Pierre v. Seaside Farms, Inc.

• Decision Date: 16 February 2010
• Docket Number: No. 26777.,26777.
• Citation: 689 S.E.2d 615,386 S.C. 534
• Court: South Carolina Supreme Court
• Parties: Frantz PIERRE, Appellant, v. SEASIDE FARMS, INC., Employer, and American Home Assurance Insurance Co. c/o AIG, Carrier, Respondents.

689 S.E.2d 615

386 S.C. 534

Frantz PIERRE, Appellant, v. SEASIDE FARMS, INC., Employer, and American Home Assurance Insurance Co. c/o AIG, Carrier, Respondents.

No. 26777.

Supreme Court of South Carolina.

Heard October 20, 2009.

Decided February 16, 2010.

Ilene Stacey King, of Turnipseed & Associates, of Columbia; Shaundra F. Young and James Hadstate, both of North Charleston; and Andrew H. Turner, of Southern Poverty Law Center, of Montgomery, AL, for Appellant.

Stephen L. Brown, Catherine H. Chase, and Lee Louis Gremillion, IV, all of Young Clement Rivers, of Charleston, for Respondents.

Justice BEATTY.

The South Carolina Workers' Compensation Commission denied Frantz Pierre's claim for benefits for an injury he sustained while employed as a migrant worker with Seaside Farms, Inc. Pierre fractured his right ankle when he fell on a wet sidewalk at housing supplied by his employer. The circuit court affirmed, and Pierre appeals. We reverse and remand, finding Pierre's injury is compensable under South Carolina's workers' compensation law.

FACTS

The facts in this case are undisputed. Seaside Farms, Inc. operates a 400-acre tomato farm and has a packing house on St. Helena Island, South Carolina. Pierre, a legal resident, was recruited as a seasonal worker by a crew leader for Seaside Farms and arrived in South Carolina from Florida on June 5, 2003. On that date, he completed paperwork at Seaside Farms and signed a written document entitled, "Terms and Conditions of Employment."

Under the terms of employment, Pierre's work week was Monday through Sunday, and the base pay for actual work time in the packing house was $6.00 per hour. The terms further provided: "There are not any set hours or days in this job, as it varies with picking in the field. Bad weather may delay or cancel work." According to the president and co-owner of Seaside Farms, at peak conditions, work would start around noon for those employed in the packing facility (as opposed to those harvesting) and could run until midnight or 1:00 a.m. He stated there are no regular hours for the employees because they "work as the season dictates and as we can harvest."

The terms also provided that Seaside Farms would supply housing to the migrant workers at no charge. Seaside Farms had three housing areas, and most of the individuals working in the packing facility resided at the Land's End housing, which was about four or five miles from the packing facility. The Land's End housing was a block building with a tin roof and barracks-type rooms on both sides, with showers and a kitchen in the middle. Each room held three people, and up to 96 people could reside there. Outside the building there was also a sink for washing clothes and other items.

As soon as Pierre finished his paperwork around 4 p.m. or 5 p.m. on June 5, 2003, the crew leader drove Pierre to the housing supplied by Seaside Farms at Land's End. Pierre was scheduled to begin work the next morning. Transportation of the workers from the housing area to the packing facility and back each day was the responsibility of the crew leader as the workers did not own vehicles and it enabled the entire packing crew to arrive simultaneously to start the production line.

Pierre put his clothing in his room and decided to walk outside to look around. Just after 6:00 p.m., Pierre was exiting the building when he fell on a wet sidewalk as he walked out the door. Pierre noticed a woman was using the outside sink and water was flowing down the sidewalk in front of the building at the time he fell. Pierre was taken to a hospital, where it was determined he had fractured his right ankle.

Seaside Farms thereafter terminated Pierre's employment, and he was not immediately able to obtain other employment due to his fractured ankle. Pierre filed a claim for workers' compensation benefits, alleging he suffered his injury in the course and scope of his employment at Seaside Farms. Pierre asserted the accident took place in an employer-owned labor camp, the employer benefited from Pierre living at nearby housing, he was required by necessity to live there, and the accident occurred in the context of his reasonable use of the housing facility as contemplated by the employer. Pierre sought temporary total disability compensation from June 5, 2003 to January 31, 2004; causally-related medical treatment to date; and future medical treatment, including surgery.

