Wheeler v. Lake Forest Property Owners' Ass'n, Inc.

• Decision Date: 23 March 1988
• Citation: 523 So.2d 1083
• Parties: Brenda Carol WHEELER v. LAKE FOREST PROPERTY OWNERS' ASSOCIATION, INC., d/b/a Lake Forest Yacht & Country Club. Civ. 6138.
• Court: Alabama Court of Civil Appeals

Page 1083

523 So.2d 1083

Brenda Carol WHEELER v. LAKE FOREST PROPERTY OWNERS' ASSOCIATION, INC., d/b/a Lake Forest Yacht & Country Club.

Civ. 6138.

Court of Civil Appeals of Alabama.

March 23, 1988.

Gregory M. Friedlander, Mobile, for appellant.

Thomas M. Galloway, Jr., of Collins, Galloway & Smith, Mobile, for appellee.

L. CHARLES WRIGHT, Retired Appellate Judge.

This is a workmen's compensation case.

Brenda Carol Wheeler was employed as a bartender for Lake Forest Property Owners' Association, Inc., doing business as Lake Forest Yacht and Country Club (Lake Forest). In March 1985, the employee sustained an injury while acting in the scope of her employment. The employee reported the injury and received medical treatment for a herniated disc. She received temporary total disability benefits for a period of time.

The employee filed this action under the Alabama Workmen's Compensation Act, Ala.Code (1975), §§ 25-5-1 through -231 (1986 Repl.Vol.). After a hearing the trial court issued an order, finding that the employee was entitled to benefits under the workmen's compensation statutes. The trial court also found that the average weekly wage of the employee at the time of the accident was $165 and that she had a fifteen percent permanent partial disability to her body as a whole. The trial court awarded compensation based upon its calculations and determined that the employee was not entitled to vocational rehabilitation.

The employee's post-trial motion was denied. The employee appeals.

Under our scope of review in workmen's compensation cases, we search the record to determine if there is any evidence to support the trial court's findings. Benefield v. Goodwill Industries, 473 So.2d 505 (Ala.Civ.App.1985). Under this limited scope of review, we will not weigh the evidence. Rice v. Wellborn Forest Products, Inc., 465 So.2d 1165 (Ala.Civ.App.1985). If the record contains any evidence to support the findings of the trial court, we will affirm those findings. Benefield, 473 So.2d 505.

In her first issue the employee contends that the trial court erred when it determined her average weekly earnings at the time of the accident to be $165. The employee testified that she received an hourly rate of $3.65 plus tips and that her average weekly salary, including tips, was between $250 and $300 at the time of the accident.

The employee's W-2 forms for 1984 and 1985 and her income tax returns for 1984 and 1985 were introduced into evidence. These documents indicate that, in the thirteen weeks of 1985 that Wheeler was employed with Lake Forest, she earned approximately $2,118 in wages, salary, and tips. During approximately seven months of employment in 1984, her earnings were $4,680. This evidence, when calculated into weekly salary, tends to support the finding of the trial court that her weekly salary was $165. That portion of the trial court's order is affirmed. Benefield, 473 So.2d 505.

In her second issue the employee contends that the judgment of the trial court is erroneous because the trial court failed to make a finding of the employee's loss of ability to earn. The trial court's order states, in pertinent part:

"Based on the foregoing findings of fact the Court concludes that the plaintiff has suffered an injury compensable under the Workmen's Compensation Laws of the State of Alabama and that she has a permanent partial disability as contemplated under Section 25-5-57(g) of the Code of Alabama (1975). The Court concludes that her permanent partial disability is 15% to her body as a whole, and, therefore, she is entitled to benefits calculated as follows:

" 2/3 X $165.00 X 15% or a total of $16.50 per week from January 8, 1987, for a period of 225 2/7ths weeks (300 - 74 5/7ths."

The trial...