Case Name: Elizan Thomas SHERMAN, widow of George Sherman, Individually and as natural tutrix of her minor children, v. SOUTHERN SCRAP MATERIAL COMPANY LTD., and the Travelers Insurance Company
Court: Louisiana Court of Appeal
Jurisdiction: Louisiana
Decision Date: 1973-09-26
Citations: 284 So. 2d 71
Docket Number: No. 5578
Parties: Elizan Thomas SHERMAN, widow of George Sherman, Individually and as natural tutrix of her minor children, v. SOUTHERN SCRAP MATERIAL COMPANY LTD., and the Travelers Insurance Company.
Judges: Before STOULIG, BOUTALL and SCHOTT, JJ.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 284
Pages: 71–78

Head Matter:
Elizan Thomas SHERMAN, widow of George Sherman, Individually and as natural tutrix of her minor children, v. SOUTHERN SCRAP MATERIAL COMPANY LTD., and the Travelers Insurance Company.
No. 5578.
Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fourth Circuit.
Sept. 26, 1973.
Rehearing Denied Nov. 2, 1973.
Writ Refused Dec. 19, 1973.
Frank S. Bruno, New Orleans, for plaintiff-appellee.
Jones, Walker, Waechter, Poitevent, Carrere & Denegre, Claude D. Vasser, New Orleans, for defendants-appellants.
Before STOULIG, BOUTALL and SCHOTT, JJ.

Opinion:
STOULIG, Judge.
This appeal involves a claim for workmen's compensation death benefits by the widow and minor children of George Sherman, a manual laborer who died of heart disease. Plaintiff alleged her husband was struck by a piece of iron pipe on July 2, 1968, and this trauma activated a pre-exist-ing heart aliment that ultimately caused his death on September 14, 1968. Defendants, the employer, Southern Scrap Material Company Ltd., and its compensation insurer, The Travelers Insurance Company, asserted in their answer the death resulted from metabolic heart changes unrelated to Sherman's employment. From a judgment in favor of plaintiff, defendants have appealed.
The issues before us are (1) whether Sherman suffered an "accident" as defined by our Workmen's Compensation Law; and (2) whether his death was caused or accelerated thereby. The medical testimony adduced by each litigant to resolve these questions is in hopeless conflict.
It is not disputed that on May 1, 1967, George Sherman was hired to perform heavy manual labor by Southern Scrap Material Company, although a pre-employment physical examination indicated he had abnormally high blood pressure (154 systolic/112 diastolic). His duties included the driving, the loading and unloading of a truck.
On July 2, 1968, while unloading pipe, he was struck in the right side. (The record fails to disclose the severity or the location of the blow.) Although he experienced discomfort, he finished the workday and did not lose any time from his job through July 16. However, on July 12, he complained of shortness of breath, which per sisted until he was admitted to Veterans Administration Hospital on July 17.
His condition was diagnosed as "congestive heart failure and cardiomegaly secondary to arteriosclerotic heart disease." He improved sufficiently to be discharged on August 31, 1968, with a recommendation that he see a private doctor. He never returned to work. On September 14, 1968, he died suddenly while seated at the dinner table.
Dr. Roland Welch, a pathologist who testified as a medical expert for the plaintiff, performed the autopsy. He diagnosed the cause of death as "hypertensive cardiovascular disease." Based on his review of the pre-employment physical examination record for Sherman, he stated the cause of the abnormally high blood pressure should have been further investigated and under no circumstances should a man in this condition have been hired to perform heavy labor.
He stated unequivocally Sherman's job aggravated the congestive heart problem and shortened his life span. The most detrimental factor in accelerating chronic heart failure was Sherman's strenuous exertions on his job during the hot summer months. Welch viewed the July 2 trauma in the chain of causality as one more insult to an already overburdened heart, possibly the circumstance that triggered the final and fatal incident of congestive heart failure. He said it might have been the "straw that broke the camel's back." However, he places more emphasis on strenuous work in a hot climate as the causative factor that aggravated plaintiff's condition and accelerated his death.
