Several cases have indicated that the normal rules governing summary judgment apply in "appeals" from the Workers' Compensation Commission. See, e.g., Egypt Farms, Inc. v. Lepley, 49 Md.App. 171, 176, 430 A.2d 122 (1981). See also Dawson's Charter Serv. v. Chin, 68 Md.App. 433, 440, 511 A.2d 1138 (1986) ("Summary judgment may be invoked to prevent an unnecessary trial in a worker compensation appeal, just as in any other action."); and Maloney v. Carling Nat'l Breweries, Inc., 52 Md.App. 556, 559-60, 451 A.2d 343 (1982) (summary judgment rules apply to workers' compensation appeals).
Seeid. at 168, 867 A.2d 370 n.4 ("Since both the initial fact finder and the supervening fact finder enjoy the same prerogative independently to assess credibility and independently to weigh evidence, they may with equal validity reach different conclusions even upon the same record." (emphasis removed)); Egypt Farms, Inc. v. Lepley , 49 Md. App. 171, 176, 430 A.2d 122 (1981) ("The court (or jury) ... is not bound by the Commission's fact findings as is normally the case in administrative appeals, but is free to weigh the evidence (and the inferences from it) and reach entirely opposite conclusions."). Rather, the presumption serves primarily to shift the burden of proof in judicial-review actions in which the employer is the party aggrieved by the Commission's decision.
Dent v. Cahill, 18 Md.App. 117, 125, 305 A.2d 233 (1973) ("Not only may trial courts, on appeal from decisions of the Commission, decide whether the Commission misconstrued the facts, but they may also decide how the facts should have been construed."); Turner v. Office of the Public Defender, 61 Md.App. 393, 405, 486 A.2d 804 (1985) ("To reverse a judgment of a court in a non-jury trial we must be convinced that the judge's factual findings were clearly erroneous."). In Egypt Farms v. Lepley, 49 Md.App. 171, 176, 430 A.2d 122 (1981), Judge Wilner, for this Court, analyzed the broad fact-finding prerogative enjoyed by a judge, as well as by a jury, on de novo review of a decision by the Commission. [T]he reviewing court has very broad authority, notwithstanding the prima facie correctness of the administrative decision.
"[I]n making th[e]se determinations, the reviewing court has very broad authority, notwithstanding the prima facie correctness of the administrative decision." Egypt Farms, Inc. v. Lepley, 49 Md. App. 171, 176, 430 A.2d 122, cert. denied, 291 Md. 778 (1981). This presumption of correctness applies to the factual decisions of the Commission and not to the Commission's interpretations of the pertinent statutory provisions.
" (Citations omitted) (Footnote omitted).And see Abell v. Goetze, Inc., 245 Md. 433, 226 A.2d 253 (1967); Egypt Farms, Inc. v. Lepley, 49 Md. App. 171, 430 A.2d 122 (1981); Turner v. State, Public Defender, 61 Md. App. 393, 486 A.2d 804 (1985). The trial de novo in this case was before Judge Hammerman, sitting without a jury.
Notwithstanding the deferential treatment of the Commission's decision, a reviewing court has broad authority and may reverse the Commission's decision when it is based on an erroneous conception of the law. Id.; Bureau of Mines v. Powers, 258 Md. 379, 383, 265 A.2d 860, 862 (1970); Egypt Farms, Inc. v. Lepley, 49 Md. App. 171, 176, 430 A.2d 122, 125 (1981). As we shall explain, both the Commission and the circuit court erroneously construed and applied the premises and proximity exceptions to the going and coming rule in this case.
(Some alterations in original). In Egypt Farms, Inc. v. Lepley, 49 Md. App. 171, 176 (1981), this Court further explained the broad fact-finding authority of the trial court on de novo review of a decision by the Commission: [T]he reviewing court has very broad authority, notwithstanding the prima facie correctness of the administrative decision. . . . The court (or jury), in other words, is not so bound by the Commission's fact findings as is normally the case in administrative appeals, but is free to weigh the evidence (and the inferences from it) and reach entirely opposite conclusions.
In interpreting the scope of this rule, courts in Maryland have admonished repeatedly that "the summary judgment procedure is not a substitute for a trial, but a means by which the trial court may determine, summarily, whether a trial is necessary." Washington Homes, Inc. v. Interstate Land Development Company, Inc., 281 Md. 712, 716, 382 A.2d 555 (1978); accord Coffey v. Derby Steel Company, 291 Md. 241, 247, 434 A.2d 564 (1981); Metropolitan Mortgage Fund, Inc. v. Basiliko, 288 Md. 25, 28, 415 A.2d 582 (1980); Peck v. Baltimore County, 286 Md. 368, 381, 410 A.2d 7 (1979); Maloney v. Carling Breweries, Inc., 52 Md. App. 556, 560, 451 A.2d 343 (1982); Egypt Farms v. Lepley, 49 Md. App. 171, 176, 430 A.2d 122 (1981); Vanhook v. Merchants Insurance Company, 22 Md. App. 22, 25, 321 A.2d 540 (1974). When ruling on a motion for summary judgment, the trial court must address two separate issues: whether the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, admissions, and affidavits show that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and whether the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Md. Rule 2-501(e).
See Cabell Concrete Block Co. v. Yarborough, 192 Md. 360, 369, 64 A.2d 292 (1949); Bethlehem Steel Company v. Mayo, 168 Md. 410, 416, 177 A. 910 (1935); McCulloh Company v. Restivo, 152 Md. 60, 67, 136 A. 54 (1927). This is particularly true since the standard of review of the decision of the Workmen's Compensation Commission shall be by way of trial de novo. Maryland Bureau of Mines v. Powers, 258 Md. 379, 382, 265 A.2d 860 (1970); Abell v. Goetze, Inc., 245 Md. 433, 437, 226 A.2d 253 (1967); Richardson v. Home Mutual Life Insurance Company, 235 Md. 252, 255, 201 A.2d 340 (1964); Glidden-Durkee (SCM) Corp. v. Mobay Chemical Corp., 61 Md. App. 583, 596-97, 487 A.2d 1196 (1985); Egypt Farms, Inc. v. Lepley, 49 Md. App. 171, 176, 430 A.2d 122 (1981); Montgomery Ward Company v. Bell, 46 Md. App. 37, 41, 415 A.2d 636 (1980). And because the parties are free to adduce evidence additional to that produced before the Commission, Glidden-Durkee, supra, it is necessary that the issues on which such evidence is permitted have been passed upon by the Commission. Miller v. McGraw Company, 184 Md. 529, 542-43, 42 A.2d 237 (1945); Meyler v. Mayor of Baltimore, 179 Md. 211, 219, 17 A.2d 762 (1941).
Therefore, an appeal from the Commission is "essentially de novo". Maryland Bureau of Mines v. Powers, supra, Turner v. State of Md., Office of Public Defender, 61 Md. App. 393, 486 A.2d 804 (1985); Egypt Farms, Inc. v. Lepley, 49 Md. App. 171, 430 A.2d 122 (1981); Montgomery Ward Co. v. Bell, 46 Md. App. 37, 415 A.2d 636 (1980). As a result, the testimony on appeal is not limited to that which was presented before the Commission. Miller v. James McGraw Co., 184 Md. 529, 42 A.2d 237 (1945).