Income from Mobile Home Park did not Stop Compensation Benefits
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The North Carolina Court of Appeals has upheld workers' compensation benefits awarded by the North Carolina Industrial Commission to an injured iron worker. This is true even though the iron worker earned $25,000.00 in rental fees from his mobile home park after his injury. In addition, the worker had income from a tobacco allotment.
If an injured worker has wage earning capacity, he or she is not able to recover workers' compensation benefits for being out of work. North Carolina has established a two-pronged test for determining whether a self-employed person has wage earning.
1. The employee must be actively involved in the day to day operation of the business.
2. The employee must use skills that would enable him or her to obtain a job in a competitive market place when
physical limitations, age, education and experience were taken into account.
In upholding the Industrial Commission, the North Carolina Court of Appeals found that the injured worker's two incomes from self employment did not automatically mean that he could find a job in the competitive market place.
The worker suffered injuries to both knees when a 20-ton dolly "broke loose," struck him in the left knee and smashed him against a wall.
One of the doctors testified that the victim had a 30% permanent disability to his right leg and imposed a permanent restriction of no climbing. Another doctor testified that the victim had a 30% permanent disability to his right leg and a 40% permanent disability to his left knee. This doctor limited the plaintiff to sedentary work with no lifting over 30-pounds, no repetitive lifting, no stooping, squatting, kneeling or climbing, and no standing or walking for prolonged periods. Several witnesses testified that the worker's physical capacity changed substantially following the injury. One person testified that the worker's physical capacity changed substantially following the injury. One person testified that he would not employ the victim because, in his present condition, he would likely injure himself further.
The defendant contended that the claimant was not totally disabled because he continued to operate a mobile home park and received income from his tobacco allotment.
A vocational expert testified that the claimant was totally disabled considering his pain complaints. Further, this vocational expert testified that the claimant did not have any skills from management of his mobile home park that would be transferable to other types of work.
The Industrial Commission found that, prior to his injury, the worker raised tobacco and put up hay. He was unable to do these things following his accident. The Court of Appeals held that this finding establishes that the plaintiff was not actively involved in day to day farming operations and that the income from his tobacco allotment did not establish wage earning capacity. Further, the Industrial Commission found that in serving as "supervisor" of his mobile home park, there were not any real skills that would have been developed that would be transferable to other work. The injured worker was, therefore, not employable in the market place.
For more information on this subject matter, please refer to the section on Worksite Injuries and Workers Compensation.