Pressley v. Southwestern Freight Lines

MARTIN, Judge.

Defendants appeal from an opinion of the North Carolina Industrial Commission awarding plaintiff workers’ compensation benefits for an occupational disease. Plaintiff, a long distance truck driver, initiated this action by filing a Form 18, Notice of Accident to Employer, alleging that he contracted coccidioidomycosis in October 1991 while carrying goods for defendant Southwestern Freight Lines between Los Angeles and Bakersfield, California. He alleged that he contracted the disease by exposure to dust-bom fungus or mold. Defendants denied liability on the grounds plaintiff…