Case Title: Kusenko v. Republic Steel Corp.

Citation: 484 A.2d 374, 506 Pa. 104

Docket Number: 

State: pennsylvania

Court: Pennsylvania Supreme Court

Date: 1984-11-20T00:00:00Z

Document:
506 Pa. 104 (1984) 484 A.2d 374 Minnie KUSENKO, Widow of Mike Kusenko, Appellee, v. REPUBLIC STEEL CORPORATION, Appellant. Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. Argued September 12, 1984. Decided November 20, 1984. Reargument Denied March 8, 1985. *105 Scott E. Becker, Pittsburgh, for appellant. Stephen I. Richman, William F. Henkel, Stephen I. Richman & Partners, Washington, for amici curiae Bethlehem Mines Corp.; Bethlehem Steel Corp.; Westmoreland Cas. Co.; McGraw-Edison Co.; Pennsylvania Aggregate & Concrete Ass'n; Emway Resources, Inc., Amoco Oil Co.; and Cooper Energy Services. Lawrence R. Chaban, Washington, for appellee. Before NIX, C.J., LARSEN, FLAHERTY, McDERMOTT, HUTCHINSON, ZAPPALA and PAPADAKOS, JJ. McDERMOTT, Justice. At issue in this appeal is the standard of causation which triggers the recovery of benefits under Section 301(c)(2) of the Workmen's Compensation Act.[1] The facts are set forth below. This case arose as a result of a fatal claim petition by Minnie Kusenko (appellee) after the death of her husband Mike Kusenko (decedent). Decedent had worked in the coal mining industry for thirty-six years in the employ of Republic Steel Corporation (appellant). After receiving evidence from both sides, the referee found that decedent died as a result of anthracosilicosis and/or coal miner's pneumoconiosis due to exposure to coal dust while working in the mines. The immediate cause of death stated on the death certificate however, was carcinoma of the lung. Coal worker's pneumoconiosis was listed as "other significant causes." *106 The referee's award was affirmed by the Pennsylvania Workmen's Compensation Appeal Board (Board). The Board based their decision on Crucible Steel Inc. v. Workmen's Compensation Appeal Board, 65 Pa.Cmwlth. 415, 442 A.2d 1199 (1982) stating that the decedent's pneumoconiosis, which was a major reason for his ultimate death, was sufficient to meet the standard of causation for fatal claim benefits. The Commonwealth Court affirmed, applying the standard it set forth in Evon v. Workmen's Compensation Appeal Board, 70 Pa.Cmwlth. 325, 453 A.2d 55 (1982). In order to recover benefits under the Evon standard, all that is required is a "causal relationship" between the disease and the death or disability. In applying this standard, the Commonwealth Court chose to ignore the standard set forth by a plurality of this Court in McCloskey v. Workmen's Compensation Appeal Board, 501 Pa. 93, 460 A.2d 237 (1983) which would require that the occupational disease be a "substantial, contributing factor among the secondary causes bringing about death." Id., 501 Pa. at 101, 460 A.2d at 241. Appellant herein petitioned this Court for appeal and we granted allocatur. After consideration, we reverse and remand to the Commonwealth Court for a decision consistent with this opinion. The primary import of this case is to set forth a definitive standard for the determination of benefits under the Workmen's Compensation Act for deaths related to occupational hazards. Specifically, when a non-compensable disease of life which is unrelated to work intervenes and death results, what role must the occupational disease play so that benefits are forthcoming? Resolution of this issue necessarily requires an examination of the statutory language which governs the recovery of benefits in a Workmen's Compensation case. Pursuant to § 301(c)(2) of the Act: 77 P.S. § 411(2). In McCloskey, supra, we focused on the statutory language which provided that this section shall apply to death which results "in whole or in part from the employee's exposure to the hazard of occupational disease" Id., 501 Pa. at 100, 460 A.2d at 240; and we rejected the standard of Consolidation Coal Co. v. Workmen's Compensation Appeal Board, 37 Pa.Cmwlth. 412, 391 A.2d 14 (1978) i.e. that 301(c)(2) requires that death be "immediately caused" by the occupational disease. We also implicitly rejected the rather liberal standard of Evon, supra. which was relied upon in this case by the Commonwealth Court. The test announced in McCloskey, supra, which we reaffirm today, provides that: 501 Pa. 93, 101, 460 A.2d 237, 241. We are convinced that this standard accurately reflects the intent of the legislature, and balances the competing *108 interests of the parties.