Landry v. US Airways, Inc.
Decision Date | 07 May 2002 |
Docket Number | No. COA01-724.,COA01-724. |
Parties | Douglas Jeffrey LANDRY, Employee, Plaintiff, v. US AIRWAYS, INC., Employer, RSKCO, Carrier, Defendants. |
Court | North Carolina Court of Appeals |
Law Offices of George W. Lennon, by George W. Lennon and Michael W. Ballance, Raleigh, for plaintiff-appellant.
Brooks, Stevens & Pope, P.A., by Michael C. Sigmon and Matthew P. Blake, Cary, for defendant-appellees.
Douglas Jeffrey Landry (Plaintiff) appeals an opinion and award of the Full Commission of the North Carolina Industrial Commission (the Commission) filed 22 February 2001 denying his workers' compensation claim against U.S. Airways, Inc. (U.S. Airways) and its insurance carrier RSKCO (collectively, Defendants).
On 3 August 1998, Plaintiff filed a claim with the North Carolina Industrial Commission requesting a hearing before a deputy commissioner. The evidence presented at the hearing established that in 1996, Plaintiff was employed by U.S. Airways. His duties involved computer work three times a week and the loading and unloading of cargo twice a week. The cargo handled by Plaintiff typically involved mail, freight, and passenger luggage, ranging in weight from one-to-five-pound packages to 400-pound freight. On 17 July 1996, Plaintiff and his supervisor Robert Drda (Drda) were unloading a Fokker F28, a small jet aircraft with a seating capacity of approximately sixty-five passengers. They did not have a conveyor belt to assist them, which was not unusual for this type of aircraft. Drda was working inside the luggage compartment while Plaintiff was positioned at the rear of the aircraft next to the opening of the luggage compartment. When Drda pushed a large, yellow mailbag toward the opening, Plaintiff reached over his head to grab it. As Plaintiff turned to place the mailbag into a cargo cart, he discovered it was heavier than he had anticipated and felt a sharp pain in his right shoulder. Plaintiff told Drda about his injury, and together, they completed an injury report.
Plaintiff later discovered the mailbag was filled with processed photos instead of regular mail. Although Plaintiff never knew exactly how much an individual item would weigh until lifting it, he could generally estimate its weight "by sight" before picking it up. Plaintiff testified it was not unusual for a mailbag to be overweight. Dr. Robert C. Martin (Dr. Martin) diagnosed Plaintiff with a torn rotator cuff. Dr. Martin performed arthroscopic surgery on Plaintiff during which he repaired both a torn labral tendon and extensive rotator cuff tear.
The Commission entered the following pertinent findings:
Based on these findings, the Commission concluded "[P]laintiff did not sustain an injury by accident" entitling him to workers' compensation benefits because an accident requires "the introduction ... of unusual conditions likely to result in unexpected consequences."
The issue is whether the Commission's findings, if based on competent evidence, support its conclusion that Plaintiff did not sustain an injury by accident.
Review on appeal from an opinion and award of the Commission is limited to a determination of whether its findings are supported by competent evidence and whether the findings support the Commission's conclusions. Cody v. Snider Lumber Co., 328 N.C. 67, 70, 399 S.E.2d 104, 105-06 (1991). In order to be compensable under the Workers' Compensation Act, an injury must result from an "accident arising out of and in the course of the employment." N.C.G.S. § 97-2(6) (1999). In deciding whether there was an accident, the only question on appeal is whether there was "an unlooked for and untoward event which is not expected or designed by the [injured employee]," Gladson v. Piedmont Stores, 57 N.C.App. 579, 579, 292 S.E.2d 18, 18,disc. review denied, 306 N.C. 556, 294 S.E.2d 370 (1982), or "the interruption of the routine work and the introduction thereby of unusual conditions," Sanderson v. Northeast Construction Co., 77 N.C.App. 117, 121, 334 S.E.2d 392, 394 (1985). The lifting of an object by an employee that is heavier than expected or heavier than the usual nature of the object may constitute an unlooked for and untoward event not expected or designed by the injured employee. Gladson, 57 N.C.App. at 580-81,292 S.E.2d at 19; see also Calderwood v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Hosp. Auth., 135 N.C.App. 112, 116, 519 S.E.2d 61, 63 (1999) ( ), disc, review denied, 351 N.C. 351, 543 S.E.2d 124 (2000). But "once an activity, even a strenuous or otherwise unusual activity, becomes a part of the employee's normal work routine, an injury caused by such activity is not the result of an interruption of the work routine or otherwise an `injury by accident.'" Bowles v. CTS of Asheville, 77 N.C.App. 547, 550, 335 S.E.2d 502, 504 (1985) (citation omitted).
In this case, the Commission found that "[m]ailbags often ... were heavier or lighter than...
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