DocketNumber: I.C. NOS. TA-18407 TA-18482.
Judges: <center> ORDER for the Full Commission by BUCK LATTIMORE, Chairman, N.C. Industrial Commission.</center>
Filed Date: 8/29/2007
Status: Precedential
Modified Date: 7/6/2016
2. Instead of handing a screwdriver to Plaintiff, Officer Flanagan requested an inmate working as a lighter crew worker to tighten screws on Plaintiff's wheelchair. The crew worker was unable to fix the chair at that time as it appeared that the screws were stripped. He informed Plaintiff that his chair may not last much longer. Plaintiff then left the manager's unit on his wheelchair to return to his cell.
3. Plaintiff did not request a replacement of his wheelchair, nor did he inform Officer Flanagan about the crew worker's warning about the possibility of the chair collapsing.
4. Plaintiff had a walker and a cane in his cell on the day of the incident in question.
5. Less than ten minutes after plaintiff's return to his cell, the wheelchair collapsed while he was using it for transportation to and from the bathroom. Plaintiff fell to the floor and was helped by other inmates to get up.
6. Plaintiff sent one of the inmates to inform medical department about the incident with Plaintiff's wheelchair. Plaintiff did not voice any complaints of pain or physical injury at that time. Consequently, medical department confiscated the wheelchair.
7. When Officer Flanagan went to the Plaintiff's cell, Plaintiff stated the wheelchair was taken by the medical department. Plaintiff did not complain to her about pain or any injuries he suffered.
8. In connection with this incident, Plaintiff was charged with disciplinary offense and found guilty by NCDOC for failure to obey Officer Flanagan's instructions.
2. Under the provisions of the Tort Claims Act, negligence is determined by the same rules applicable to private parties. Bolkir v.N.C. State Univ.,
3. Negligence cannot be presumed or inferred from mere occurrence of injury or accident. Fleming v. Twiggs,
4. In order to recover on a civil claim for negligence, a claimant must prove: (1) the existence of a duty to him; (2) a breach of that duty by the defendant (the named employees thereof in a tort claim); (3) injury sustained; and (4) that the injury sustained was a proximate result of the breach of duty. Pulley v. Rex Hospital,
5. While evidence adduced at the hearing demonstrated that Plaintiff's wheelchair broke, Plaintiff has failed to meet his burden of proof as to any State employee's breach of duty of reasonable care owed to him. At the most, Plaintiff was able to establish a mere occurrence of an accident. *Page 4
6. Plaintiff did not prove by greater weight of evidence that he sustained any damages or that he incurred any compensable expenses as a direct and proximate cause of any State employee's conduct on January 31, 2004.
7. There is no evidence that the Plaintiff either damaged or intentionally sabotaged his wheelchair. Accordingly, Defendant failed to meet its burden of proof on the asserted affirmative defense of contributory negligence on the part of Plaintiff nor that Plaintiff intentionally damaged his wheelchair.
2. Each party shall bear its own costs.
This the 2nd day of August 2007.
S/ ______________________ BUCK LATTIMORE CHAIRMAN
CONCURRING:
S/ ______________________ DANNY L. McDONALD COMMISSIONER
S/ ______________________ LAURA K. MAVRETIC COMMISSIONER