Rollins v. Cochran Forest Products
| Decision Date | 08 November 1993 |
| Docket Number | No. 92-509,92-509 |
| Citation | 626 So.2d 304 |
| Parties | 18 Fla. L. Weekly D2413 Ronnie ROLLINS, Appellant, v. COCHRAN FOREST PRODUCTS and Fiesco, Appellees. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
William Dekle Day, Jacksonville, for appellant.
Elizabeth H. Webb and Holly Davis, McCarty, Helm & Keeter, Gainesville, for appellees.
In this workers' compensation case, the Judge of Compensation Claims ("JCC") rejected the claim based on a finding that claimant's testimony was not credible and the JCC did not believe an accident had actually occurred at work. "[I]t is well established that it is the JCC's duty to judge the credibility of the witnesses and to resolve conflicts in the evidence, and that this court is bound by the JCC's findings if they are supported by competent substantial evidence (CSE), i.e., evidence that is logical and reasonable," Fritz v. Courtyard by Marriott, 592 So.2d 1167 (Fla. 1st DCA 1992), and it is not this court's function to search the record for evidence in support of a claim that has been disallowed, Lawrence v. O.B. Cannon & Sons, 579 So.2d 812 (Fla. 1st DCA 1991). These principles were reaffirmed recently in Ullman v. City of Tampa Parks Department, 625 So.2d 868, (Fla. 1st DCA 1993). However, because several of the findings providing a foundation for the ultimate finding that claimant's testimony lacked credibility are not supported by competent substantial evidence in the record, we reverse and remand for clarification.
Claimant alleged he was injured while picking up pulpwood blocks and putting them into a trailer to be taken to the chipper. At hearing, Claimant testified that on September 26, 1990, when he picked up a pulpwood log and threw it onto his shoulder, he experienced sharp pain in his neck. He shook his neck two or three times and the pain went away. Claimant further testified that at work the next day, when he picked up a wood block weighing 40-50 pounds to throw it into the trailer, the pain returned. On September 27, 1990, he reported the incident to Mrs. Thrasher, the secretary at Cochran Forest Products, and at the end of the day he went to the emergency room, which recorded that claimant said: Initially cervical strain was diagnosed, but later tests revealed a herniated disc.
In addition to claimant's hearing and deposition testimony, the JCC heard the testimony of Mr. Cochran, owner of Cochran Forest Products, Michael Brown, claimant's co-worker, Mrs. Thrasher, and Dr. Latimer. In the order, the JCC found:
The claimant alleged at the hearing that he sustained a herniated disc in his neck on September 26, 1991, when he was carrying a wood log on his shoulder. This is contrary to his deposition testimony wherein he testified that he carried this five foot long log on his shoulder for ten feet before dropping it. The claimant testified that he felt pain in his neck, but he shook his neck and the pain went away. The following day, the claimant was picking up a wood block and throwing it into a buggy when he felt pain in the left side of his neck. Contrary to the testimony of Michael Brown that the block only weighed between 5 and 15 pounds, the claimant testified that this wood block weighed between 40-50 lbs.
In the claimant's deposition, however, the claimant testified that he was throwing a three foot long block into the trailer when he was injured, rather than the log as he mentioned at the hearing. In fact, the claimant only mentioned one incident in his deposition, not two as he alleged at the hearing. I find the claimant's testimony discredited because he did not testify in his deposition that any incident occurred on September 27, 1990 as he did at the hearing.
. . . . .
I accept and adopt the testimony of Michael Brown wherein he testified that the claimant did not report any injury to him, although they worked side by side on September 26, 1990, and on the following day. I find this testimony more credible than the claimant's wherein he denied that anyone was with him the day of the accident (Ronnie Rollins deposition, page 33) yet at the hearing admitted working with Michael Brown. The claimant also did not report the injury to the plant supervisor, the person to whom injuries were to be reported.
. . . . .
The claimant's credibility is further weakened by the two inconsistent histories he gave to Dr. Latimer. Dr. Latimer testified at the hearing that the claimant injured his neck when he fell while carrying a log on his shoulder as well as injuring it while attempting to throw a log.
. . . . .
Based upon the testimony of Michael Brown, James Cochran and Mary Thrasher, I find that the claimant did not injure his neck in the course and scope of his employment, but rather, injured it while lifting weights off the job. I also reached this decision based upon the inconsistencies in the claimant's story between his deposition and his hearing testimony and between the inconsistent stories he gave to Dr. Latimer. (emphasis in original)
The JCC discredited claimant's testimony based on the finding that he did not report the injury to the plant supervisor, "the person to whom injuries were to be reported." This finding is not supported in the record. We have located no evidence in the record that injuries...
To continue reading
Request your trial