Owens-Brockway Packaging, Inc. v. Hathorn, OWENS-BROCKWAY
| Decision Date | 16 June 1997 |
| Docket Number | OWENS-BROCKWAY,No. A97A1292,A97A1292 |
| Citation | 488 S.E.2d 495,227 Ga.App. 110 |
| Parties | , 97 FCDR 2396 PACKAGING, INC. v. HATHORN. |
| Court | Georgia Court of Appeals |
Wilson, Strickland & Benson, Earl B. Benson, Jr., Carolyn A. Seabolt, Atlanta, for appellant.
Morris L. Richman, Decatur, for appellee.
In this workers' compensation case, claimant Terry Hathorn, an employee of Owens-Brockway Packaging, Inc., sustained a compensable injury to her back in 1990. In 1993 Hathorn missed work for approximately six months due to problems with her back which were unrelated to any specific job-related incident, returning in November 1993. In January 1994 she left work again, but returned a month later after receiving a full-duty release from her treating physician. She received disability benefits on both occasions. After returning to work in February 1994 Hathorn worked continuously on a full-time, full-duty basis without missing any time from work due to physical problems until January 1995 when she was involved in an automobile accident unrelated to her employment. The accident caused disabling injuries to the same area of her back as had been injured in 1990.
The ALJ found that because Hathorn was unable to successfully perform regular-duty work even before the 1995 automobile accident due to a continuation of symptoms related to her 1990 injury, she was entitled to income benefits for a change in condition as of the accident date. The appellate division reversed, finding that the preponderance of competent and credible evidence demonstrated that Hathorn's present disability was a direct result of her automobile collision and not due to her condition prior to the accident. The superior court, in turn, reversed the decision of the appellate division and reinstated the ALJ's award, holding that the ALJ's finding "that the claimant was symptomatic and unable to perform regular duty work" due to her original, work-related injury was supported by the preponderance of the evidence. Owens-Brockway filed an application for discretionary review of the superior court's judgment arguing that the superior court erred by weighing evidence to determine the preponderance of the evidence rather than applying the "any evidence" standard of review to the appellate division's decision. We granted the application and, for the reasons that follow, reverse the judgment of the superior court.
When the superior court decided this case, the role of the appellate division in reviewing an ALJ's order was in a state of some uncertainty as a result of a 1994 amendment to OCGA § 34-9-103(a). Recently, however, the Supreme Court of Georgia interpreted and clarified the General Assembly's revision of OCGA § 34-9-103(a). In Bankhead Enterprises v. Beavers, 267 Ga. 506, 480 S.E.2d 840 (1997), the Supreme Court held that ...
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...to substitute its judgment as to weight of the evidence or the credibility of the witnesses. [Cit.] Owens-Brockway Packaging v. Hathorn, 227 Ga.App. 110, 111, 488 S.E.2d 495 (1997). Further, in reviewing a workers' compensation award, we must construe the evidence in the light most favorabl......
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