[2] To hold that the occupational disease be the sole or direct cause of the disability or death e.g. Consolidation Coal, supra. is entirely too strict a standard for a claimant to meet, the result being compensation in only the fewest number of cases. On the other hand to say that any contributing cause is sufficient no matter how slight is compensable e.g. Evon, supra. is too heavy a burden to place on industry. Such a standard would effectively reduce the Workmen's Compensation Act to a general health and insurance plan. This limitless liability is clearly not what the framers of § 302(a)(2) had in mind. We therefore hold that the McCloskey standard shall be applied in those cases involving death benefits under 301(c)(2) of the Workmen's Compensation Act. 77 P.S. § 411(2).[3] In light of our disposition, we reverse and remand to the Commonwealth Court for a decision consistent with this opinion. LARSEN, J., filed a dissenting opinion. FLAHERTY, J., filed a dissenting opinion. HUTCHINSON, J., filed a dissenting opinion. *109 LARSEN, Justice, dissenting opinion. I dissent. The paramount responsibility of this Court, in cases arising under the Workmen's Compensation Act, is to liberally construe and apply its provisions in order to effectuate and implement its remedial nature and humanitarian objectives. Krawchuk v. Philadelphia Electric Co., 497 Pa. 115, 120, 439 A.2d 627 (1981); Statutory Construction Act of 1972, 1 Pa.C.S.A. § 1928(c) (pamphlet 1984-85). I believe that the majority's construction and application of section 301(c)(2) of the Act ignores these remedial and humanitarian objectives and, in so doing, exaggerates the interests of the employer at the expense of the worker. The majority initially rejects the Commonwealth Court's interpretations of section 301(c)(2), 77 P.S. § 411(2), in Consolidation Coal Co. v. Workmen's Compensation Appeal Board (WCAB), 37 Pa.Commw. 412, 391 A.2d 14 (1978) as "too strict", and in Evon v. WCAB, 70 Pa.Commw. 325, 453 A.2d 55 (1982) as too liberal". In order "to set forth a definitive standard for the determination" of death benefits under section 301(c)(2) of the Act, and to "balance the competing interests" of workers and employers, slip opinion at 2 and 4, the majority adopts the standard of causation announced in Mr. Justice McDermott's opinion (joined only by then Mr. Justice, now Mr. Chief Justice Nix) in McCloskey v. WCAB, 501 Pa. 93, 101, 460 A.2d 237, 241 (1983), namely: At ____. In the abstract, I might accept this standard of causation under section 301(c)(2) as a straightforward and reasonably fair accomodation of the conflicting interests of worker and employer. We do not deal in the abstract, however, but in *110 the world of real people and real situations. In applying the above standard to deny benefits to claimants such as Mr. McCloskey's widow, I submit that the majority has added a hidden element to its standard that eliminates from coverage a significant class of deserving claimants. In practical application, the standard of causation adopted by the majority today is neither as "definitive" as intended nor as fair an accomodation of conflicting interests as it purports to be; it is, rather, a standard unacceptably close to the "too strict" Consolidation Coal standard which the majority purports to reject. My point of departure with the majority lies with the meaning given the word "substantial", a meaning which can be garnered only by observing the application of the "substantial, contributing factor" standard to particular circumstances. In application, the majority denies coverage to a claimant whose decedent has contracted an occupational disease that has "merely" accelerated or aggravated a non-compensable disease which is the immediate cause of death. Observing the operation of the majority's standard in McCloskey v. WCAB, supra, we glean the hidden meaning of "substantial" to be considered a "substantial, contributing factor", the medical testimony must establish that, but for the occupational disease, death would not have occurred. Thus the majority requires a degree of exactitude that, as the legislature recognizes, medical science is presently incapable of supplying. To demonstrate this point, I shall quote from my dissenting opinion in McCloskey v. WCAB, supra at 501 Pa. 105-117, 460 A.2d 237 (footnotes omitted). "Under the Act, compensation is available for claimants or their dependents for personal injury to the employee or for death by an injury in the course of employment. 77 P.S. § 431. Section 301(c)(1), 77 P.S. § 411(1) provides, in relevant portion: "In 1972, section 301(c)(2) was added, 77 P.S. § 411(2), which provision embraced occupational diseases within the `injury' concept. That section provides, in relevant portion: ". . . This Court has held that an injury need not be the sole or exclusive cause of the disability, Halaski v. Hilton Hotel, 487 Pa. 313, 319, 409 A.2d 367 (1979), nor, as the majority acknowledges, does an injury or occupational disease need to be the sole or exclusive cause of death. E.g., Elliott v. WCAB, 57 Pa.Commw. 