{ "id": 11911687, "name": "ROBERT ALLEN CONNER, Plaintiff-Appellee v. CONTINENTAL INDUSTRIAL CHEMICALS, INC. & ROBERT WYATT, Defendants-Appellants", "name_abbreviation": "Conner v. Continental Industrial Chemicals, Inc.", "decision_date": "1996-07-02", "docket_number": "No. COA95-1076", "first_page": "70", "last_page": "78", "citations": [ { "type": "official", "cite": "123 N.C. App. 70" } ], "court": { "name_abbreviation": "N.C. Ct. App.", "id": 14983, "name": "North Carolina Court of Appeals" }, "jurisdiction": { "id": 5, "name_long": "North Carolina", "name": "N.C." }, "cites_to": [ { "cite": "60 ALR Fed. 329", "category": "reporters:federal", "reporter": "A.L.R. Fed.", "opinion_index": -1 }, { "cite": "87 ALR2d 1391", "category": "reporters:specialty", "reporter": "A.L.R. 2d", "opinion_index": -1 }, { "cite": "351 S.E.2d 738", "category": "reporters:state_regional", "reporter": "S.E.2d", "year": 1987, "opinion_index": 0 }, { "cite": "318 N.C. 691", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "N.C.", "case_ids": [ 4737990, 4731502, 4734361, 4732348, 4740287 ], "year": 1987, "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/nc/318/0691-01", "/nc/318/0691-05", "/nc/318/0691-02", "/nc/318/0691-03", "/nc/318/0691-04" ] }, { "cite": "345 S.E.2d 469", "category": "reporters:state_regional", "reporter": "S.E.2d", "year": 1986, "pin_cites": [ { "page": "472" } ], "opinion_index": 0 }, { "cite": "82 N.C. App. 61", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "N.C. 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App. 810", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "N.C. App.", "case_ids": [ 11918327 ], "year": 1995, "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/nc-app/120/0810-01" ] }, { "cite": "396 S.E.2d 323", "category": "reporters:state_regional", "reporter": "S.E.2d", "year": 1990, "opinion_index": 0 }, { "cite": "327 N.C. 464", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "N.C.", "case_ids": [ 2496706 ], "year": 1990, "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/nc/327/0464-01" ] }, { "cite": "386 S.E.2d 76", "category": "reporters:state_regional", "reporter": "S.E.2d", "weight": 2, "year": 1989, "pin_cites": [ { "page": "79" }, { "page": "79", "parenthetical": "stating that in determining whether an instruction is required, evidence must be viewed in light most favorable to proponent" } ], "opinion_index": 0 }, { "cite": "96 N.C. App. 443", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "N.C. App.", "case_ids": [ 8522843 ], "weight": 2, "year": 1989, "pin_cites": [ { "page": "448" }, { "page": "448" } ], "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/nc-app/96/0443-01" ] }, { "cite": "346 S.E.2d 306", "category": "reporters:state_regional", "reporter": "S.E.2d", "weight": 2, "year": 1986, "pin_cites": [ { "page": "308-09" }, { "page": "308-09" } ], "opinion_index": 0 }, { "cite": "82 N.C. App. 200", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "N.C. App.", "case_ids": [ 8358533 ], "weight": 2, "year": 1986, "pin_cites": [ { "page": "206" }, { "page": "206" } ], "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/nc-app/82/0200-01" ] } ], "analysis": { "cardinality": 825, "char_count": 20215, "ocr_confidence": 0.747, "pagerank": { "raw": 1.3053771960300624e-07, "percentile": 0.62310737035248 }, "sha256": "43a5fbe9327c663559a9246b4129860594c9d54eb02f362b89b928b559737478", "simhash": "1:9766e126163f8d7d", "word_count": 3327 }, "last_updated": "2023-07-14T18:05:31.519627+00:00", "provenance": { "date_added": "2019-08-29", "source": "Harvard", "batch": "2018" }, "casebody": { "judges": [ "Judges EAGLES and SMITH concur." ], "parties": [ "ROBERT ALLEN CONNER, Plaintiff-Appellee v. CONTINENTAL INDUSTRIAL CHEMICALS, INC. & ROBERT WYATT, Defendants-Appellants" ], "opinions": [ { "text": "WYNN, Judge.\nOn 29 December 1992, plaintiff Robert Allen Conner, a truck driver employed by Carolina Freight Carriers, delivered chemicals to defendant Continental Industrial Chemical Inc.