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After nearly 12 years, a dispute between a local orthopedic company and an employee has been settled.
Wednesday, the Indiana Supreme Court ruled DePuy Orthpaedics must pay worker's compensation to Anthony Farmer for an incident that occurred in September 1994.
Farmer was awarded his original request for $78,118 plus 10 percent extra to compensate for the length of time it took to settle the case.
"We are very pleased with the result," said David Kolbe, Farmer's attorney. "It was a very fair ruling."
According to court documents, on Sept. 1, 1994, Farmer started to clock out at the end of his shift at DePuy when he was attacked by co-worker Wynn Swindel. Farmer brushed his time card against Swindel's side, and Swindel responded by pinning and bending Farmer backwards over a machine. Swindel was significantly larger than Farmer and the incident left Farmer with severe back injuries that required surgery.
When Farmer initially requested worker's compensation benefits for the injuries, DePuy tried to deny it, saying the injuries were a result of horseplay, which is not covered by worker's compensation.
The Indiana Supreme Court unanimously ruled Farmer was "an innocent victim of horseplay by others," entitling him to worker's compensation benefits.
DePuy tried to argue Farmer was not an innocent victim because he dragged his timecard against Swindel. However, the Supreme Court felt "Farmer's actions were not unreasonable and did not provoke Swindel's attack."
Wednesday's decision came just more than a year after Kolbe argued the case in front of the Indiana Supreme Court May 5, 2005.
"The case addressed some very complex issues," Kolbe said. He said it was an important case because it "clarified some issues that were unclear" and dealt with "some fairly new elements of law."
Previously, Farmer won a civil case against Swindel and was awarded $3,000. Farmer paid that $3,000 back to worker's compensation as instructed by the court.
