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Cloverleaf Express v. Fouts4/27/2005
Appellee Lyle Fouts suffered a cardiac episode on December 15, 2000, while employed by appellant Cloverleaf Express. In an opinion entered on February 20, 2002, the administrative law judge (A.L.J.) found that appellee failed to prove that he was an employee at the time of his injury. The Commission reversed the A.L.J.'s opinion and remanded the matter for resolution of other issues. In an unpublished opinion handed down on May 14, 2003, this court dismissed appellant's appeal from the Commission's order on the basis that it was not a final, appealable order. On August 29, 2003, the A.L.J. filed an opinion, pursuant to the Commission's remand, resolving the remaining issues. The A.L.J. found that appellee was an employee and not an independent contractor; that he earned wages sufficient to entitle him to weekly compensation benefits of $394 for total disability and $296 for permanent partial disability; that he had sustained a compensable cardiovascular and cerebrovascular injury; that the medical services provided to him were reasonably necessary; that he had been rendered temporarily totally disabled from December 16, 2000, continuing until a date yet to be determined; that appellant had controverted appellee's claim; and that appellee's attorney would receive the maximum statutory attorney's fee. The Commission affirmed and adopted the A.L.J.'s opinion. Appellants argue that: (1) the facts found by the Commission do not support its determination that appellee was an employee of Cloverleaf; (2) the Commission's finding that appellee was an employee is not supported by substantial evidence; (3) the Commission's determination that an accident was the major cause of appellee's cardiac injury is not supported by substantial evidence. We affirm.
Cloverleaf's business involves transporting goods by tractor-trailer truck, and its primary customer is Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. Appellee worked as a truck driver for Cloverleaf and drove one of its two company-owned trucks. On December 15, 2000, appellee was leaving a Wal-Mart facility in Corinth, Mississippi, when a conveyor line fell from the customer's dock as appellee was pulling his truck away from it. Apparently, the conveyor line had not yet been removed from his truck. Wal-Mart personnel requested that appellee help get the conveyor line back in place. Several people were lifting the line, which weighed approximately 800 pounds, when appellee fell onto the ground. He was hospitalized, and Dr. Michael D. Green diagnosed an episode of "sudden cardiac death."
A central issue of this case was whether appellee was indeed an employee of Cloverleaf given that he had applied for and was issued a certificate of non-coverage by the Commission. Arkansas Code Annotated section 11-9-402(c)(1)(B)(i) (Repl. 2002) provides:
A sole proprietor or the partners of a partnership who do not elect to be covered by this chapter and be deemed employees thereunder and who deliver to the prime contractor a current certification of noncoverage issued by the Workers' Compensation Commission shall be conclusively presumed not to be covered by the law or to be employees of the prime contractor during the term of his or her certification or any renewals thereof.
In addition, Ark. Code Ann. § 11-9-102(9)(D) (Repl. 2002) provides: Any individual receiving a certification of noncoverage under this chapter from the Commission shall thereafter, or until he elects otherwise, be conclusively presumed not to be an employee for purposes of this chapter or otherwise.
(Emphasis added.)
The Commission found that, when Ark. Code Ann. § 11-9-102 was read in conjunction with Ark. Code Ann. § 11-9-402, the use of the more general ter
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