\u2019s (\u201cContinental\u201d) warehouse. In the process of unloading that truck at the warehouse, Continental\u2019s employee, defendant Robert Wyatt, backed a forklift into Mr. Conner. As a result of the accident, Mr. Conner suffered a fractured left foot, a crush injury to the soft tissue of the same foot, injury to his right knee, and bruising on his left leg.\nMr. Conner sued defendants for damages arising from the personal injuries that he sustained as a result of the accident. Defendants, on the other hand, alleged that Mr. Conner had been con-tributorily negligent as a matter of law because he did not look before entering and crossing the area where the forklift was being operated.\nAfter trial, a jury found Mr. Wyatt negligent, found Mr. Conner not contributorily negligent, and awarded Mr. Conner $300,000 in damages. The trial court entered judgment on these verdicts and denied defendants\u2019 motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict. Defendants appealed.\nDefendants contend that the trial court erred by (I) instructing the jury on the doctrine of sudden emergency, (II) refusing to properly instruct the jury on plaintiffs duty to choose a safer method to do his job, lost wages, plaintiff\u2019s efforts to find employment after his injury and an employer\u2019s duty to hire disabled workers, (III) admitting the report of defendant Wyatt\u2019s post-accident drug test, (IV) admitting expert testimony that defendant Wyatt was impaired by cocaine at the time of the accident, and (V) failing to find that plaintiff was con-tributorily negligent as a matter of law. We address each contention in turn and conclude that the trial was free from error.\nI.\nDefendants first argue that the trial court erred by instructing the jury on the doctrine of sudden emergency because no sudden emergency existed at the time of the accident. We disagree.\nIt is error to instruct the jury on the doctrine of sudden emergency when the evidence viewed in the light most favorable to the party claiming the benefit of the doctrine would not support a finding of the existence of a sudden emergency that was not of that party\u2019s making. Masciulli v. Tucker, 82 N.C. App. 200, 206, 346 S.E.2d 306, 308-09 (1986). The sudden emergency doctrine allows the court to \u201cexplain to the jury the effect certain external forces have on whether a duty of care has been breached.\u201d Bolick v. Sunbird Airlines, Inc., 96 N.C. App. 443,448, 386 S.E.2d 76, 79 (1989), aff'd, 327 N.C. 464, 396 S.E.2d 323 (1990). Two requirements must be met before this doctrine applies. First, an emergency situation must exist requiring immediate action to avoid injury. Masciulli, 82 N.C. App. at 206, 346 S.E.2d at 308-09. Second, the emergency must not have been created by the negligence of the party seeking the protection of the doctrine. Id.; Colvin v. Badgett, 120 N.C. App. 810, 463 S.E.2d 778 (1995), aff'd per curiam, 343 N.C. 300, 469 S.E.2d 553 (1996). The theory of sudden emergency applies equally to the alleged negligence of the defendant and the alleged contributory negligence of the plaintiff. See Hamilton v. Josey, 272 N.C. 105, 157 S.E.2d 619 (1967).\nViewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the plaintiff, Bolick, 96 N.C. App. at 448, 386 S.E.2d at 79 (stating that in determining whether an instruction is required, evidence must be viewed in light most favorable to proponent), the record on appeal indicates that defendant Wyatt \u201cwas using excessive speed . . .\u201d and that \u201c[h]e acted like he was mad\u201d when he drove into the trailer on the forklift. As a result, Mr. Conner attempted to walk away from the forklift because he feared for his safety and \u201cwanted [to get] as far away from [defendant] as [he] could get.\u201d However, as Mr. Conner turned to look around to see the location of the forklift, the forklift was already approaching him at a rapid speed. Plaintiff screamed for the defendant to stop, but the forklift hit him.\nWe find that this evidence was sufficient for the trial court to instruct the jury on the sudden emergency doctrine. The rule is well established \u201cthat when a plaintiff is required to act suddenly and in the face of real, or under a reasonably well-founded apprehension of, impending and imminent danger to himself caused by defendant's] negligence ... he is not required to act as though he had time for deliberation and the full exercise of his judgment and reasoning faculties.