Sharpe v. Case Produce Co.

• Citation: 495 S.E.2d 790,329 S.C. 534
• Decision Date: 02 December 1997
• Docket Number: No. 2775,2775
• Parties: Anthony SHARPE, Appellant, v. CASE PRODUCE COMPANY and S.C. Workers' Compensation Uninsured Employers' Fund, Respondents. . Heard
• Court: Court of Appeals of South Carolina

Page 790

495 S.E.2d 790

329 S.C. 534

Anthony SHARPE, Appellant, v. CASE PRODUCE COMPANY and S.C. Workers' Compensation Uninsured Employers' Fund, Respondents.

No. 2775.

Court of Appeals of South Carolina.

Heard Dec. 2, 1997.

Decided Dec. 22, 1997.

Rehearing Denied Feb. 19, 1998.

Certiorari Granted Dec. 17, 1998.

Robert T. Williams, Sr., of Williams, Hendrix, Steigner, & Brink, Lexington, for Appellant.

William T. Geddings, Jr., Manning; and Ajernal Danley, Columbia, for Respondents.

ANDERSON, Judge:

Anthony Sharpe (Sharpe) appeals from the Circuit Court's order affirming the Workers' Compensation Commission's denial of benefits. He argues the trial court erred in affirming the Commission's finding his injury was not work-related. We reverse.

FACTS/PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Sharpe worked for Case Produce Company on and off for approximately seventeen years. His duties consisted of packing and unpacking tomatoes, driving a delivery vehicle, and making deliveries.

Sharpe and Shonda Goins Harper had been involved in a romantic relationship. Harper worked seasonally for Case Produce for four or five years. Sharpe described an altercation with Harper which occurred on Saturday, July 16, 1994. Sharpe testified Harper slapped him in the face, shoved him, and pushed him lightly in the chest. He denied she pushed him against a counter top or bar. He further denied (1) he complained to anyone he got hurt during the altercation; (2) he experienced any back pain due to the altercation; or (3) that he missed any work prior to July 21, 1994.

According to Harper, she pushed Sharpe several times against a counter top and at least once against a bar. She also slapped his face. When Harper saw Sharpe a couple of days after their fight, he complained he was "still real sore" and his back was "bothering him" as a result of the fight.

Dock T. Case, the manager of Case Produce, testified that on Monday, July 18, 1994, Sharpe was in "pretty bad pain." He had a big sore on the side of his right eye and his forearms were "all scratched up." Sharpe explained to Case he had been in a fight and complained "he couldn't hardly stand up because his back was hurting him so bad." Instead of packing, Sharpe was either "laying over the packing table" or "squatted down." Case advised Sharpe to leave early, but when Sharpe returned on Tuesday, he was still complaining his back hurt. By Wednesday, Sharpe felt better.

On Thursday, July 21, 1994, Sharpe had eight cases of tomatoes to deliver. Instead of using the company truck, he decided to transport the tomatoes in the trunk of his own car. The eight boxes of tomatoes were sitting on the dock. Sharpe grabbed two boxes to load in his trunk. The two boxes together weighed approximately fifty pounds. According to Sharpe: "[A]s I went to set them over in there I felt like electricity go through my whole body, you know, and I thought an electrical wire or something had fell on the car. So, I dropped the tomatoes and leaned up. When I leaned up my legs quit working and I fell on the pavement, skint [sic] my leg up and I couldn't move, I couldn't feel my legs." Sharpe did not stand up. He called for Dock Case, his supervisor, to come out on the dock. He asked Case to call an ambulance "because [he] couldn't feel [his] legs."

Case, who was sitting in his office eating breakfast when the alleged accident occurred, did not observe Sharpe fall. No one saw Sharpe fall. Case explained Sharpe's car was apparently in his blind spot. Sharpe called his name and Case walked out on the dock. He saw Sharpe lying between the car and the dock. When Sharpe said he could not move his legs, Case called an ambulance. Case made the delivery Sharpe had been preparing and could not "tell that [the tomatoes] had been dropped."

Sharpe was admitted to Lexington Medical Center. He remained in the hospital from July 21 to July 30, 1994. On July 25, 1994, Dr. Bruce S. Harris, a neurosurgeon, performed back surgery on Sharpe. When Sharpe left the hospital, he stayed with his sister. He was out of work for approximately eight and one half months.

Sharpe returned to work on Thursday, April 6, 1995. On his first day back, he packed tomatoes. Case stated that when Sharpe returned to work he was "doing his job real good." However, Case "made sure Well, the tomatoes when they are on the pallets they are glued--the tops have glue on them and they are hard to pull loose. And they are up probably about 7 foot I guess high. And me reaching up trying to get them loose and pull them down was putting a lot of strain on my back, was really hurting me. As the day goes on, by the afternoon I was in a lot of pain.

that he had help" and hired someone else to do the heavy lifting, pulling, and pushing. Case testified Sharpe could still do his job and complained only about his feet burning. Sharpe continued to work for twelve days, until Friday, April 21, 1995. On Monday, April 24, 1995, Sharpe informed Case he could no longer perform his job due to problems with his back and feet. Sharpe explained:

....