70, 425 A.2d 885, 887 (1981). Moreover, it is sufficient under the Act if the injury *112 (including an occupational disease) `aggravates, reactivates or accelerates' a preexisting condition which preexisting condition was the immediate or primary cause of disability or death. See 77 P.S. § 411(1), WCAB v. Bernard S. Pincus Co., 479 Pa. 286, 388 A.2d 659 (1978) and Halaski v. Hilton Hotel, supra at 487 Pa. 318-19, 409 A.2d 367 (`it is sufficient if the injury materially contributed to the disability, rather than the disability resulting from the natural progression of the preexisting condition.') "Of particular importance to our determination is the principle enunciated by this Court in Hamil v. Bashline, 481 Pa. 256, 392 A.2d 1280 (1978) and consistently followed in medical malpractice cases. See Jones v. Montefiore Hospital, 494 Pa. 410, 431 A.2d 920 (1981) and Gradel v. Inouye, 491 Pa. 534, 421 A.2d 674 (1980). ". . . Defendants [in Hamil v. Bashline] argued their negligence did not cause the myocardial infarction even though it may have increased the risk of harm to the decedent. Relying on section 323(a) of the Restatement (Second) of Torts, Negligent Performance of Undertaking to Render Services, this Court rejected defendants' narrow theory of causation, and at 481 Pa. 269, 273, 392 A.2d 1280, held: "This Court further held, in Jones v. Montefiore Hospital, supra at 494 Pa. 416, 431 A.2d 920: "It is inconceivable to me that this Court would adopt a stricter standard of causation in workmen's compensation cases than in medical malpractice cases decided under Section 323(a) of the Restatement. That section recognizes a higher duty on the part of one undertaking to render services which justifies a relaxation of the ordinary negligence standards of causation. Surely the statutory and moral obligation of an employer to his employees to provide safe conditions and working environment justifies no more stringent a standard under the Workmen's Compensation Act, especially in light of the liberal construction which we must give the Act. "The `resulting from' language of Section 301(c)(2), 77 P.S. § 411(2), surely does not preclude a referee's finding of a causal connection between disability or death and injury (including an occupational disease) where the medical testimony establishes that the disease materially contributed to the death, Halaski v. Hilton Hotel, supra at 487 Pa. 317, 409 A.2d 367 and Crucible Steel v. WCAB, 52 Pa.Comm. 165, 415 A.2d 458 (1980), or was a substantial factor in increasing (`aggravating, reactivating, or accelerating') the risk of harm to the employee which harm may have been more immediately `caused' by some other condition or noncompensable occurrence or ailment. See Section 301(c)(1) and Hamil v. Bashline, supra. "In Professor Larson's treatise, Workmen's Compensation Law, § 13.11, the author makes the following observations: "It is also worthy of note that federal regulations (20 CFR § 718.205) pertaining to benefits to miners whose death was due to pneumoconiosis provide: "A related consideration in this case is the issue of the sufficiency of the medical testimony regarding causation. . . . "In the realm of causation, `sufficient competent evidence', 77 P.S. § 834, means that the expert medical testimony must establish no more and no less than that, to a reasonable degree of medical certainty, the death or disability was causally connected to the injury (including an occupational disease). No "magic words" are required so long as the words chosen convey the professional opinion as to causation to that reasonable degree of medical certainty. Wilkes-Barre v. WCAB, 54 Pa.Commw. 230, 420 A.2d 795 (1980). And of course, the referee's determination whether *116 the medical testimony suffices to demonstrate causation is entitled to substantial deference as the Act has vested the referee with broad discretion in assessing the credibility of witnesses and making findings of fact. Halaski v. Hilton Hotel, supra 487 Pa. at 319, 409 A.2d 367. "I would hold that the expert medical testimony establishes, to a reasonable degree of medical certainty, that Mr. McCloskey's death resulted from his occupational disease (silicosis) in that silicosis increased the risk of harm from the myocardial infarction, thus aggravating or accelerating an independent, preexisting condition. Sufficient competent evidence exists, therefore, to support the referee's finding that silicosis was a `significant, contributing causative factor in the death' of Mr. McCloskey and to sustain the award of benefits. "Finally, I believe that the expert medical testimony quoted above also meets the majority's standard of causation, namely, that `unequivocal medical evidence' establishes that silicosis existed and was a `substantial, contributing factor' in bringing about death. As in McCloskey, I believe that in the instant case, there was "sufficient, competent