\u201d Rodgers v. Thompson, 256 N.C. 265, 273, 123 S.E.2d 785, 790 (1962). We therefore find no error in the trial court\u2019s instruction.\nII.\nDefendants next contend that the trial court erred by refusing to instruct the jury that: (1) Plaintiff was contributorily negligent because he did not choose a safer method to do his job; (2) the jury could not measure any wage loss Mr. Conner may have suffered during the time his license had been suspended for one year (which coincided with the time of plaintiffs accident); (3) the jury may not allow a person who is capable of working, but does not do so, to recover for the loss of any amount he was capable of earning; and that (4) the jury should be aware that employers cannot discriminate against persons with disabilities and in certain circumstances, they are required to make reasonable accommodations for those disabilities.\nWhen a party tenders a written request for a special instruction that is correct in itself and supported by the evidence, a trial court commits reversible error if it does not give the instruction at least in substance. Millis Construction Co. v. Fairfield Sapphire Valley, Inc., 86 N.C. App. 506, 509-10, 358 S.E.2d 566, 568 (1987).\nIn the instant case, defendants requested that the trial court instruct the jury that plaintiff was contributorily negligent because he did not choose a safer method to do his job which would have been to stand on the dock beside the truck.\nUnder North Carolina law, a plaintiff is contributorily negligent if the evidence shows that, as a matter of law, plaintiff failed to keep a proper lookout for his own safety. Rone v. Byrd Food Stores, 109 N.C. App. 666, 670, 428 S.E.2d 284, 286 (1993).\nThe trial judge gave the following instruction in pertinent part:\nIf the plaintiffs negligence joins with the negligence of the defendant in proximately causing the plaintiffs own injury, it is called contributory negligence and the plaintiff cannot recover ... I instruct you that contributory negligence is not to be presumed from the mere fact of injury. As to the contention of keeping a proper lookout, members of the jury, I instruct you that a person making a delivery to a place has a duty to maintain a lookout for his own safety while at said place .... A person on foot must keep a reasonable lookout as a reasonably careful and prudent person .... A pedestrian who does not take those precautions does not exercise reasonable care, and a violation of this duty is contributory negligence.\nWe find no error in this instruction. Indeed, the trial court instructed the jury on the law of contributory negligence. As such, the trial court did not err in refusing to instruct on plaintiffs duty to choose a safer way to do his job.\nWith regard to defendants\u2019 second requested instruction that the jury could not measure any wage loss plaintiff may have suffered during the time his license had been suspended for one year, we find this argument to be without merit. The record shows that the trial court gave the following instruction:\nDamages for personal injury also include fair compensation for the loss of income from employment, loss from inability to perform ordinary labor or the reduced capacity to earn money experienced by the plaintiff \u2014 as a consequence of his injury. In determining this amount, you should consider the evidence as to the plaintiffs age and occupation; the nature and extent of the plaintiffs employment; the value of the plaintiffs services; the amount of plaintiffs income at the time of his injury from fixed salary or wages; the disability, if any, affecting earning capacity. Those things are to be considered by you. The plaintiffs damages also include the amount by which his future earnings will be reduced as a consequence of his injury. In determining this amount, you may consider any evidence in regard to past earnings and any evidence as to the loss of future earning capacity.\nThis instruction is the pattern jury instruction on loss of income, past and future.