Title: Little v. J. Korber & Co.
Citation: 378 P.2d 119, 71 N.M. 294
Docket Number: 6992
State: new-mexico
Issuer: new-mexico Supreme Court
Date: January 21, 1963

378 P.2d 119 (1963) 71 N.M. 294 Clara D. LITTLE, dependent widow of Irving E. Little, deceased, claimant, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. J. KORBER &amp; CO., Employer, and U.S. Fidelity &amp; Guaranty Co., Insurer, Defendants-Appellants. No. 6992. Supreme Court of New Mexico. January 21, 1963. Keleher &amp; McLeod Russell Moore, Albuquerque, for appellants. Smith, Kiker &amp; Kitts, Richard E. Ransom, Albuquerque, for appellee. CHAVEZ, Justice. This appeal is from a judgment in favor of plaintiff-appellee, the dependent widow of Irving E. Little, deceased, on her claim filed under the Workmen's Compensation Act. The case was tried by the district court of Bernalillo County, without a jury. Irving E. Little, age 59, had been employed by J. Korber &amp; Co., a hardware concern in Albuquerque, for some fifteen years as manager of the wholesale department. His duties entailed buying and selling merchandise, keeping three outside salesmen supplied with goods, and supervising the catalogue operations, as well as supervising retail sales. On June 5, 1959, between the hours of 8:00 and 9:00 a.m., Mr. Little came to the office of Edward H. Bierman, the office manager, "storming and was quite upset" because one of the clerks had made an error in a charge ticket. Bierman told Little not to become concerned, that he, Bierman, was busy and that Little should make the correction and forget it. On this occasion Little tore open the package containing charge tickets and took them all to his office, including the erroneous charge ticket. Little corrected the erroneous charge ticket and, within fifteen minutes, he returned to Bierman's office. According to Bierman, Little "seemed to be perfectly all right after that. I didn't pay too much attention." Little left Bierman's office and was not seen by Bierman after that until Bierman was called out and informed that Little had fainted. At approximately 10:20 a.m., Little died, at or near his desk, of a *120 myocardial infarction due to arteriosclerotic heart disease which was due to a generalized arteriosclerosis. The hardware store in which Little worked was on a three-story level, although there was no merchandise on the third floor. Between the floors there were steps or stairs. Little frequently walked up and down the stairs between the main and mezzanine floors, carrying cumbersome bundles of plastic pipe which weighed from 15 to 20 pounds. The stairs between the ground and mezzanine floors consisted of twelve steps and were approximately twelve feet in total height. Bierman testified: That during the last six or eight months of Little's life he observed Little limping and that he complained of pain in his leg; that in the two-week period preceding Little's death, Bierman saw Little coming down the steps very slowly, carrying plastic pipe from the mezzanine floor; that on occasion Little appeared to have trouble negotiating these steps, even when not carrying pipe; that Little would hold onto his side and walk with a slight limp; that Little limped more often when he was emotionally upset. Bierman further testified: That Little "would go along and be very even tempered and then all of a sudden why he would get into some of these explosive moods" and "shake with anger and become very visibly upset;" that this occurred more frequently during the last two years of Little's life; and that Little worried quite a bit about his work and often complained about sales. During the last two or three months of his life, Little was much more tired when he came home from his work at night. He had not had a vacation for three years prior to his death. Upon his return from the last vacation, he and Mrs. Little both worked evenings at the store for three weeks to catch up on work that had not been attended to during his two weeks' vacation. In his work Little would become greatly concerned over small incidents and was subject to apparent fits of temper. Complaints of irritability and excitability were frequently made by other personnel at the store. Appellants' only contention is that the trial court's finding, that the death of claimant's decedent was caused by an accident arising out of and in the course of his employment, is not supported by substantial evidence. The trial court made the following findings: Mr. Little's medical history discloses that for some twelve years preceding his death he had undergone numerous examinations at the Lovelace Clinic in Albuquerque, during which he complained of unusual fatigue, shortness of breath on exertion, pain in his left shoulder of several