We granted this discretionary appeal to the Laurens County Board of Education and its current insurer, Georgia Education Workers’ Compensation Trust Fund “GEWCT”, to review the superior court’s order affirming the award of the Administrative Law Judge and the Appellate Division of the State Board of Workers’ Compensation in this dispute between the Board of Education’s current and prior insurance carriers. For reasons that follow, we affirm the trial court’s order finding that Walter Dewberry experienced a fictional new accident and holding GEWCT, rather than the Board of Education’s prior insurer, the Georgia School Board Association Self-Insurance Fund “GSBA”, responsible for Dewberry’s claims. The relevant facts of this case are not in dispute. Dewberry worked as a custodian for the Laurens County Board of Education. His job duties included mopping, stripping, and buffing floors and changing light bulbs. On August 1, 2000, he was using a machine to strip a floor when the cord wrapped around his leg. He slipped and injured his right knee. Since that time, he has continually experienced pain and problems with his knee. Immediately after his fall, a doctor diagnosed Dewberry with a medial meniscus tear of the right knee and underlying degenerative arthritis of the right knee. Dewberry initially underwent conservative treatment for several months, while he continued to work. Because he showed little improvement, however, his doctor recommended arthroscopic surgery, which was performed on September 11, 2001.
Following the surgery, Dewberry was out of work for six weeks. The Board of Education’s insurance company at that time was GSBA, which paid all of Dewberry’s medical bills. Dewberry did not request and GSBA did not pay Dewberry any income benefits. After the six-week recovery period, Dewberry returned to work, resuming his previous duties with certain limitations. On February 2, 2002, Dewberry’s physician issued a permanent disability rating of 9 percent to the lower extremity or 4 percent to the whole person. However, Dewberry continued to work, and GSBA did not pay him any permanent partial disability income benefits.
