Pine v. Wal-Mart Assocs., Inc.
| Decision Date | 07 December 2018 |
| Docket Number | No. 335A17,335A17 |
| Citation | 371 N.C. 707,821 S.E.2d 155 |
| Court | North Carolina Supreme Court |
| Parties | Patricia PINE, Employee v. WAL-MART ASSOCIATES, INC. # 1552, Employer, National Union Fire Insurance Co., Carrier (Claims Management, Inc., Third-Party Administrator) |
Shelby, Pethel and Hudson, P.A., Salisbury, by David A. Shelby, for plaintiff-appellant/appellee.
Hedrick Gardner Kincheloe & Garofalo LLP, by M. Duane Jones, Holly M. Stott, Charlotte, and Linda Stephens, Raleigh, for defendant-appellants/appellees.
Sumwalt Law Firm, Charlotte, by Vernon Sumwalt, for North Carolina Advocates for Justice, amicus curiae.
Defendants, Wal-Mart Associates, Inc. (Wal-Mart) and National Union Fire Insurance Company, appealed the opinion and award of the North Carolina Industrial Commission (the Commission), which awarded plaintiff, Patricia Pine, ongoing disability compensation and medical compensation for her right shoulder, left knee, right carpal tunnel syndrome
, right sagittal band rupture, right hand dystrophic condition, right carpal boss, and neck injuries. On appeal, a divided panel of the Court of Appeals affirmed, holding that while the Commission erred in ostensibly applying a presumption of compensability for plaintiff’s medical conditions, the Commission concluded in the alternative that plaintiff had met her burden of proving causation absent any presumption. Pine v. Wal-Mart Assocs. , ––– N.C. App. ––––, ––––, 804 S.E.2d 769, 779 (2017). Because we cannot determine from this record the extent to which the Commission relied on a presumption of causation or whether it had an independent, alternate basis for its determination of causation, we conclude that we must reverse and remand this case for further findings and proceedings before the Commission.
Plaintiff was employed by Wal-Mart in the electronics department, where she had worked for almost twenty-two years. On 29 December 2011, plaintiff tripped and fell forward over the bottom of a stairway ladder. When plaintiff attempted to break her fall with her right arm, her right wrist struck the cement floor, followed by her body falling on top of her right shoulder area. Her left knee also hit the floor before striking her in the chest near her collarbone. Plaintiff experienced pain in her right side up to her shoulder and collarbone. One of plaintiff’s coworkers observed the fall and confirmed that plaintiff complained of pain in her left knee, right hand, right wrist, and right shoulder.
At the direction of Wal-Mart, plaintiff went to ProMed later that afternoon, where she was seen by Clifford Callaway, M.D. At that visit, plaintiff complained primarily of pain in her right shoulder area; Dr. Callaway diagnosed her with a shoulder sprain
and ordered x-rays. Due to continued pain in her right wrist, right arm, right shoulder, left knee, and neck, plaintiff followed up several times with Dr. Callaway, who diagnosed her with a left knee sprain, right wrist sprain, and cervical strain.
Dr. Callaway referred plaintiff to James Comadoll, M.D., an orthopedic specialist with Pinnacle Orthopedic Associates. Plaintiff visited Dr. Comadoll on 6 February 2012 and complained of pain in her left knee and "decreased range of motion and pain with use of [her] right arm." Dr. Comadoll diagnosed plaintiff with a possible right rotator cuff tear
and a left knee contusion, "ordered an MRI of her right shoulder, and released her to return to work with restrictions, including no use of her right arm and no standing or walking over one hour." In a follow-up visit on 21 February 2012, plaintiff "complained more about her neck with soreness and pain on range of motion," and in additional follow-up visits over successive months, plaintiff continued to complain of pain in her neck, right shoulder, and left knee. Due to concern about possible nerve entrapment, Dr. Comadoll ordered an EMG, which was performed on 31 May 2012. The EMG revealed that plaintiff had "median nerve compression in the wrist, i.e. carpal tunnel syndrome," which Dr. Comadoll testified could be caused by trauma. On 23 July 2012, Dr. Comadoll performed carpal tunnel release surgery on plaintiff’s right hand, after which plaintiff continued to experience pain in her right hand. Dr. Comadoll ordered an MRI of plaintiff’s left knee, which revealed a possible lateral meniscus anterior horn tear.
For plaintiff’s complaints of pain in her neck and upper extremities, Dr. Comadoll referred her to Michael Getter, M.D., a board-certified orthopedic surgeon specializing in spinal surgery. On 17 December 2012, plaintiff saw Dr. Getter, who wrote a note taking her completely out of work and ordered a cervical MRI, which revealed "degenerative disc disease
causing stenosis compressing the nerve at C4-5, C5-6, and C6-7." Based on the MRI results, Dr. Getter "recommended surgery to decompress the nerve and to prevent progressive neurological problems and muscle atrophy."