\nAt trial, plaintiffs economic expert, Dr. Finley Lee, excluded the period of time when plaintiffs license had been suspended from his calculations as to plaintiffs loss of income. Significantly, plaintiff did not claim loss of income for this time period. Therefore, it would have been erroneous to instruct the jury to reduce the award by an amount not claimed by the plaintiff.\nAdditionally, the trial court did not err in rejecting defendants\u2019 third requested instruction emphasizing plaintiffs efforts to find employment after his injury. Plaintiff testified at trial that he sought employment after his injury and in fact, had periods of employment. This evidence was before the jury to consider. As such, the instruction given to the jury that \u201c[d]amages . . . include fair compensation for the loss of income from employment, loss from inability to perform ordinary labor or the reduced capacity to earn money experienced by the plaintiff \u2014 as a consequence of his injury\u201d was correct and gave the substance of defendants\u2019 requested instruction, (emphasis supplied); See Millis Construction Co., 86 N.C. App. at 509-10, 358 S.E.2d at 568.\nFinally, we find no merit in defendants\u2019 fourth requested instruction concerning the duties of potential employers to hire disabled workers. This proffered instruction was clearly not supported by the evidence at trial. See Millis Construction Co., 86 N.C. App. at 509-10, 358 S.E.2d at 568. Nothing in the record indicates that plaintiff had ever been denied employment because of his disability.\nIn sum, we find that the trial court did not err in refusing to give these instructions.\nIII.\nDefendants next contend that the trial court erred in admitting the report of defendant Wyatt\u2019s post-accident drug test because plaintiff did not lay a proper foundation and because the report was inadmissible hearsay. We disagree.\nWe note at the outset that prior to trial, defendants stipulated to the authenticity of the drug test results as a business record. N.C.R. Evid. 901(a) (1996) provides that the authentication of a matter \u201cis satisfied by evidence sufficient to support a finding that the matter in question is what its proponent claims.\u201d Additionally, N.C.R. Evid. 803(6) (1996) provides that business records kept in the ordinary course of business are admissible as exceptions to the hearsay rule.\nBy stipulating that the report was authentic and a business record made in the ordinary course of business at Roche Biomedical Laboratories, defendants cannot now argue on appeal that plaintiff did not lay a proper foundation and that the report was hearsay. Specifically, the trial court found that the parties\u2019 stipulations concerning the report satisfied any foundation or hearsay exception requirements. As such, all other objections to the test results must go the weight of the evidence. See State v. Miller, 80 N.C. App. 426, 430, 342 S.E.2d 553, 556, cert. denied, 317 N.C. 711, 347 S.E.2d 448 (1986).\nAccordingly, we find these arguments to be without merit.\nIV.\nDefendants also contend that the trial court erred in admitting Dr. Steven Tracy\u2019s opinion that defendant Wyatt was impaired by cocaine at the time of the accident because Dr. Tracy was not qualified to express such an opinion and that the testimony\u2019s probative value was substantially outweighed by risks that it would unfairly prejudice defendants and mislead the jury. We disagree.\nFor expert testimony to be admissible, the witness need only be better qualified than the jury as to the subject at hand, and the witness\u2019 testimony must be helpful to the jury. State v. Davis, 106 N.C. App. 596, 601, 418 S.E.2d 263, 267 (1992), cert. denied, 333 N.C. 347, 426 S.E.2d 710 (1993). A finding by the trial judge that the witness qualifies as an expert is exclusively within the discretion of the trial judge and is not to be reversed on appeal absent a complete lack of evidence to support his ruling. State v. Howard, 78 N.C. App. 262, 270, 337 S.E.2d 598, 603 (1985), cert. denied, 316 N.C. 198, 341 S.E.2d 581 (1986).