Court Opinion

ID: 9489120
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 13:06:12.713639+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:53:19.970518
License: Public Domain

WELLFORD, Circuit Judge,
dissenting.
Noting a paucity of information about the rare condition known as a glomus jugulare tumor and a conflict among the testifying experts as to whether Stevens’ tumor caused his alleged headaches and personality change, the majority holds that the district court reasonably found that plaintiff established that those problems were attributable to the tumor. Unlike the majority, I am left “with a definite and firm conviction” that the' district court’s factual finding on this issue was erroneous. Therefore, I respectfully dissent and would reverse the award of maintenance and cure in this case.
In my view, there are two problems with the district court’s finding. First, there is very little in the record, beyond Stevens’ own self-serving allegations, tending to prove that Stevens actually experienced the severe headaches and personality change now alleged to be attributable to the tumor. Stevens’ experts concede that his tumor could have existed asymptomatically. Although those same doctors testified that Stevens experienced headaches and a personality change, their assessment of his physical condition was based solely on information provided by Stevens. Additionally, prior to this lawsuit, the only indication that Stevens ever complained of such maladies to McGinnis or to his fellow employees was the testimony of Michael Carey, a co-worker who was fired by McGinnis on the same day as Stevens.1 Furthermore, Stevens failed to make reference to any “personality change” in an April 18, 1994 affidavit concerning his employment with McGinnis. Finally, Stevens did not indicate to any of the various doctors involved in his 1993 treatment for alcoholism and stomach ulcers that he was suffering from *1361persistent headaches or behavioral changes. This is confirmed by the reports of Dr. James Linne, Dr. Daniel Barkdoll and therapist Tom Volker.
Even if Stevens did experience these problems, the proof is strong that they were caused by his alcohol abuse, not the tumor. Stevens, part of a family afflicted by alcoholism, has a long history of heavy alcohol abuse which began at age sixteen and continued until he began spitting up blood and sought treatment in 1993. At that time, Stevens reported that his alcohol abuse, had destroyed both of his marriages and caused him to lose his job with McGinnis. During the six months prior to checking himself into the hospital, Stevens admits consuming approximately two fifths of liquor per day.
At the outset, it should be noted that, although Stevens sought at trial to link his headaches and personality change to his tumor by showing that these maladies arose after his 1991 fall, this causal connection was never established. Furthermore, the parties agree that the tumor was not caused by, or otherwise related to, Stevens’ employment with McGinnis- