## Facts

- Martha Geathers, an employee of 3V, Inc., sustained two work-related back-and-leg injuries while employed by the same employer but insured by different carriers.
- On July 20, 1999, Geathers suffered her first injury; the employer’s workers’ compensation carrier at that time was EBI Companies (EBI).
- Geathers returned to work on August 24, 1999, initially on light duty, and later returned to full duty.
- Geathers testified her physician released her in January 2000 after she reached maximum medical improvement (MMI), though she continued to have some back pain and sought prescription refills without further appointments.
- On May 11, 2000, Geathers sustained a second work-related injury; the employer’s carrier then was Liberty Mutual Insurance Company (Liberty).
- Geathers returned briefly on light duty, but the employer ended the light-duty work; she did not work thereafter.
- Geathers reported similar symptoms after the second incident, but significantly worse.
- The medical evidence included conflicting testimony about MMI and the relationship between the two injuries.

## Issues

1. Whether the Workers’ Compensation Commission had legal authority to apportion post-second-accident liability between successive carriers when the claimant suffered a second, identifiable work-related accident.
2. Whether the claimant’s disability after the second accident was legally attributable solely to the second accident, making the later carrier solely responsible.

## Decision

- The Supreme Court of South Carolina reversed the Court of Appeals.
- The Court held the Commission’s equal apportionment of liability between EBI and Liberty for benefits after the second accident was not authorized.
- The Court concluded the claimant’s compensable disability after the second accident resulted from the second accident alone.
- Liability for benefits due after May 11, 2000, rested solely with Liberty, the carrier on the risk at the time of the second accident.

## Legal Principles

- When a claimant sustains a second, identifiable work-related accident that independently contributes to disability, the second accident is treated as a new compensable injury for carrier-liability purposes.
- In the absence of explicit statutory authority, the Workers’ Compensation Commission lacks a general power to apportion liability among successive insurance carriers based on divided medical causation.
- Evidence such as release at MMI, return to full-duty work, temporal separation between incidents, and increased symptom severity may support finding a distinct second accident rather than a continuation of the first injury.
- Conflicting medical testimony may create factual disputes but does not itself supply legal authority for carrier apportionment when a distinct second accident is found.

## Conclusion

The court held that, where a claimant suffers a distinct second work accident producing disability, the insurer on the risk at the time of that second accident is solely liable for post-accident workers’ compensation benefits, and the Commission may not apportion liability between successive carriers without statutory authorization.


Geathers v. 3V, Inc., 371 S.C. 570, 641 S.E.2d 29 (S.C. 2007)