\nIn the instant case, there was ample evidence to support the trial court\u2019s qualification of Dr. Tracy as an expert. Dr. Tracy testified as to his training and experience in toxicology and forensic pathology. He also testified that he had read the deposition and statement of defendant Wyatt, portions of the deposition of the plaintiff, and depositions of several other witnesses. Additionally, Dr. Tracy consulted with Dr. Anderson, Chief Toxicologist at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill Medical Examiner\u2019s Office, and read several text books regarding cocaine prior to giving his testimony.\nFinding no abuse of discretion in the trial court\u2019s qualification of Dr. Tracy, we conclude that the trial court did not err in allowing Dr. Tracy to give his expert opinion that defendant Wyatt had been impaired by cocaine at the time of the accident. Dr. Tracy was better qualified than the jury on this subject, and his testimony was helpful to the jury. See State v. Davis, 106 N.C. App. at 601, 418 S.E.2d at 267. Additionally, we find no merit in the argument that the trial court erred in admitting Dr. Tracy\u2019s testimony because its probative value was substantially outweighed by risks that it would unfairly prejudice defendants and mislead the jury.\nV.\nDefendants\u2019 last contention is that the trial court erred in denying their motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict because plaintiff was contributorily negligent as a matter of law. We disagree.\nA judgment notwithstanding the verdict is proper only if the evidence taken in the light most favorable to the plaintiff establishes that no other reasonable inference can be drawn. Allen v. Pullen, 82 N.C. App. 61, 64, 345 S.E.2d 469, 472 (1986), cert. denied, 318 N.C. 691, 351 S.E.2d 738 (1987).\nViewing the evidence in the light most favorable to plaintiff, the record on appeal indicates that while plaintiff tried to move away from the forklift, the forklift hit him from behind. In explaining his lookout, plaintiff testified, \u201cI did the very best I could .... The only time I turned away from him was trying to get away from him.\u201d Based on this testimony and our discussion in Part I of this opinion on the issues of sudden emergency and contributory negligence, we find that the trial court did not err in denying defendants\u2019 motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict.\nThe trial court\u2019s judgment and order is,\nAffirmed.\nJudges EAGLES and SMITH concur.", "type": "majority", "author": "WYNN, Judge." } ], "attorneys": [ "Arthurs & Foltz, by Douglas P. Arthurs, and Gray & Hodnett, by James C. Gray, for plaintiff-appellee.", "Cansler, Lockhart, Campbell, Evans, Bryant & Garlitz, P.A., by Thomas D. Garlitz, for defendants-appellants." ], "corrections": "", "head_matter": "ROBERT ALLEN CONNER, Plaintiff-Appellee v. CONTINENTAL INDUSTRIAL CHEMICALS, INC. & ROBERT WYATT, Defendants-Appellants\nNo. COA95-1076\n(Filed 2 July 1996)\n1. Negligence \u00a7 33 (NCI4tli)\u2014 forklift accident \u2014 sudden emergency \u2014 instruction proper\nIn an action to recover for injuries sustained by plaintiff when he was hit by a forklift driven by defendant\u2019s employee, the evidence was sufficient to support the trial court\u2019s instruction on sudden emergency where it tended to show that the employee was using excessive speed and \u201cacted like he was mad\u201d when he drove the forklift into the trailer which plaintiff truck driver had delivered to defendant\u2019s premises; as a result plaintiff attempted to walk away from the forklift because he feared for his safety and wanted to get as far away from the employee as he could; however, as plaintiff turned to look around to see the location of the forklift, it was already approaching him at a rapid speed; and plaintiff screamed for the employee to stop, but the forklift hit him.\nAm Jur 2d, Negligence \u00a7\u00a7 899-902.