Nicholson v. S.C. Dep't of Soc. Servs.
| Decision Date | 04 September 2013 |
| Docket Number | No. 5171.,5171. |
| Parties | Carolyn M. NICHOLSON, Claimant, Respondent, v. SOUTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES, Employer, and State Accident Fund, Carrier, Appellants. Appellate Case No. 2012–206507. |
| Court | South Carolina Court of Appeals |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
L. Brenn Watson and Zachary M. Smith, both of Wilson, Jones, Carter & Baxley, P.A., of Greenville, for Appellants.
Kathryn Williams, of Kathryn Williams, P.A., of Greenville, for Respondent.
South Carolina Department of Social Services (DSS) appeals the Appellate Panel of the South Carolina Workers' Compensation Commission's (the Commission) finding that Carolyn Nicholson sustained compensable injuries to her neck, back, and left shoulder when she fell while walking in a carpeted hallway of her workplace. DSS argues the Commission erred because Nicholson's injuries did not arise out of her employment, as the Workers' Compensation Single Commissioner (Single Commissioner) previously found. We reverse.
The facts in this case are undisputed. Nicholson worked as a supervisor in the investigations department of DSS. As a part of her job with DSS, she attended weekly audit meetings to review and update case files. On February 26, 2009, Nicholson was scheduled for an audit meeting, which was held on the lower floor of DSS's building. She grabbed a stack of files and began walking down the hallway to the meeting. While walking down the hallway, Nicholson's shoe scuffed the carpet, and she fell onto her left side. As a result of the fall, Nicholson sustained injuries to her neck, back, and left shoulder.
On January 3, 2011, Nicholson filed a Form 50, alleging she sustained compensable injuries by accident arising out of and in the course of her employment as a result of the fall. Nicholson sought payment for past medical treatment, additional medical treatment for her neck, back, and left shoulder, and temporary total disability benefits from February 26, 2009, to April 13, 2009, the days she was out of work. DSS and its insurance carrier, State Accident Fund, admitted Nicholson fell at work but denied she sustained compensable injuries by accident arising out of her employment.
A hearing before the Single Commissioner was held on March 16, 2011. At the hearing, Nicholson testified her leg did not give way, and she had no health problems that would cause her to fall. During direct examination, Nicholson was specifically asked if she could offer any opinion as to the cause of her fall, and she answered as follows:
Q. So, what is it that you think caused you to fall?
A. Friction from the carpet.
Q. Did your foot get stuck?
A. Yes, from the friction. As I went to walk, the friction from the carpet just grabbed me and I fell.
Nicholson further testified the hallway had a normal, level, carpeted floor that was free from defect, and there was no debris on the floor. Although Nicholson was carrying ten case files weighing approximately fifteen pounds at the time of her fall, she testified that the files did not cause her to fall.
On April 26, 2011, the Single Commissioner issued an order finding Nicholson did not prove by a preponderance of the evidence that her alleged injuries arose out of her employment. Specifically, the Single Commissionerfound Nicholson did not prove a causal connection between her fall and her employment because the fall was “wholly unrelated to her employment with [DSS].” The Single Commissioner found the floor was carpeted, level, and free from defect and, therefore, concluded Nicholson's employment was not a contributing cause because “there was nothing peculiar about the floor at [DSS]'s building that caused her to fall.” Additionally, the Single Commissioner determined Nicholson's employment did not contribute to the effect of her fall because the fall “would have carried the same consequences had she fallen on a carpeted floor outside” the DSS building. In support, the Single Commissioner referenced Nicholson's own testimony that the files she carried did not cause or contribute to her fall. Based on these findings, the Single Commissioner denied Nicholson's claim for benefits. The Single Commissioner discussed Bagwell v. Ernest Burwell, Inc., 227 S.C. 444, 88 S.E.2d 611 (1955), in support of his conclusion.
Nicholson appealed to the Commission, which reversed the Single Commissioner's determination that Nicholson did not sustain compensable injuries. The Commission discussed Pierre v. Seaside Farms, Inc., 386 S.C. 534, 689 S.E.2d 615 (2010), in support of its findings. As to the specific findings, the Commission found that Nicholson's injuries did not result from an idiopathic 1 or unexplained fall because Nicholson identified a specific, non-internal reason for the fall—her shoe scuffing the carpet. The Commission, therefore, concluded that because the fall was not idiopathic, the analysis in Bagwell was inapplicable. The Commission also determined “the files did not cause or contribute to [Nicholson's] fall.” Nevertheless, the Commission found Nicholson's employment was a contributing cause to her fall, and it was irrelevant that the fall could have happened on any other level, carpeted surface because the fall happened as a result of a risk associated with the conditions under which she worked. As a result, the Commission determined that the fall arose out of Nicholson's employment because “it bore a special relation to her work and the conditions under which she worked,” because “she was required to work in a carpeted area.” This appeal followed.
