Parchman v. Amwood Products, Inc.

• Decision Date: 12 June 2008
• Docket Number: No. 2006-CT-00075-SCT.,2006-CT-00075-SCT.
• Citation: 988 So.2d 346
• Parties: James Walter PARCHMAN v. AMWOOD PRODUCTS, INC. and Mississippi Manufacturers' Association Workers' Compensation Trust.
• Court: Mississippi Supreme Court

988 So.2d 346

James Walter PARCHMAN v. AMWOOD PRODUCTS, INC. and Mississippi Manufacturers' Association Workers' Compensation Trust.

No. 2006-CT-00075-SCT.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

June 12, 2008.

Rehearing Denied August 28, 2008.

Jim Waide, Tupelo, Ron L. Woodruff, attorneys for appellant.

John S. Hill, Tupelo, attorney for appellees.

EN BANC.

ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI

GRAVES, Justice, for the Court.

¶1. On January 14, 2008, this Court granted James Parchman's petition for writ of certiorari to review the following issues:

I. Whether the Court of Appeals applied the wrong standard of review and failed to resolve all doubts in favor of compensation in its opinion.

II. Whether the Court of Appeals misapprehended binding precedent in holding that Parchman had a compensable injury prior to September 2002.

III. Whether the Court of Appeals misinterpreted binding law in holding the two-year statute of limitations was not tolled where Amwood failed to comply with the notice requirement of the act.

IV. Whether the Court of Appeals overlooked the fact that there was not substantial evidence supporting the Commission's split decision and misapprehended facts concerning Parchman's "wage-earning" capacity.

¶ 2. Although Parchman raised the issue of whether Amwood's continued payment of his salary constituted payment in lieu of workers' compensation benefits on appeal, he failed to reassert this issue in his petition for writ of certiorari to this Court. However, we find the aforementioned issue to be dispositive of the case. Amwood's continued payment of Parchman's salary through September of 2002, even though he was absent from work for more than sixteen weeks as a result of his injury, constituted payment of salary in lieu of workers' compensation benefits. Accordingly, we find that Parchman's petition to controvert was not barred by the statute of limitations. Therefore, we reverse and remand the case for a hearing on the merits.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶ 3. James Parchman began working for Amwood Products in 1993, and he was promoted to plant manager for Amwood in March 2000. Parchman's responsibilities as plant manager included overseeing several employees, and he was directly supervised by Jackie Burdine, Amwood's vice-president.

¶ 4. In March 2000, Parchman was assisting another Amwood employee with a welding job when a piece of hot slag fell into his right boot, leaving two small burns on either side of Parchman's ankle. Because of the size of the burns, Parchman did not consider the injury to be serious and simply put an antibiotic ointment and a bandage on the burns. It was not until several weeks later, when the burns had not healed, that Parchman sought medical treatment for the injury. Under the orders of his doctor, Parchman began weekly treatments for the burns from April 2000 through February 2002. At the commission hearing, Parchman testified that he scheduled his doctor's appointments during his lunch break so that he would not miss work. In February 2002, when the wounds still had not healed, Parchman was admitted to the hospital to undergo tests to determine why the wounds would not heal. At that time, Parchman was hospitalized for three weeks.

¶ 5. In April and May of 2002, Parchman missed five weeks of work to undergo another treatment for the unhealed burn wounds. After this treatment also failed to heal the wounds, Parchman had skin grafts done on the area in the summer of 2002. Parchman received one skin graft per week for eight weeks. During this process, Parchman was under doctor's orders to remain on bed rest, causing him to be absent from work for nearly three months.

¶ 6. While Parchman was off from work undergoing skin grafts, Amwood notified him that they would no longer be able to pay his salary. Further, Greer, the president of Amwood, suggested that Parchman apply for temporary disability benefits. Parchman believed that he would be able to return to work at Amwood after the completion of his treatments. However, Greer confirmed with Parchman that he was fired. Greer reported to Parchman that Amwood was reorganizing and that his job as plant manager would no longer exist. Amwood continued to pay Parchman's full salary until his termination.

