## Facts

- Leland Nichols worked for Blue Bell, Inc. in a plant department where he sometimes worked alone.
- On September 9, 1983, while stooping to lift a roll of cloth, Nichols felt sudden lower-back pain.
- Nichols testified that he immediately used the customary internal phone to report the injury to the office and said he was going to a doctor; the person who answered responded, “Okay.”
- Blue Bell disputed that Nichols made the call reporting an injury.
- Nichols’s wife (also a Blue Bell employee) testified that soon after the incident a plant manager asked where Nichols was and the name of his doctor.
- A personnel manager testified that a hospital called on September 14, 1983, which he viewed as the first notice of the injury.
- Nichols had a preexisting back condition (disc disease) but had been able to work before the incident.
- Nichols obtained treatment from Dr. Hatchett and other providers; the employer did not promptly direct him to a specific physician.
- Medical testimony indicated the work incident aggravated Nichols’s preexisting condition; Dr. Hatchett assigned a 20% permanent partial impairment.
- Nichols testified to chronic pain, daily pain medication, sleep difficulty, and markedly limited physical capacity; he had limited education and a work history largely consisting of manual labor.
- The trial court found (1) timely and sufficient notice, (2) authorized medical treatment (expressly or impliedly), and (3) permanent total disability, and awarded compensation and medical benefits.

## Issues

1. Whether there was legal evidence supporting a finding that Nichols gave timely and adequate notice of his injury under Ala. Code § 25-5-78.
2. Whether there was legal evidence supporting a finding that Nichols’s medical treatment was authorized (expressly or impliedly), making Blue Bell liable for the medical expenses.
3. Whether there was legal evidence supporting the finding that Nichols was permanently and totally disabled due to a work-related aggravation of a preexisting condition.

## Decision

- The Alabama Court of Civil Appeals affirmed the trial court’s judgment awarding permanent total disability benefits and medical benefits.
- On notice, the court held the record contained legal evidence supporting the trial court’s finding, despite conflicting testimony.
- On medical expenses, the court held legal evidence supported the finding that the treatment was authorized, including through implied authorization.
- On disability, the court held legal evidence supported permanent total disability, considering medical evidence of aggravation plus Nichols’s pain, limitations, education, training, and work history.

## Legal Principles

- In Alabama workers’ compensation appeals, the reviewing court does not reweigh evidence; it asks only whether any legal evidence supports the trial court’s findings, which are conclusive when testimony conflicts.
- Statutory notice requirements may be satisfied or excused where the employer has actual knowledge and the trial court finds adequate notice based on credited testimony.
- Employer liability for medical expenses may rest on express authorization or implied authorization shown by employer knowledge and acquiescence or conduct reasonably indicating approval.
- An employer is liable when a work-related accident aggravates or combines with a preexisting condition to produce disability.
- Permanent total disability does not require complete helplessness; it concerns inability to perform one’s trade or obtain reasonably gainful employment, assessed using both medical and vocational/lay evidence.

## Conclusion

The court affirmed the workers’ compensation award because the record contained legal evidence supporting the trial court’s findings that Blue Bell received sufficient notice, impliedly authorized Nichols’s medical treatment, and that the work incident aggravated a preexisting back condition resulting in permanent total disability.


Blue Bell, Inc. v. Nichols, 479 So. 2d 1264 (Ala. Civ. App. 1985)