My legs--my feet burned and stinged [sic] all the time. It's like there is a numbness and asleep like if your arm goes to sleep. And standing on that concrete like it was, my feet were just like they were on fire. And I just couldn't take it.

Sharpe submitted medical evidence from his attending physicians, Dr. Bruce Harris and Dr. Victoria P. Samuels. ¹ Dr. Harris performed "[d]ecompressive laminectomies, T9, 10, and 11" with a final diagnosis of myelopathy secondary to thoracic spinal cord compression. In an undated note, Dr. Samuels wrote "Mr. Sharp's [sic] cord compression, myelopathy & subsequent surgery was [sic] all the result of a work related accident." Dr. Samuels determined Sharpe had a 34% disability to the back and reached maximum medical improvement on January 4, 1995.

Sharpe filed a Form 50 alleging that on July 21, 1994, he sustained an injury to his back arising out of and in the course of his employment with Case Produce. Case Produce filed a Form 51 denying Sharpe sustained a work-related injury. Because Case Produce was operating without Workers' Compensation Insurance, it filed a "Compliance Claim" with the South Carolina Workers' Compensation Commission, agreeing to comply with the South Carolina Workers' Compensation Act. The South Carolina Uninsured Employers' Fund also filed a Form 51 denying the claim.

The Single Commissioner held Sharpe did not sustain an injury by accident arising out of and in the course of his employment with Case Produce on July 21, 1994. He found Sharpe's testimony was not credible. In denying benefits, he found all of the credible evidence supported an injury to Sharpe as a result of a physical confrontation occurring prior to July 21, 1994. Sharpe filed a motion to submit after-discovered evidence--the EMS report and certain correspondence. The Full Commission granted the motion. The Commission remanded the case to the Single Commissioner "for completion of the record by inclusion of the information." The Single Commissioner reviewed the motion and the evidence and reaffirmed his original order. The Full Commission affirmed the finding of the Single Commissioner. The Circuit Court affirmed the Full Commission.

ISSUES

I. Did the Circuit Court err in affirming the Full Commission's finding Sharpe's injury was not work-related?

II. Did the Circuit Court err in affirming the Full Commission's decision where, even if an injury occurred during an altercation, the accident at work aggravated this pre-existing injury?

STANDARD OF REVIEW

The South Carolina Administrative Procedures Act, S.C.Code Ann. § 1-23-310, et seq. (Rev.1986 & Supp.1996), establishes the "substantial evidence" rule as the standard for judicial review of a decision of an administrative agency. Lark v. Bi-Lo, Inc., 276 S.C. 130, 276 S.E.2d 304 (1981). South Carolina Code Ann. § 1-23-380(A)(6) (Supp.1996) provides:

The court shall not substitute its judgment for that of the agency as to the weight of the evidence on questions of fact. The court may affirm the decision of the agency or remand the case for further ....

proceedings. The court may reverse or modify the decision if substantial rights of the appellant have been prejudiced because the administrative findings, inferences, conclusions or decisions are:

(d) affected by other error of law; [or]

(e) clearly erroneous in view of the reliable, probative and substantial evidence on the whole record.

See also Smith v. Union Bleachery/Cone Mills, 276 S.C. 454, 456, 280 S.E.2d 52, 53 (1981) (quoting S.C.Code Ann. § 1-23-380(g)(4) (Supp.1980)) (court may reverse or modify agency's decision " 'if substantial rights of the appellant have been prejudiced because the administrative findings, inferences, conclusions or decisions are ... affected by other error of law.' "). On appeal from the Workers' Compensation Commission, the court may not substitute its judgment for that of the Commission as to the weight of the evidence on questions of fact, but may reverse where the decision is affected by an error of law. Stephen v. Avins Constr. Co., 324 S.C. 334, 478 S.E.2d 74 (Ct.App.1996). See also Lyles v. Quantum Chem. Co. (Emery), 315 S.C. 440, 434 S.E.2d 292 (Ct.App.1993) (in reviewing decision of Workers' Compensation Commission, Court of Appeals will not set aside its findings unless they are not supported by substantial evidence or they are controlled by error of law).

The Full Commission is the ultimate fact finder in Workers' Compensation cases and is not bound by the Single Commissioner's findings of fact. Ross v. American Red Cross, 298 S.C. 490, 381 S.E.2d 728 (1989). The findings of the Commission are presumed correct and will be set aside only if unsupported by substantial evidence. Rodney v. Michelin Tire Corp., 320 S.C. 515, 466 S.E.2d 357 (1996). Substantial evidence is not a mere scintilla of evidence, nor the evidence viewed blindly from one side of the...