\n2. Negligence \u00a7 170 (NCI4th)\u2014 contributory negligence\u2014 duty to choose safe way to do job \u2014 refusal to instruct\nIn an action to recover for injuries sustained by plaintiff truck driver when he was struck by a forklift driven by a warehouse employee while unloading the truck, the trial court did not err by refusing to give the jury a contributory negligence instruction on plaintiff\u2019s duty to choose a safe way to do his job, which would have been to stand on the dock beside the truck, where the court instructed on the law of contributory negligence and on plaintiff\u2019s duty to keep a proper lookout.\nAm Jur 2d, Negligence \u00a7\u00a7 1108 et seq.\nPropriety and prejudicial effect of instructions referring to the degree or percentage of contributory negligence necessary to bar recovery. 87 ALR2d 1391.\n3. Damages \u00a7 173 (NCI4th)\u2014 truck driver \u2014 lost earnings\u2014 instructions \u2014 time license suspended\nThe trial court did not err by refusing to instruct the jury that it could not measure any wage loss plaintiff truck driver may have suffered during the time his license was suspended for one year where plaintiffs expert witness excluded this period of time from his calculations as to plaintiff\u2019s loss of income, and plaintiff did not claim loss of income for this time period as part of his damages.\nAm Jur 2d, Damages \u00a7 1015.\n4. Damages \u00a7 173 (NCI4th)\u2014 lost earnings \u2014 failure to work when capable \u2014 instruction not required\nThe trial court did not err by refusing to instruct the jury that a person who is capable of working but does not do so may not recover for the loss of any amount he was capable of earning where plaintiff testified that he sought employment after his injury and in fact had periods of employment, and the court\u2019s instruction on reduced capacity to earn gave the substance of defendant\u2019s requested instruction.\nAm Jur 2d, Damages \u00a7 1015.\n5. Handicapped, Disabled, or Aged Persons \u00a7 29 (NCI4th)\u2014 persons with disabilities \u2014 prohibition of employment discrimination \u2014 instruction not required\nThe trial court did not err by refusing to instruct that the jury should be aware that employers cannot discriminate against persons with disabilities and in some circumstances are required to make reasonable accommodations for those disabilities where nothing in the record indicated that plaintiff had ever been denied employment because of his disability.\nAm Jur 2d, Job Discrimination \u00a7\u00a7 173 et seq.\nAvailability of private right of action under sec. 503 of Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 USCS sec. 793), providing that certain federal contracts must contain provision requiring affirmative action to employ qualified handicapped individuals. 60 ALR Fed. 329.\n6. Evidence and Witnesses \u00a7 1946 (NCI4th)\u2014 drug test as business record \u2014 stipulation\u2014no complaint as to proper foundation\nDefendants\u2019 stipulation that a report of defendant employee\u2019s post-accident drug test was authentic and a business record made in the ordinary course of business precluded defendants from complaining on appeal that plaintiff did not lay a proper foundation and that the report was hearsay.\nAm Jur 2d, Evidence \u00a7\u00a7 1290-1297, 1300-1315.\n7. Evidence and Witnesses \u00a7 2217 (NCI4th)\u2014 expert testimony \u2014 qualification of expert\nThere was no merit to defendants\u2019 contention that the trial court erred in admitting a doctor\u2019s opinion that defendant employee was impaired by cocaine at the time of the accident in question because the doctor was not qualified to express such an opinion, since there was ample evidence in the record to support the trial court\u2019s qualification of the witness as an expert.\nAm Jur 2d, Expert and Opinion Evidence \u00a7\u00a7 53-67; Witnesses \u00a7\u00a7 163, 190, 197, 277.\nAppeal by defendants from judgment entered 9 March 1995 and order entered 13 April 1995 by Judge Claude S. Sitton in Gaston County Superior Court. Heard in the Court of Appeals 21 May .1996.\nArthurs & Foltz, by Douglas P. Arthurs, and Gray & Hodnett, by James C. Gray, for plaintiff-appellee.\nCansler, Lockhart, Campbell, Evans, Bryant & Garlitz, P.A., by Thomas D. Garlitz, for defendants-appellants." }, "file_name": "0070-01", "first_page_order": 104, "last_page_order": 112 }