Reported Case: Martin vs. Martin Bros. Grading
After being laid off from his job, Mr. Martin went to work for his son's company, Martin Bros. Grading. In November 1996, while helping clear land for a softball field, Mr. Martin was hit in the head by a falling tree limb and was knocked unconscious for an unknown period of time.
Another employee found Mr. Martin wandering in the woods with a head wound and brought him to his son, who took him to the hospital. There, Mr. Martin underwent surgery to repair a large, deep gash on his head. A CT scan revealed that he had also suffered from a subdural hematoma to the right side of his brain.
Mr. Martin was released from the hospital a few days later, but both he and his wife noticed that he was having memory problems. He was also irritable, anxious, and had begun repeating himself. Doctors told Mr. Martin's family that his symptoms were the result of a closed head injury.
In March 1997, Mr. Martin's doctors gave him the green light to return to work. But neither Mr. Martin nor his son thought he was ready for work, so he was assigned to the lightest-duty work available – driving a small earth compactor.
Less than a month later, the compactor overturned when Mr. Martin backed it onto a mound of dirt. He suffered yet another head injury.
Mr. Martin has not worked since that injury in April 1997 and continues to have personality, memory, and cognitive problems. He has been examined by numerous doctors, including his family physician and several neurological specialists.
Because of his injuries, Mr. Martin filed two separate Workers' Compensation claims, but they were eventually consolidated into a single claim. A Deputy Commissioner for the N.C. Industrial Commission awarded him temporary total disability benefits, but the Workers' Compensation insurance provider, State Farm, appealed the decision.
Mr. Martin's son believed his father was entitled to Workers' Compensation benefits for his two head injuries. But State Farm argued that Mr. Martin's disability was the result of small-vessel disease, a pre-existing condition that had nothing to do with his two work-related accidents.
On appeal, the full N.C. Industrial Commission upheld the deputy commissioner's ruling. In June 2003, the N.C. Court of Appeals once again upheld the N.C. Industrial Commission's decision, ruling that Mr. Martin's disability was the result of the injuries he suffered at work.
Mr. Martin remains unable to return to work as a result of his head injuries.
Following the N.C. Court of Appeals decision, Mr. Martin was awarded all of his accrued temporary total disability payments. He continued to receive temporary total disability payments and medical payments until the case went to mediation about a year later.
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Reported WC Cases
The following cases are reported Deuterman Law Group Workers' Compensation cases and are available for the public to access in the N.C. Court of Appeals. Reported cases tend to be signifcant cases.
