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Easton v. J.D. Denson Mowing9/20/2005
The facts of this matter are not in dispute. Plaintiff, Frank Easton, was injured after falling from a tractor while working for J.D. Denson Mowing Company. Pursuant to an opinion and award filed 16 October 2000, plaintiff was awarded temporary total disability benefits for the compensable work-related injury he sustained. This Court affirmed that award in an unpublished opinion, Easton v. J.D. Denson Mowing Co., 148 N.C. App. 405, 560 S.E.2d 885 (2002)(unpublished). Plaintiff was awarded $365.78 per week in disability payments beginning on 3 September 1997, continuing until plaintiff was able to return to work or until otherwise ordered bythe Industrial Commission. While receiving these disability payments, plaintiff was incarcerated for a probation violation from 22 January 2003 until 8 September 2003. Plaintiff's counsel informed defendants of plaintiff's possible incarceration on 4 April 2003, and confirmed the incarceration on 3 June 2003. On 24 July 2003, defendants filed a Form 24 seeking authorization to suspend defendant's disability payments until plaintiff's release from jail, which was granted on 28 August 2003. Plaintiff appealed and the Deputy Commissioner affirmed the suspension of benefits and allowed defendants a credit for the amounts previously paid while plaintiff was incarcerated. Plaintiff appealed to the Full Commission, which affirmed the Deputy Commissioner's ruling by an Opinion and Award entered 30 August 2004. Plaintiff appeals.
In plaintiff's first argument, he contends the Industrial Commission erred in authorizing defendant to suspend payment of plaintiff's workers' compensation disability payments as a result of his incarceration. We disagree.
This Court definitively addressed this issue in Parker v. Union Camp Corp., 108 N.C. App. 85, 422 S.E.2d 585 (1992). In Parker, the plaintiff suffered a compensable work-related injury and was receiving workers' compensation benefits. Id. at 86, 422 S.E.2d at 585. While receiving benefits, the plaintiff was convicted and sentenced to prison. This Court held the plaintiff was not entitled to receive workers' compensation benefits while in prison. Id. at 88, 422 S.E.2d at 587. This Court reasoned that the denial of benefits is reasonable where the state "purposefullydeprives that person of the right to earn wages." Id. at 87, 422 S.E.2d at 586. The rationale behind this decision was that "while he was in prison Mr. Parker did not have the right to earn wages; his incapacity to earn was caused by his imprisonment, not by his injury." Id. at 88, 422 S.E.2d at 586.
Plaintiff first asserts that Parker is based upon an erroneous interpretation of the law and asks this Court to overrule Parker. This we cannot and will not do. We are bound by opinions of prior panels of this Court deciding the same issue. In the Matter of Appeal from Civil Penalty, 324 N.C. 373, 384, 379 S.E.2d 30, 37 (1989). The issue presented in this case is identical to that presented in Parker, thus we are bound by that decision.
Plaintiff next contends Parker has been overruled by the case of Harris v. Thompson Contractors, Inc., 148 N.C. App. 472, 558 S.E.2d 894 (2002), aff'd, 356 N.C. 664, 576 S.E.2d 323 (2003).This is incorrect. In Harris, the plaintiff was serving a sentence in the Department of Corrections. After he was incarcerated, Harris was allowed to work for defendant-employer under a work release program pursuant to N.C. Gen. Stat. ยง 148-33.1. This Court held Harris was entitled to receive compensation, stating:
Parker is distinguishable from the instant case. In Parker, the claimant was injured on the job before his incarceration and was already receiving benefits. Parker at 86, 422 S.E.2d at 585.
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