The fact that Sherman died two months after his last workday did not have the effect of weakening the link of causality to job-related activities, according to Dr. Welch. He explained congestive heart failure, unlike myocardial infarct, can develop slowly and its gradual progression may not produce symptomatology sufficient to cause a patient to seek medical attention ' for between two to six weeks after the onset.
Defendants' medical expert disagreed. Dr. Ted Bloch, an internist, testified that death from a heart condition was not job-related unless death occurred on the job or within hours after finishing the day's work. In this case he attributed Sherman's death to "far advanced arteriosclerotic vascular heart disease" and "marked hypertrophy" (enlargement of the heart). It was his opinion the fatal condition was genetic and dietetic in origin, rather than work-connected.
He agreed Sherman's pre-employment physical indicated it was not advisable for him to engage in strenuous labor, and he further agreed heavy work could cause him to go into congestive heart failure. However, he pointed out Sherman's heart was not anatomically changed by his labor as evidenced by his improvement after rest and treatment in the hospital. The fact that he was discharged indicated to Dr. Bloch the congestive condition had been relieved and the heart's function had improved during this period.
In written reasons for judgment, the trial judge stated he found ño connection between the July 2 trauma and decedent's heart ailment. He reasoned the death was compensable under the Workmen's Compensation Law because "heavy work in heat put such a strain on his heart that he went into heart failure, and though he enjoyed perhaps a temporary remission, the additional insult to an already badly diseased heart eventually caused death."
We are in complete accord with this reasoning. Although we do not relate the pipe injury to Sherman's fatal illness, we cannot agree with defendant's contention that plaintiff failed to prove decedent suffered an accident that falls within the definition of LSA-R.S. 23:1021.
It is well established the workmen need not suffer a traumatic injury by external violence to be considered an in dustrial casualty. In heart disease cases, the claimant need only prove the injury or death is causally connected with the work effort of the employee in discharging his customary duties. See Brown v. Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corporation, 250 So.2d 99 (La.App. 4th Cir. 1971). In proving Sherman's strenuous work in the summer heat accelerated the onset of congestive heart failure that resulted in death, plaintiff met the burden of establishing an accident in fact had occurred. See Prater v. Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, 182 So.2d 805 (La.App. 3d Cir. 1966).
Turning to the question of causal connection between work effort and Sherman's death, we accept the opinion of the pathologist. His reasoning is more consistent with standards our Supreme Court summarized in Bertrand v. Coal Operators Casualty Company, 253 La. 1115, 221 So.2d 816, 827 (1969), as follows:
"In a case such as the present one, where there is proof of an accident and of a following disability without any intervening cause, it is presumed that the accident caused the disability. The criterion for causal connection between the accident and the disability is: Has the accident changed the plaintiff's condition so as to render him disabled and unfit for his former employment ?"
In Bertrand the claimant suffered two seizures on the job on separate occasions and electrocardiograms measured the damage. In the instant case, while the proof of the accident is not so precisely pinpointed, nonetheless it is evident Sherman was admitted to the hospital the day following his last day on the job. The pre-employment physical examination establishes he was a prime candidate for congestive heart failure while performing heavy manual labor. Both experts agree to this. There is no evidence of any intervening cause. Thus the criterion of causality quoted is applicable to this case. It is beyond doubt that Sherman from the date of admission to the hospital to the time of death was unfit to return to his former employment.
The Bertrand opinion specifically rejected one of the factors considered by Dr. Bloch in concluding Sherman's death was not causally connected to an industrial accident. It will be recalled Dr. Bloch pointed out the heart was anatomically unchanged by Sherman's work effort as is evidenced by the fact that the congestive heart failure was alleviated when he was discharged from the hospital on August 31, 1968. This concept of causality was dismissed as being too "narrowly defined" and "overnicely refined." The Court stated:
" The legal criterion in compensation cases involving heart disease should be whether the accident caused a change in the employee's physical condition which is disabling, and not whether the accident changed the diseased organ of the employee. 221 So.2d at 828
For the reasons assigned, the judgment appealed from is affirmed. Costs of this appeal are to be borne by appellant.
Affirmed.