The hearing commissioner determined Pierre had not sustained a compensable injury because he was not injured during the course and scope of his employment. Specifically, the hearing commissioner found Pierre "was under no requirement to live in the employer provided housing pursuant to his contract for employment" and his work did not require that he be on continuous call. In addition, he was not engaged in any activities that were calculated to further, either directly or indirectly, the business of his employer. Finally, the wet sidewalk where Pierre fell was not different in character or design from other sidewalks, and the risk associated with slipping on the sidewalk was not one uniquely associated with his employment; rather, it was one he would have been equally exposed to apart from his employment.

The Commission's Appellate Panel upheld the hearing commissioner's order and incorporated it by reference. However, one member separately wrote to state that, although he agreed with the hearing commissioner's refusal to adopt the "bunkhouse rule," he disagreed with the hearing commissioner's conclusion that Pierre's accident did not arise out of his employment because the sidewalk in question was no different in character or design from any other sidewalk. The member stated this was too narrow a reading of the requirement that the accident "arise out of" the claimant's employment.

Pierre appealed to the circuit court, arguing his accident did arise out of and in the course of his employment and that Seaside Farms furnished the labor camp housing as part of his compensation. He alleged he "was functionally required to live in the ... labor camp housing for lack of [a] reasonable alternative, in view of the distance of the work from residential facilities and the lack of availability of accommodations elsewhere." Additionally, "[t]he erratic work schedule described by [the] employment contract and in respondent's [Seaside Farm's] deposition testimony, indicates that [he] may have been summoned from [the] labor camp housing to work in [the] tomato packinghouse facility at odd and irregular hours." Pierre also alleged the wet sidewalk where he fell was a peculiar hazard to which he was exposed only as a result of his employment with Seaside Farms.

The circuit court affirmed. The court noted the parties had stipulated that Pierre was an employee under the South Carolina Workers' Compensation Act at the time of his injury. The court concluded Pierre's accident did not arise out of and in the course of his employment with Seaside Farms because he was not performing any duties for his employer when the accident occurred. The court stated Pierre's proposed common-law theory of the "bunkhouse rule" was not applicable, in any event, as it does not apply when the employee is not required to reside in the employer-supplied housing. Pierre appeals.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

The Administrative Procedures Act (APA) provides the standard for judicial review of decisions by the Commission. Geathers v. 3V, Inc., 371 S.C. 570, 641 S.E.2d 29 (2007); Shealy v. Aiken County, 341 S.C. 448, 535 S.E.2d 438 (2000); Lark v. Bi-Lo, Inc., 276 S.C. 130, 276 S.E.2d 304 (1981). An appellate 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 Sys. Int'l, 384 S.C. 76, 84, 681 S.E.2d 595, 599-600 (Ct.App.2009) (citing S.C.Code Ann. § 1-23-380).

In workers' compensation cases, the Commission is the ultimate factfinder. Jordan v. Kelly Co., 381 S.C. 483, 674 S.E.2d 166 (2009). "This Court must affirm the findings of fact made by the full commission if they are supported by substantial evidence." Tennant v. Beaufort County Sch. Dist., 381 S.C. 617, 620, 674 S.E.2d 488, 490 (2009) (citing Lark v. Bi-Lo, Inc., 276 S.C. 130, 276 S.E.2d 304 (1981)). "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." Id.

Under the APA, a reviewing court determines whether the circuit court properly determined if the Commission's findings of fact are supported by substantial evidence in the record and whether the Hearing Panel's decision is affected by an error of law. Geathers, 371 S.C. at 576, 641 S.E.2d at 32.¹

LAW/ANALYSIS

A claimant may recover workers' compensation benefits if he sustains an "injury by accident arising out of and in the course of employment." S.C.Code Ann. § 42-1-160(A) (Supp.2009). "Arising out of" refers to the origin and cause of the accident; the phrase "in the course of" refers to the time, place, and circumstances under which the accident occurred. Hall v. Desert Aire, Inc., 376 S.C. 338, 349, 656 S.E.2d 753, 758 (Ct.App.2007). An accident arises out of the employment when the accident happens because of the employment, as when the employment is a contributing proximate cause. Sola v. Sunny Slope Farms, 244 S.C. 6, 135 S.E.2d 321 (1964).

"In determining if an accident arose out of and in the course of employment, each case must be decided with reference to its own attendant circumstances." Hall, 376 S.C. at 349, 656 S.E.2d at 759. "The general policy in South Carolina is to construe the Workers' Compensation Act in favor of coverage, and any reasonable doubts as to construction should be resolved in favor of the claimant." Id. at 350, 656 S.E.2d at 759.

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