The stress of losing a job is hard enough, and has been shown to create adverse health effects, but the least the government can do is provide unemployment benefits in a timely manner.  More coverage here and here.

Here is the summary of our argument to the Court:

“As the Industrial Commission concluded, the Town of Garner is solely liable for plaintiff’s compensable injury under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 160A-288 because it occurred during official cooperation between law enforcement agencies, pursuant to a mutual aid agreement.  Everyone involved, including Garner’s Chief of Police, understood the necessity of the mutual aid agreement for plaintiff’s law enforcement work at N.C. State, and intended that his work fall under the agreement.  Having encouraged plaintiff to establish the mounted patrol unit and work at N.C. State football games, Garner cannot now reverse course, repudiate its actions, and claim that plaintiff is not entitled to benefits based on an untenable reading of the mutual aid statute.

In the alternative, if N.C. Gen. Stat. § 160A-288 does not apply, the Court should conclude that Garner and N.C. State are jointly responsible for plaintiff’s compensable injury as joint employers.  Because plaintiff’s injury arose out of and in the course of his employment with both employer-defendants, they are jointly liable for his compensable injury.  Under either theory, plaintiff must be compensated for his workplace injury at the maximum workers’ compensation rate.

Plaintiff, a nineteen-year veteran of the Garner police force, suffered an admittedly compensable injury by accident, but has still not received any benefits almost two years after he returned to work. Garner’s continuing refusal to pay a clearly compensable claim is unconscionable. The Industrial Commission properly rejected Garner’s arguments.  This Court should reach the same conclusion.”

Frank Porter Graham Award – Jimmy Creech
ACLU of North Carolina Award – Juvencio Rocha Peralta
Paul Green Award – Jeremy Collins & Charmaine Fuller Cooper

In Freeman v. Rothrock, the North Carolina Supreme Court had sent the case back to the Court of Appeals after reversing it and rejecting the judicial creation of a bar to recovery of worker’s compensation benefits when an employee made misrepresentations at the time of hiring about his physical condition.  On remand, the Court addressed the other appealed issues from the Commission, and affirmed the Commission’s conclusions that the plaintiff is entitled to ongoing total disability benefits and that the employer is not entitled to a credit based on previous clinchers (settlements) with the plaintiff.

In Beckles-Palomares v. Logan, the Court addressed the City of Winston-Salem’s defense of governmental immunity, which arose out of an accident where an intoxicated driver struck and killed a seven-year-old boy riding his bicycle.  The plaintiff, the boy’s mother, brought claims against several parties, including the City for failing to keep the particular streets safe in various specific ways.  The Court rejected the City’s defense of immunity, concluding that the public duty doctrine only applies to law enforcement activities, and that the statutes at issue waived immunity.  The Court also rejected its defenses on summary judgment, allowing the plaintiff’s claims against the City to go to a jury.

Finally, in Blackwell v. Hartley, the Court addressed evidence provided by accident reconstruction experts.  In this case, plaintiff Blackwell was driving her car with her son, stopped at an intersection, checked traffic in both directions, entered the intersection, and her car was struck by Hatley’s pick-up truck.  One of the key disputes was whether Hartley was exceeding the speed limit, and whether plaintiff’s expert could testify about Hartley’s speed.  Although a recent law changed this rule, the Court held that for accidents occurring prior to December 1, 2006, an accident reconstruction expert cannot opine on the speed of a vehicle without observing the accident.  The Court also affirmed the dismissal of plaintiff’s claims against the town where the accident took place, concluding that there was no evidence of negligence on the town’s part.

Of course, what millions of uninsured workers need right now is the healthcare reform bill that is stalled in Congress, so that everyone can get health insurance.  Even the bill the Senate passed would be a big step in the right direction, if only the House would just pass it.