¶ 7. On July 23, 2003, Parchman filed his petition to controvert with the Mississippi Workers' Compensation Commission. Asserting that Parchman's claim was barred by the two-year statute of limitations, Amwood filed a motion to dismiss. At the hearing on Amwood's motion to dismiss, Parchman testified that he reported to Burdine, Amwood's vice president, prior to his first doctor's appointment that he was seeking medical treatment for the burns on his foot. Further, he testified that he advised Burdine of each doctor's appointment prior to the appointment. Joey Southard, who was present when Parchman sustained the injury, also testified that he and Burdine had discussed Parchman's injury on several occasions. Furthermore, Parchman discussed his injury on separate occasions with two female employees of Amwood who were responsible for filing workers' compensation claims. One of the women, Ms. Edwards, testified that Parchman had told her that he did not intend to file a claim for workers' compensation, and further had advised her that he did not wish her to file anything with the commission. Parchman denies that he requested Ms. Edwards to refrain from filing anything with the commission.

¶ 8. Amwood maintained that it was unaware that Parchman's injury was work-related until more than a year after Parchman sustained the injury. After a hearing on the motion, at which the aforementioned evidence was presented, the administrative law judge granted the motion to dismiss, finding Parchman's claim to be barred by the two-year statute of limitations, as provided in Mississippi Code Annotated Section 71-3-35 (Rev.2000). Parchman appealed the administrative law judge's decision to the full commission, which affirmed the dismissal in a two-to-one decision on September 9, 2005. Parchman next appealed the commission's decision to the circuit court, which affirmed the dismissal. Parchman then appealed that decision to this Court, which assigned the appeal to the Court of Appeals. The Court of Appeals, without dissent, affirmed the decision of the circuit court on January 30, 2007. Parchman v. Amwood Prods., Inc., 988 So.2d 380, 2007 Miss.App. LEXIS 31 (Miss.Ct.App. Jan. 30, 2007). On January 17, 2008, this Court granted Parchman's petition for writ of certiorari. Parchman v. Amwood Prods., Inc., 973 So.2d 244 (Miss.2008).

ANALYSIS

¶ 9. Unless there exists an agreement "that the wage is a gratuity in addition to workmen's compensation," when a claimant "is paid his usual salary and does no work for a given period or does so little work that he really does not earn his wage" the continued payment of the claimant's salary "will be considered as having been in lieu of compensation." Dunn, Mississippi Workmen's Compensation § 45 (3d ed.1982) (emphasis added). "When an employer elects to continue the payment of the wages of an injured employee and the payment is not in return for work done or services rendered but is either expressly or impliedly in lieu of compensation, the payments may be considered as payments of compensation to the same extent and with like effect as payments otherwise made by an insurance carrier under and in compliance with the Act." Dunn, Mississippi Workmen's Compensation § 318.1 (3d ed.1982) (emphasis added); see also Brown v. F.W. Woolworth Co., 348 So.2d 236 (1977). Furthermore,

if the payment of wages was intended to be in lieu of compensation, credit for the wages is allowed. However, since there is seldom any evidence on whether such an intention lay behind the payment, it must be inferred from the circumstances surrounding the payment.

George S. Taylor Constr. Co. v. Harlow, 269 So.2d 337, 338 (Miss.1972). Moreover, "if [the employee] is paid his regular wage, although he does no work at all, it is a reasonable inference that the allowance is in lieu of compensation." Id.

¶ 10. The administrative law judge found that, even in light of the fact that Parchman missed time from work beginning shortly after he sustained the injury, that he "continued to perform the essential functions associated with his position," such that Amwood's continued payment of Parchman's salary did not constitute payment of his salary in lieu of workers' compensation benefits. The commission agreed and dismissed the issue as without merit without pointing to any facts to support its finding:

The Administrative Judge determined that claimant's receipt of salary through the fall of 2002 did not constitute "payment of salary in lieu of compensation" but rather reflected payment of salary for work performed. We agree. The claimant continued to work for the employer until September 2002 and was paid for the services he rendered. The argument that wages or salary claimant received were in lieu of compensation is spurious.

¶ 11. The Court of Appeals, applying the "substantial evidence" standard to review this issue of fact, found that the commission's decision was supported by "substantial evidence" and therefore found the issue to be without merit. In support of its decision, the Court of Appeals referenced the following:

Parchman testified in his deposition that during the periods that he was on leave for treatment, he continued to communicate with the plant and do his job to the best of his ability. Lanny Wilkerson, the office manager, also testified that Parchman was in regular contact with his employees while he was out for treatment. There was no evidence at all that Parchman was using paid sick leave or vacation days during his extended absences as the basis for his receiving his salary, as neither side raised the question. Accordingly, this Court holds that the agency's finding is supported by substantial evidence, and...