Defendants requested that plaintiff also have her right shoulder and right hand examined by Joseph Estwanik, M.D., whom she saw on 12 February 2013. After examining plaintiff, "Dr. Estwanik diagnosed a partial full thickness tear of the right rotator cuff for which he recommended arthroscopic surgery
." Additionally, on 10 September 2014, plaintiff saw Louis Koman, M.D., a board-certified orthopedic surgeon with a certificate of subspecialty in hand surgery. Dr. Koman "diagnosed Plaintiff with a carpal boss, a traumatic sagittal band rupture at the index of the metacarpophalangeal, and cervical spine pathology that was causing some residual symptoms in the right upper extremity despite the carpal tunnel release
."1
Plaintiff timely filed a Form 18 Notice of Accident to Employer in which she described the injuries involved as "RUE, LLE, neck and any other injuries causally related." On 4 October 2012, defendants filed a Form 60 with the Commission accepting plaintiff’s claim as compensable and describing the body parts involved in the injuries by accident as "Right shoul[d]er/arm." Defendants later filed a Form 61 on 5 August 2013 denying compensability for the "new injury outside of her employment to her cervical spine and further contend[ing] that Employee-Plaintiff’s current disability, if any, is unrelated to the original compensable injury." Plaintiff filed a Form 33 on 28 August 2013 requesting that her claim be assigned for hearing.
Deputy Commissioner Kim Ledford heard this matter on 19 March 2014. On 14 November 2014, Deputy Commissioner Ledford entered an opinion and award concluding, inter alia , that "by the greater weight of competent medical opinion, ... Plaintiff sustained injury to her right shoulder, which has been admitted, and to her right wrist, and her left knee, and also aggravated her pre-existing cervical disc disease
." Accordingly, Deputy Commissioner Ledford awarded plaintiff disability compensation and medical compensation, "including any recommended surgery for Plaintiff’s right shoulder, right wrist, neck and left knee." Both parties appealed to the Full Commission.
The Full Commission heard the case on 22 April 2015. The Commission issued an opinion and award on 10 November 2015, finding in pertinent part:
and sagittal band rupture were caused by the December 29, 2011 injury by accident. The Full Commission further finds, by a preponderance of the evidence[,] that Plaintiff’s carpal boss was materially aggravated by the December 29, 2011 injury by accident. Additional medical treatment, including but not limited to surgery with Dr. Koman, is reasonable and necessary to effect a cure, give relief, or lessen the period of disability related to these injuries.
In its conclusions of law, the Commission determined that defendants’ filing of a Form 60 admitting compensability created a rebuttable presumption, commonly referred to as the Parsons presumption, see Parsons v. Pantry, Inc. , 126 N.C. App. 540, 485 S.E.2d 867 (1997), that plaintiff’s other injuries were causally related to her 29 December 2011 accident and that defendants must rebut that presumption with evidence to the contrary. (First citing Perez v. Am. Airlines/AMR Corp. , 174 N.C. App. 128, 620 S.E.2d 288 (2005), disc. rev. improvidently allowed per curiam , 360 N.C. 587, 634 S.E.2d 887 (2006) ; and then citing Wilkes v. City of Greenville , 243 N.C. App. 491, 777 S.E.2d 282 (2015), aff’d in part, aff’d as modified in part, and remanded , 369 N.C. 730, 799 S.E.2d 838 (2017).) The Commission concluded that here:
3. Defendants failed to present sufficient evidence to rebut the presumption that Plaintiff’s carpal tunnel syndrome
, carpal boss, sagittal band rupture, dystrophic right hand symptoms, neck, and left knee problems are causally related to the December 29, 2011 injury by accident. However, Defendants did rebut the presumption that Plaintiff’s Dupuytren’s condition is related to the December 29, 2011 injury by accident.
(Citing Gonzalez v. Tidy Maids, Inc. , 239 N.C. App. 469, 768 S.E.2d 886 (2015).) Accordingly, the Commission awarded disability compensation and medical compensation for plaintiff’s right shoulder, right carpal tunnel syndrome
, right sagittal band rupture, right hand dystrophic condition, right carpal boss, left knee, and neck injuries. Defendants appealed from the Commission’s opinion and...
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...742 S.E.2d 781, 786 (2013) ). Further, "[w]e review decisions of the Court of Appeals for errors of law." Pine v. Wal-Mart Assocs., Inc. , 371 N.C. 707, 715, 821 S.E.2d 155, 160 (2018) (quoting Irving v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Bd. of Educ. , 368 N.C. 609, 611, 781 S.E.2d 282, 284 (2016) ). A......
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