Court Opinion

ID: 9618266
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 05:09:58.092036+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:04:27.153242
License: Public Domain

BISTLINE, Justice,
concurring specially.
In Wynn v. J.R. Simplot Co., 105 Idaho 102, 666 P.2d 629 (1983), Chief Justice Shepard authored a good decision. The claimant in that case over most of his life span had suffered various types of repetitive trauma, as was well pointed out in the dissenting opinion of Justice Bakes. That repetitive trauma certainly would have provided Mr. Wynn with a back that was more prone to disabling injury which he did unfortunately suffer one day. But, fortunately for him, the severity of a jolt, caused the physical injury to his spine to be brought immediately to his attention at a precise time.
The basis issue in that case was his preexisting back condition which resulted from all of the trauma suffered earlier. The basic holding of the case was, as stated by Justice Shepard, “... our compensation law does not limit awards to workmen who, prior to injury, were in sound condition and perfect health. Rather, an employer takes an employee as he finds him.” Wynn, 105 Idaho at 104, 666 P.2d at 631.
In the Wynn case, this Court first specifically observed that the Commission had held against him because, even at surgery, the ruptured disc was not identified. But, the opinion goes on to point out that at a second surgery, the rupture was found, and not only found, but repaired. This had been called to the attention of the Commission on a motion for reconsideration. This Court’s opinion attributed the Commission’s denial of that motion to “its view that Wynn’s life had been very physically active, ... and, hence, his spine had, through repeated trauma, became predisposed to the injury which he ultimately sustained.” 105 Idaho at 104, 666 P.2d at 631.
The real teaching of the Wynn case is that where a working person’s back has been exposed to repetitive trauma, and disabling pain suddenly manifests itself, it not only can, but does, result from an injury to the spine. Of more importance is the fact that the injury producing the sudden onset of pain is not always, and perhaps not even often, readily located by the injured person in a pinpointed area of the back. Moreover, it was not discovered at surgery by a back specialist, even though he had laid open and exposed the spine to view. 105 Idaho at 103, 666 P.2d at 630.
What the Wynn case teaches as a matter of case law is only what we justices as ordinary individuals either know by experience or from others, i.e., a person can injure his back, feel the pain to varying degrees, and yet not comprehend the severity of the injury until a much later time, perhaps occasioned by the increasing severity of the injury.
Repetitive trauma such as regular heavy lifting is a type of activity which may in time, as in Wynn, predispose any person’s back (spine) to injury. Until the ultimate injury does take place, it would not be uncommon to suffer back aches, most of which would be ordinarily attributed to muscle fatigue, wear and tear, and much of which would be indistinguishable from the ultimate injury of a ruptured or nerve-impinging disc protrusion. In those circumstances the particular employee who while doing such heavy lifting who experiences disabling pain, is not going to have the knowledge to identify its source. Only when it persists after a layoff, can the employee then, on reflection, think back and try to identify any exact time when it is believed that an injury has taken place. Most working people can be expected to want to remain on the job, not because they enjoy the heavy lifting and concommitant back pain, but because the pay check is a necessity. They are not kennel hounds, but motivated workers.
*362Repetitive trauma sets the stage for an injury to occur, as per Wynn, and, in the absence of any evidence, any other activity to which the surety or the employer can point, and which is attributable as being the culprit — it is only reasonable and fair to conclude that the ultimate injury was job-related. The legislature has only required that it be reasonably located as to time and place. It would be improper for the Commission or this Court to require more of a heavy-lifting claimant than a best recollection.
At the same time, it must be kept in mind that any orthopedic surgeon, including a back specialist, can say, truthfully, that it is possible that a disc injury is attributable to the natural aging process of degeneration. Anything is possible, and also probable.
In the final analysis, in these cases, the answer is to be found, as Justice Huntley suggests, by eliminating other possible causes for which there is no supporting evidence.
HUNTLEY, J., concurs.