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Segovia v. J.L. Powell & Co.12/7/2004
PUBLISHED
Gilberto A. Segovia, Jr. ("plaintiff") appeals from an opinion and award of the North Carolina Industrial Commission (the "Commission") denying his claim for further compensation. For the reasons stated herein, we affirm the opinion and award of the Commission.
The relevant facts and procedural history are summarized as follows: Plaintiff suffered compensable injuries by accident to his back and ear while working for defendant J.L. Powell & Company ("defendant-employer") on 21 April 2000. Plaintiff missed work for medical reasons from 22 April 2000 until 18 June 2000. On 19 June 2000, plaintiff returned to work for defendant-employer doing light duty work. Plaintiff eventually resumed his former duties. Plaintiff was out of work for ear surgery from 13 September 2000 through 21 September 2000. Plaintiff returned to work for defendant-employer on 22 September 2000 until he was taken out of work for a second ear surgery on 13 March 2001. Plaintiff's physician had indicated that plaintiff would be out of work for no more than a week. However, plaintiff was laid off by defendant-employer on 14 March 2001 along with eleven other employees.
Defendants admitted liability for benefits pursuant to a form 60 and paid temporary total disability benefits to plaintiff during all the periods plaintiff was out of work and continued to do so after laying him off. After plaintiff was laid off, defendants filed several form 24 requests to stop payment of compensation alleging that plaintiff was out of work due to the economy rather than due to a disability. These requests were denied by the Commission, and defendants requested a hearing on the matter. On 22 January 2003, a deputy commissioner entered an opinion and award concluding that plaintiff's loss of earnings was not due to any disability arising from the injury and denying further compensation. Plaintiff appealed to the full Commission, which in an order entered 23 September 2003, affirmed the decision of the deputy commissioner. Plaintiff appeals.
The dispositive issue on appeal is whether the full Commission's findings of fact are supported by the evidence and whether the findings of fact in turn support the conclusions of law. Specifically, plaintiff argues that the full Commission erred in terminating plaintiff's disability benefits when plaintiff is still disabled.
On appeal of a workers' compensation decision, we are "limited to reviewing whether any competent evidence supports the Commission's findings of fact and whether the findings of fact support the Commission's conclusions of law." Deese v. Champion Int'l Corp., 352 N.C. 109, 116, 530 S.E.2d 549, 553 (2000). An appellate court reviewing a workers' compensation claim "does not have the right to weigh the evidence and decide the issue on the basis of its weight. The court's duty goes no further than to determine whether the record contains any evidence tending to support the finding." Adams v. AVX Corp., 349 N.C. 676, 681, 509 S.E.2d 411, 414 (1998)(quoting Anderson v. Lincoln Constr. Co., 265 N.C. 431, 434, 144 S.E.2d 272, 274 (1965)).
On appeal, plaintiff challenges the following findings of fact:
7. Plaintiff returned to work for defendant-employer on June 19 at light duty, where he just scanned wood for metal. He later gradually worked back into his regular job, which he performed satisfactorily without apparent difficulty. On September 13, 2000 he went back out of work for his ear surgery and he returned to work on September 22, 2000. When he had his second ear operation on March 13, 2001, he again went out of work and was to be out for no more than a week. Although Dr. Kenyon released him to return to wo
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