Title: Trest v. BC Rogers Processors, Inc.

State: mississippi

Issuer: Mississippi Supreme Court

Document:

592 So. 2d 110 (1991) Scott Madison TREST, Administrator of the Estate of Clinton Houston Trest, Sr. v. B.C. ROGERS PROCESSORS, INC. and Commercial Union Insurance Company. No. 90-CC-1184. Supreme Court of Mississippi. December 18, 1991. Rehearing Denied January 29, 1992. John S. Knowles, III, Brantley & Knowles, Jackson, Eugene C. Tullos, Tullos & Tullos, Raleigh, for appellant. Donald V. Burch, Robert F. Stacy, Jr., Charles L. Dunn, Daniel Coker, Horton & Bell, Jackson, for appellee. Before DAN M. LEE, P.J., and ROBERTSON and SULLIVAN, JJ. SULLIVAN, Justice, for the Court: The issue in today's workers' compensation case is one of causation. *111 The case is before this Court after a denial of benefits by the Administrative Judge on May 17, 1989. The Administrative Judge was affirmed by the Workers' Compensation Commission and by the Circuit Court of Newton County, Mississippi, Hon. Edward A. Williamson presiding. Clinton H. Trest "worked chickens" for B.C. Rogers for twenty-one years until he injured himself on the job after a fall on June 14, 1985. The 68 year old Trest was supervising a chicken vaccinating crew when he stepped down from a three foot platform in a chicken house and fell on his right side. Trest remained with his crew for four to five hours that night until the job at hand was completed. The next morning he reported his injury to his supervisor and was instructed to go to the doctor. Trest saw Dr. Howard Clark. Trest had suffered a hernia ten years earlier, and upon examination Dr. Clark determined it had then strangulated. Dr. Clark also determined that in the fall, Trest sustained injuries to his back, neck, right hip and right leg. Surgery corrected the hernia but Trest never returned to work and became permanently and totally disabled thereafter. Pain in the back and a swollen right leg persisted and both were documented in visits to Dr. Clark beginning with the first visit on the morning of June 15, 1985, and continuing through February 13, 1990. In his deposition, Dr. Clark candidly testified to the cause of the back injury: As to the cause of injury to the right leg, he concluded: When asked if Trest was disabled to do his work: The direct examination concluded with this question and answer: Cross-examination confirmed a prior protrusion of a right indirect incarcerated hernia some ten years prior to this injury. In further response to cross-examination, the *112 following corroborative medical testimony as to the causation of Trest's other injuries and his permanent disability follows: The doctor confirmed and stressed Trest's inability to work since the injury, "to my knowledge he has not worked since the surgery. He's not been able to work since the surgery." In answer to the causation question concerning the problem in the right leg, the doctor stated: When pressed on the question of causation for the backaches, the doctor responded: Dr. Clark also responded to the following question: Rogers concluded by cross-examination with a question about Trest's congestive heart failure to which Dr. Clark responded: B.C. Rogers Processors, Inc. and Commercial Union Insurance Company both admit that Trest was an employee covered by the Mississippi Workers' Compensation Act and performing services of employment at the time of this injury. They admit notice of the injury but they deny it is compensable and deny that Trest is disabled due to *113 accidental injury. Both the employer and the carrier affirmatively claim that Trest has a prior hernia that precludes his claim. Our scope of review is limited and we will reverse the decision of the Commission only if it is manifestly wrong and not supported by substantial evidence. Metal Trims Industries, Inc. v. Stovall, 562 So. 2d 1293 (Miss. 1990); Robinson v. Packard Elec. Div. General Mills Corp., 523 So. 2d 329 (Miss. 1988). In this record the only evidence is the testimony of Trest, his two fellow employees and Dr. Clark. Rogers and Commercial Union made their entire defense through cross-examination. There is substantial evidence supporting compensation, not for the hernia, but for the other injuries Trest sustained in the same fall. There is uncontradicted testimony (1) that Trest was injured while performing his job for B.C. Rogers and (2) that Trest is totally and permanently disabled. The difficult question is one of causation because of the inability of the medical doctor to put his finger on the exact physical cause. That alone does not defeat Trest's claim for compensation given the beneficent purpose of the Mississippi Workers' Compensation Act. Sperry-Vickers, Inc. v. Honea, 394 So. 2d 1380 (Miss. 1981); Penrod Drilling Co. v. Etheridge, 487 So. 2d 1330 (Miss. 1986). Dunn, Mississippi Workmen's Compensation, § 281 (3d ed. 1982), states: From the record in this case we conclude that the order of the Workers' Compensation Commission is not supported by substantial evidence and, in fact, is manifestly wrong. We therefore reverse the decision of the Commission and the Circuit Court of Newton County and remand to the Mississippi Workers' Compensation Commission for a calculation of the benefits due the Estate of Clinton Houston Trest, Sr., for his total and permanent disability. REVERSED AND REMANDED TO THE COMMISSION TO CALCULATE THE BENEFITS DUE THE ESTATE OF CLINTON HOUSTON TREST, SR., FOR TOTAL AND PERMANENT DISABILITY. HAWKINS and DAN M. LEE, P.JJ., and PRATHER, ROBERTSON, PITTMAN, BANKS and McRAE, JJ., concur. ROY NOBLE LEE, C.J., not participating.