Russos v. Wheaton Indus

In Russos v. Wheaton Indus., 145 N.C. App. 164, 551 S.E.2d 456 (2001), disc. review denied, 355 N.C. 214, 560 S.E.2d 135 (2002), the Court concluded that the plaintiff was entitled to paralegal training as a type of vocational rehabilitation service. Since the parties there had entered into a Form 21 agreement, a presumption of disability had attached in favor of the plaintiff and the burden of proof accordingly shifted to the defendant to overcome that presumption. The Court held that the defendant had not met its burden of overcoming the presumption of disability and, thus, the defendant was required to pay the plaintiff's temporary total disability benefits while the plaintiff completed paralegal training, as the paralegal training "was a reasonable attempt at rehabilitation given the totality of the circumstances." Russos, 145 N.C. App. at 166, 551 S.E.2d at 458.