Did the Commission err in finding Nicholson sustained compensable injuries arising out of her employment with DSS, thus entitling her to medical and compensation benefits?
The South Carolina Administrative Procedures Act establishes the standard for judicial review of decisions of the Commission. Pierre, 386 S.C. at 540, 689 S.E.2d at 618. This court can reverse or modify the Commission's decision if it is affected by an error of law or is clearly erroneous in view of the reliable, probative, and substantial evidence in the whole record. Fishburne v. ATI Systems Intern., 384 S.C. 76, 85, 681 S.E.2d 595, 599–600 (Ct.App.2009) (citing S.C.Code Ann. § 1–23–380). “ ‘Substantial evidence is not a mere scintilla of evidence, but evidence which, considering the record as a whole, would allow reasonable minds to reach the conclusion the agency reached.’ ” Pierre, 386 S.C. at 540, 689 S.E.2d at 618 (quoting Tennant v. Beaufort Cnty. Sch. Dist., 381 S.C. 617, 620, 674 S.E.2d 488, 490 (2009)). Despite the significant deference that the substantial evidence standard affords the Commission as to the weight of the evidence on questions of fact, “[w]here there are no disputed facts, the question of whether an accident is compensable is a question of law.” Grant v. Grant Textiles, 372 S.C. 196, 201, 641 S.E.2d 869, 872 (2007); see also Langdale v. Harris Carpets, 395 S.C. 194, 200–01, 717 S.E.2d 80, 83 (Ct.App.2011) ().
DSS argues the Commission erred in concluding that Nicholson's injuries arose out of her employment. DSS contends there was no causal connection between Nicholson's injuries and her employment because the carpet on which she fell was level and free from defect, and Nicholson testified that the files she was carrying did not cause her fall.
To be entitled to workers' compensation benefits, a claimant must show he or she sustained an “injury by accident arising out of and in the course of employment.” S.C.Code Ann. § 42–1–160(A) (Supp.2012). “The two parts of the phrase ‘arising out of and in the course of employment’ are not synonymous.” Broughton v. South of the Border, 336 S.C. 488, 496, 520 S.E.2d 634, 638 (Ct.App.1999). Rather, both parts must exist simultaneously before recovery is allowed. Id. This court has explained the distinction between the two parts as follows:
An accidental injury is considered to arise out of one's employment when there is a causal connection between the conditions under which the work is required to be performed and the resulting injury. An injury occurs within the course of employment when it occurs within the period of employment, at a place where the employee reasonably may be in the performance of his duties, and while fulfilling those duties or engaged in something incidental thereto.
Eaddy v. Smurfit–Stone Container Corp., 355 S.C. 154, 161, 584 S.E.2d 390, 394 (Ct.App.2003) (internal citations omitted). In this matter, there is no dispute that Nicholson sustained her injuries in the course of her employment, as she was at work at the time of the fall. Thus, the sole issue raised on appeal is whether Nicholson's injuries arose out of her employment.
The term “arising out of” refers to the origin or cause of the accident. Crosby v. Wal–Mart Store, Inc., 330 S.C. 489, 493, 499 S.E.2d 253, 255 (Ct.App.1998). “ ‘An injury arises out of employment when there is apparent to the rational mind, upon consideration of all the circumstances, a causal relationship between the conditions under which the work is to be performed and the resulting injury.’ ” Crisp v. SouthCo., Inc., 401 S.C. 627, 641, 738 S.E.2d 835, 842 (2013) (quoting Rodney v. Michelin Tire Corp., 320 S.C. 515, 518, 466 S.E.2d 357, 358 (1996)). However, an injury is excluded from compensability under the Workers' Compensation Act when it “comes from a hazard to which the workmen would have been equally exposed apart from the employment.” Crosby, 330 S.C. at 493, 499 S.E.2d at 255. Therefore, a claimant's injury is only compensable if the source of the injury was a risk “peculiar to the work and not common to the neighborhood.” Douglas v. Spartan Mills, Startex Div., 245...
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Nicholson v. S.C. Dep't of Soc. Servs.
...condition peculiar to her employment that contributed to or caused Nicholson's injuries. Nicholson v. S.C. Dep't of Soc. Servs., 405 S.C. 537, 546–48, 748 S.E.2d 256, 261–62 (Ct.App.2013). Therefore, it concluded her injuries did not arise out of her employment as a matter of law. Id. at 55......
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