Case Title: Ware v. Industrial Commission

Citation: 375 P.2d 384, 92 Ariz. 188

Docket Number: 

State: arizona

Court: Arizona Supreme Court

Date: 1962-10-17T00:00:00Z

Document:
92 Ariz. 188 (1962) 375 P.2d 384 Earl C. WARE, Petitioner, v. The INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION of Arizona and S & W Construction Company, Respondents. No. 7548. Supreme Court of Arizona, En Banc. October 17, 1962. *189 Robert E. Yount, Scottsdale, for petitioner. Lorin G. Shelley, Phoenix, for respondent The Industrial Commission of Arizona. Donald J. Morgan, Edward E. Davis, C.E. Singer, Jr., Ben P. Marshall, Phoenix, of counsel. JENNINGS, Justice. By certiorari petitioner seeks review of an award of the Industrial Commission denying him compensation for an alleged injury by accident arising out of and in the course of his employment. Earl C. Ware (hereinafter called petitioner) was employed by the S & W Construction Company as a general superintendent. At the time of his alleged injury he was 63 years old and had been employed by S & W Construction Company for approximately a year and a half. His duties generally were to help in anything which came along where it appeared that help was needed, including the mowing of lawns. While he was mowing a lawn on April 18, 1961 he suffered a cerebral thrombosis. The temperature on this date was 97 degrees and was the first hot day of spring. During the time petitioner was mowing the lawn he became thirsty frequently and drank water out of the hose whenever he felt the need. At the time of his collapse, petitioner was in the bathroom of a house getting a drink of water. Petitioner filed his claim for benefits with the Commission alleging therein that he sustained injury on April 18, 1961 while employed by the defendant employer. On August 3, 1961, the Commission made and entered its Findings and Award for Non-compensable Claim, finding among other things "that said applicant did not sustain an accident arising out of and in the course of his employment within the meaning of the Workmen's Compensation Act, and therefore any personal injuries claimed in the premises are not compensable under the Act." The Commission "ordered that said applicant take nothing from the defendants by reason of his alleged personal injury." Petitioner protested the findings and award and filed an application for rehearing. On September 8, 1961 the petitioner, at the request *190 of the Commission, was examined by a trio of physicians, Dr. E. Thornton Pfeil, Dr. George G. McKhann and Dr. James R. Moore, medical advisers to the Commission. Their conclusions at that time were as follows: Thereafter, on September 27, 1961 the Commission made and entered its decision upon rehearing and affirmed its previous findings and award. Petitioner again protested the award and filed an application for rehearing. At the rehearing the testimony of Dr. Robert G. Beers, Dr. E. Thornton Pfeil and Dr. George G. McKhann was received. Following the rehearing the Commission, on January 18, 1962, made and entered its decision upon rehearing and affirmed its previous findings and award for noncompensable claim. Petitioner assigns as error the finding of the Commission that petitioner "did not sustain an accident arising out of and in the course of his employment within the meaning of the Workmen's Compensation Act." There is no doubt that petitioner was engaged in the course of his employment at the time of the injury. The question is whether he was injured by an accident arising out of his employment. In order to receive compensation an employee must show not only that he was injured in the course of his employment, but also that he was injured by accident arising out of his employment. Emery v. Industrial Commission, 69 Ariz. 87, 210 P.2d 217 (1949). An employee does not make out a case for compensation by merely showing that he suffered an unexpected internal failure while on the job or that a functional failure was coincidental with his work. Emery v. Industrial Commission, supra. To be entitled to compensation he must have been injured by accident arising out of and in the course of his employment. In the case at bar we are not concerned with the question of whether there was an injury by accident.[1] The question *191 we are confronted with is the difficult question of causation. It is necessary that there be a causal connection between the injury and the employment in order for the injury to be compensable. Phelps Dodge Corp., etc. v. Cabarga, 79 Ariz. 148, 285 P.2d 605 (1955). The question of the cause of the cerebral thrombosis suffered by petitioner is one which can be answered only by expert medical testimony. A review of the medical testimony follows. Dr. E. Thornton Pfeil, one of the medical advisers to the Industrial Commission who had examined the petitioner, testified that with all the information that he had at hand he believed that there was a causal connection between the activity that petitioner was engaged in and the cerebral thrombosis. On cross-examination on this point he testified as follows: The Commission admits that Dr. Pfeil was of the opinion that there was the probability of a causal relationship between the petitioner's employment and the cerebral thrombosis but infers that the doctor's opinion would have been different had the testimony of the petitioner concerning the amount of fluid intake on the day in question been available to him. However, in answer to the question as to whether he had an opinion as to where the blood matter came from which caused the thrombosis he testified: Thus, it appears from his testimony that his opinion was not based solely upon the factor of fluid intake. Dr. Robert G. Beers testified as follows: On cross examination Dr. Beers was asked: The testimony upon which the Commission relies to sustain its position is that of Dr. George G. McKhann. Dr. McKhann refused to commit himself that the employment did cause the cerebral thrombosis but said it was possible and that the employment might predispose to it. Although Dr. McKhann testified that in his opinion the temperature would not make any difference he stated: In Helmericks v. Airesearch Manufacturing Co. of Arizona, 88 Ariz. 413, 357 P.2d 152 (1960) we said: However, we have also said that the Commission cannot arbitrarily reject uncontroverted medical opinions which are based on matters peculiarly within the realm of scientific knowledge. Revles v. Industrial Commission, 88 Ariz. 67, 352 P.2d 759 (1960). Although the testimony of Dr. Beers and Dr. McKhann was not as positive as Dr. Pfeil's, the opinion of Dr. Pfeil that there was a causal connection, that it was a reasonable medical probability and that he failed to see that any other cause constituted a reasonable medical probability was never controverted. It therefore appears to us that the petitioner sustained his burden of proving that he was injured by accident arising out of and in the course of his employment and that there was no substantial evidence to the contrary on which to base the Commission's findings. It is well settled that this Court may set aside an award of the Commission in cases where the record contains no substantial evidence in support of the award. Award set aside. BERNSTEIN, C.J., UDALL, V.C.J., and STRUCKMEYER and LOCKWOOD, JJ., concur. [1] For an excellent discussion on the meaning of the phrase "injury by accident" see Paulley v. Industrial Commission, 91 Ariz. 266, 371 P.2d 888 (1962). The Commission does not contend that given a proper set of facts, together with proper medical opinion supporting it, that a cerebral thrombosis would not be a compensable injury by accident within the meaning of the Workmen's Compensation Act, A.R.S. § 23-901 et seq.