days' duration, "internal nervousness, especially when under pressure," pain in the left arm, pain over the heart following exertion, and pain in both legs with exercise. When examined in 1942, he complained of pain in the left shoulder and Dr. Streeper, a heart specialist, did not feel that the pains were due to a heart condition. Electrocardiograms taken in 1947, 1951, 1952 and 1953, were thought to be moderately abnormal but did not show any specific change during this time and were not felt to represent a heart condition of a severity to recommend any great change in his activities. In 1952 Little reported that he had a lot of tension on his job; that he felt pretty good in the morning until noon, but in the afternoon he felt very tired, listless, and had trouble in thinking and in doing other things. In 1954 Little complained of pain over the heart following exertion, which radiated into the *121 arms. In 1956 Little complained of pain in both legs with exercise. Little noticed this especially with fast walking, the pain which developed being of such severity he would have to stop. After a period of rest the pain would be relieved and he would be able to continue. He had trouble going upstairs. At this time a diagnosis of arterial insufficiency due to arteriosclerosis plus spasm of the arteries in the lower extremities was made. In 1957 an operation was performed which improved circulation in the right leg and foot. Little was operated on for a recurrent hernia on April 9, 1959, and an inguinal herniorrhaphy was performed. During hospitalization, Little complained of pains in the chest and on April 21, 1959, an esophagoscopy was performed without positive findings. This was the last time Little was examined by the Clinic before his death at 10:20 a.m. on June 5, 1959. An autopsy was performed on Little to determine the cause of death. A summary of the autopsy findings as written by Dr. Thomas Chiffelle, a pathologist, follows: Dr. Chiffelle also testified as follows: In approaching the problem before us we must adhere to the ruling of this court as announced in Luna v. Flores, 64 N.M. 312, 328 P.2d 82: We are also bound by the rule that findings of the trial court based on conflicting evidence are conclusive on appeal. Parks v. McIntosh, 68 N.M. 324, 361 P.2d 949. We are not unmindful of what we said in Alspaugh v. Mountain States Mutual Casualty Co., 66 N.M. 126, 343 P.2d 697, that in cases of this type the evidence must rise above the rank of mere surmise or speculation; and our often repeated rule that the Workmen's Compensation Act does not make the employer an insurer of the employee against injury or death occurring during his hours of employment. Teal v. Potash Company of America, 60 N.M. 409, 292 P.2d 99. See also Salazar v. County of Bernalillo, 69 N.M. 464, 368 P.2d 141. We have also considered our holdings in Sanchez v. Board of County Commissioners, 63 N.M. 85, 313 P.2d 1055, and Christensen v. Dysart, 42 N.M. 107, 76 P.2d 1. Although there may be a conflict in the evidence as to causal connection between the accidental injury and the death of Mr. Little, there is positive evidence by Dr. J.H. Dettweiler, claimant's medical expert, who, in reply to a hypothetical question which reviewed the prior history of Mr. Little and summarized the testimony including the findings of the pathologist who performed the autopsy upon Mr. Little, testified as follows: Dr. Oliver S. Cramer, an expert in internal medicine, testified: Dr. Donald Huelsmann, a witness for defendants, testified: The record also discloses that, regardless of any claimed conflict in the testimony of the medical experts, they are in agreement generally in their opinions that an emotional upset results in stress upon the heart as much as physical stress, and that anger may be a precipitating cause of heart attacks, either disabling or fatal. There is also testimony that a person such as Mr. Little, who was suffering from advanced generalized arteriosclerosis of the coronary arterial system, would be more affected by severe stress than one who had no arteriosclerosis. Thus, after a painstaking review of the record, it is our considered judgment that the evidence meets the requirements of substantiation and we hold that the evidence in this case establishes a causal relationship and that Mr. Little, in the course of his employment, became emotionally upset, suffered an accidental injury, and as a result thereof died of a myocardial infarction due to arteriosclerotic heart disease. Appellee is awarded the sum of $750 as attorneys' fees for services rendered on this appeal. The judgment of the district court is affirmed. It is so ordered. COMPTON, C.J., and MOISE, J., concur. CARMODY and NOBLE, JJ., not participating.