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NC General Statutes

N.C. Gen. Stat. § 97-54 (2026)

quot;Disablement" defined

✓ current as of July 2026
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The term "disablement" as used in this Article as applied to cases of asbestosis and silicosis means the event of becoming actually incapacitated because of asbestosis or silicosis to earn, in the same or any other employment, the wages which the employee was receiving at the time of his last injurious exposure to asbestosis or  silicosis; but in all other cases of occupational disease "disablement" shall be equivalent to "disability" as defined in G.S. 97-2(9). (1935, c. 123; 1955, c. 525, s. 1.)

 

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 38 cases, 1948–2019 · leading case: Pope v. Manville, 700 S.E.2d 22 (N.C. Ct. App. 2010).
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Pope v. Manville, 700 S.E.2d 22 (N.C. Ct. App. 2010). · cites it 25× “5 and case law under that statute, as opposed to N.C. Gen. Stat. § 97-54 and 97-64,” and by (2) upholding “a sweeping award of benefits by using greater wages from a different subsequent employment to calculate Plaintiff’s average weekly wage.”
Peoples v. Cone Mills Corp., 342 S.E.2d 798 (N.C. 1986). · cites it 6× “" N.C.G.S. § 97-54. Disability means "incapacity because of injury to earn the wages which the employee was receiving at the time of injury in the same or any other employment.”
Abernathy v. Sandoz Chemicals/Clariant Corp., 565 S.E.2d 218 (N.C. Ct. App. 2002). · cites it 4× “” Disablement from asbestosis is defined as “the event of becoming actually incapacitated because of asbestosis ... to earn, in the same or any other employment, the wages which the employee was receiving at the time of his last injurious exposure to asbestosis .”
Morrison v. Burlington Indus., 282 S.E.2d 458 (N.C. 1981). · cites it 4× “" G.S. 97-54. When it became apparent that the Act should include a provision for payment of compensation to employees disabled by diseases or abnormal conditions of human beings the causative origin of which was occupational in nature, the legislature adopted in 1935 what is…”
Honeycutt v. Carolina Asbestos Co., 70 S.E.2d 426 (N.C. 1952). · cites it 6× ““The term ‘disablement’ as used in this article as applied to cases of asbestosis and silicosis means the event of becoming actually incapacitated, because of such occupational disease, from performing normal labor in the last occupation in which remuneratively employed; but in…”
Hendrix v. Linn-Corriher Corp., 345 S.E.2d 374 (N.C. 1986). · cites it 3× “In cases involving occupational disease, N.C.G.S. § 97-54 provides that “disablement” is equivalent to “disability” as defined by N.”
Young v. . Whitehall Co., 49 S.E.2d 797 (N.C. 1948). · cites it 4× “G. S., 97-54, to G. S., 97-76. A proper consideration of the special provisions of the statutes relating to asbestosis and silicosis must rest upon a conviction that in passing these laws the Legislature gave due heed to the nature of these diseases.”
Taylor v. J. P. Stevens & Co., 265 S.E.2d 144 (N.C. 1980). · cites it 3× “means the state of being incapacitated as the term is used in defining disablement in G.S. 97-54.” (Emphasis added.) G.S. 97-54 provides that in all cases of occupational disease other than asbestosis or silicosis, “ ‘disablement’ shall be equivalent to ‘disability’ as defined…”
Tyndall v. Walter Kidde & Co., 403 S.E.2d 548 (N.C. Ct. App. 1991). · cites it 3× “” N.C.G.S. § 97-54. “Disability” is defined as an “incapacity .”
Clark v. ITT Grinnell Indus. Piping, Inc., 539 S.E.2d 369 (N.C. Ct. App. 2000). · cites it 2× “Defendants contend plaintiff’s compensation rate should have been calculated based upon the year of his “last injurious exposure,” citing N.C. Gen. Stat. § 97-54 (1991), which defines “disablement.”
Est. of Gainey v. S. Flooring & Acoustical Co., 646 S.E.2d 604 (N.C. Ct. App. 2007). · cites it 2× “The Commission’s findings that (1) plaintiff had received medical treatment for asbestosis-related problems; (2) plaintiff suffered from breathing problems as a result of asbestosis; (3) plaintiff had suffered from asbestosis as a result of his employment with defendant-employer…”
Fetner v. Rocky Mount Marble & Granite Works, 111 S.E.2d 324 (N.C. 1959). · cites it 2× “Defendant employer insists that employee became disabled as disablement is defined by G.S. 97-54 on 5 July 1951. Dr. Swisher testified: “In my opinion Mr.”
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