Leaving Hazardous Job Not Condition Precedent to Workers' Compensation Award

RALEIGH, N.C. - An employee who retires prior to being diagnosed with asbestosis need not be 'removed' from his job to be entitled to the 104 weeks of compensation, a panel of the North Carolina Court of Appeals has affirmed in upholding a workers' compensation award by the North Carolina Industrial Commission. Austin v. Continental General Tire, No. COA99-693 (N.C. Ct. App.).

In a 2-1 decision, the appellate panel on Dec. 29 also upheld the amount of the Commission's award, which determined average weekly wage of an employee who retired prior to diagnosis of asbestosis to be the wage he …