evidence" on the record, 77 P.S. § 834, to support the referee's findings that Mr. Kusenko became disabled and died as a result of coal miner's pneumoconiosis and that the majority's standard of causation under section 301(c)(2) has been satisfied. Specifically, I would hold that unequivocal medical evidence establishes that an occupational disease, coal worker's pneumoconiosis, existed and that the disease was a "substantial, contributing factor among the secondary causes in bringing about death." Mr. Kusenko had worked for some 43 years in the coal industry, 36 of those years for Republic Steel. Following hearings, the workmen's compensation referee made the following findings of fact: These findings by the referee, the "only legitimate fact-finder", Garcia v. WCAB (Bethlehem Steel Corp.), 503 Pa. 342, 344, 469 A.2d 585, 586 (1983), were affirmed by the Board, whose "power . . . is preeminent in workmen's compensation proceedings." McCloskey v. WCAB, supra at 501 Pa. 97, n. 2, 460 A.2d 237 n. 2. (Opinion of McDermott, J.) Accordingly, a reviewing court cannot disturb those findings unless the record lacks "sufficient, competent evidence" to support them. 77 P.S. § 834. Dr. Connelly, Mr. Kusenko's treating physician, rendered the following testimony in the instant proceedings: Reproduced Record at 51a and 53a. Reproduced Record at 276a-279a. Reproduced record at 287A. Additionally, as the majority notes, coal worker's pneumoconiosis was listed on Mr. Kusenko's death certificate as one of the "significant causes" of death. Based on the foregoing competent record evidence, this Court must accept the findings of the referee and the Board that Mr. Kusenko had contracted coal worker's pneumoconiosis, a compensable occupational disease which resulted in his total disability and eventual death. The evidence adequately supports the finding that Mr. Kusenko's pneumoconiosis was a "substantial, contributing factor among the secondary causes in bringing about death." I see no need, therefore, to "reverse and remand to the Commonwealth Court for a decision consistent with" the majority's standard of causation under section 301(c)(2) the decision of the Commonwealth Court is consistent with that standard. I would affirm the Commonwealth Court. FLAHERTY, Justice, dissenting opinion. I must dissent inasmuch as Section 301(c)(2) of the Workmen's Compensation Act clearly requires that death is only compensable when it results from an occupational disease. 77 P.S. § 411(2). Thus, I adhere to my original view, as stated in McCloskey v. Workmen's Comp. Ap. Bd., 501 Pa. 93, 102-105, 460 A.2d 237, 241-243 (1983) that compensation must be predicated upon a direct causal connection between the occupational disease and the death. The record in the instant case supports the conclusion that the occupational disease, pneumoconiosis, was only a contributing factor, not a direct cause of death. The direct cause of death was carcinoma, and the testimony is that the pneumoconiosis weakened the decedent and thereby merely hastened his *121 death which resulted from the carcinoma. I would reverse. HUTCHINSON, Justice, dissenting opinion. Although the majority correctly articulates the standard for causation, I am constrained to dissent from its mandate remanding the case. I do so because I do not believe the claimant produced sufficient evidence on this record to meet that standard. I would, therefore, simply reverse. [1] Act of June 2, 1915, P.L. 736, art. III, § 301(c), as amended, Act of December 5, 1974, P.L. 782, No. 263, § 4, 77 P.S. § 411. [2] We note that in recent years, standards of causation similar to the one set forth in McCloskey have been adopted by a number of states coping with the problems related to occupational disease and death. For example, the Nebraska Supreme Court has held that in order to receive benefits the occupational disease must be a substantial contributing factor to disability Mann v. City of Omaha, 211 Neb. 583, 319 N.W.2d 454 (1982). The West Virginia Supreme Court requires that a claimant establish that the occupational disease be a major contributing factor. Elsie Troxell, Widow of Lewis Troxell v. State Workmen's Compensation Commissioner and Consolidation Coal, (per curiam opinion filed December 14, 1983, No. 15951). In 1983 the Supreme Court of North Carolina in a case involving disability as a result of cotton dust exposure held that in order for disability arising from an occupational disease to be compensable there must be a showing that the occupational disease contributed significantly to that disability. Rutledge v. Tultex Corp./Kings Yarn, 308 N.C. 85, 301 S.E.2d 359 (1983). [3] Although Mr. Justice Hutchinson does not join this opinion, we note that he expressly agrees with the standard of causation articulated. See Dissenting Opinion, Hutchinson, J.