believed he had hurt his right knee. Plaintiff applied ice to his knee and was able to attend the remainder of the Conference.
He continued to perform his job duties once he returned from the Conference to Asheville, but his right knee pain persisted and he scheduled an appointment with Dr. Thomas Baumgarten ("Dr. Baumgarten"), an orthopedist, for 30 August 2011. During this appointment, Dr. Baumgarten observed that Plaintiff had fluid in his right knee joint, tenderness along the medial joint line, and "a positive McMurray's test
which is usually indicative of some type of torn meniscus or torn cartilage." An MRI scan revealed tears to the medial meniscus and the lateral meniscus.
On 3 October 2011, Plaintiff underwent arthroscopic right knee surgery to repair the meniscal tears
. Plaintiff did not miss work due to his right knee pain or surgery and was able to continue performing his job duties until he was laid off on 13 July 2012 due to a company-wide restructuring.
On 25 October 2012, Plaintiff saw Dr. Jesse West ("Dr. West"), an orthopedic specialist, for a second opinion concerning his right knee following the arthroscopic surgery
. Dr. West noted chondromalacia, or cartilage damage, to Plaintiff's right knee and referred him to Dr. T. Marcus Barnett ("Dr. Barnett") based on his determination that Plaintiff required a total knee replacement. Dr. West also completed a "work status report," which stated that Plaintiff could return to work with modified duties, meaning that he was restricted from "prolonged standing or walking," lifting over ten pounds, and squatting, kneeling, or twisting. Dr. West further noted on this document that if modified duties were not available, Plaintiff should be considered "off work."
During this time, Plaintiff experienced low back pain, which radiated down his right buttock, hip, and thigh. Plaintiff underwent back surgery on 9 January 2013 to repair a disc herniation at S1–2 with moderate stenosis at L3–4 and L4–5. After Plaintiff recovered from his back surgery1 , Dr. Barnett performed a total knee replacement
of his right knee on 24 May 2013. Plaintiff had not yet had his first postoperative visit at the time of Dr. Barnett's deposition on 11 June 2013, but in his deposition testimony Dr. Barnett anticipated that Plaintiff would have a three—to six-month recovery period following the total knee replacement.
Plaintiff filed a Form 18 seeking workers' compensation benefits in connection with his 18 August 2011 injury, and Defendants filed a Form 61 denying Plaintiff's claim. Plaintiff requested that his claim be assigned for hearing, and on 28 August 2012, the claim was heard by Deputy Commissioner George R. Hall, III. Deputy Commissioner Hall filed an opinion and award on 26 August 2013 concluding that "Plaintiff sustained a compensable right knee injury
on August 18, 2011, which required surgical correction and ultimate knee replacement which were both necessitated by the aggravation caused by his laser tag injury" and that Plaintiff was temporarily totally disabled. Consequently, Deputy Commissioner Hall awarded Plaintiff temporary total disability benefits and ordered Defendants to provide any medical treatment reasonably required to effect a cure and provide relief for his right knee injury
. Defendants appealed to the Full Commission, and the Commission affirmed the deputy commissioner's decision in an Opinion and Award entered 10 June 2014. Defendants filed a timely notice of appeal to this Court.
Our review of an opinion and award of the Industrial Commission is "limited to consideration of whether competent evidence supports the Commission's findings of fact and whether the findings support the Commission's conclusions of law." Richardson v. Maxim Healthcare/Allegis Grp., 362 N.C. 657, 660, 669 S.E.2d 582, 584 (2008). When reviewing the Commission's findings of fact, this Court's "duty goes no further than to determine whether the record contains any evidence tending to support the finding[s]." Id. (citation and quotation marks omitted).
The findings of fact made by the Commission are conclusive on appeal if supported by competent evidence even if there is also evidence that would support a contrary finding. Nale v. Ethan Allen, 199 N.C.App. 511, 514, 682 S.E.2d 231, 234, disc. review denied, 363 N.C. 745, 688 S.E.2d 454 (2009). The Commission's conclusions of law, however, are reviewed de novo. Gregory v. W.A. Brown & Sons, 212 N.C.App. 287, 295, 713 S.E.2d 68, 74, disc. review denied, – –– N.C. ––––, 719 S.E.2d 26 (2011). Evidence supporting the plaintiff's claim is to be viewed in the light most favorable to the plaintiff, and the plaintiff is entitled to the benefit of any reasonable inferences that may be drawn from the evidence. Adams v. AVX Corp., 349 N.C. 676, 681, 509 S.E.2d 411, 414 (1998).
Under the Workers' Compensation Act ("the Act"), an injury is compensable if the claimant proves three elements: "(1) that the injury was caused by an accident; (2) that the injury was sustained in the course of the employment; and (3) that the injury arose out of the employment." Hedges v. Wake Cty. Pub. Sch. Sys., 206 N.C.App. 732, 734, 699 S.E.2d 124, 126 (2010) (citation and quotation marks omitted), disc. review denied, 365 N.C. 77, 705 S.E.2d 746 (2011). In the present case, Defendants contend that Plaintiff's injury is not compensable because (1) the injury did not arise out of his employment; and (2) the injury was not caused by an accident for purposes of the Act. Defendants further contend that the Commission erred in awarding Plaintiff total temporary disability benefits. We address each of these arguments in turn.
Defendants' primary contention on appeal is that Plaintiff's injury is not compensable because it did not arise out of his employment with Tropical. We disagree.
The "arising out of the employment" element of compensability refers to "the origin or cause of the accident," and in order to satisfy this element, "the employment must be a contributing cause or bear a reasonable relationship to the employee's injuries." Morgan v. Morgan Motor Co. of Albemarle, –––N.C.App. ––––, ––––, 752 S.E.2d 677, 680 (2013) (citations and quotation marks omitted), aff'd per curiam, 368 N.C. 69, 772 S.E.2d 238 (2015). Defendants here assert that because participation in the laser tag event was not mandatory, the event was a "fun outing" that did not provide any measurable benefit to Tropical. Defendants consequently challenge the Commission's findings that reach a contrary result, arguing that the Commission's resulting determination that Plaintiff's injury arose from his employment is contrary to established caselaw.
The Commission made the following pertinent findings of fact in support of its determination that Plaintiff's injury arose from his employment:
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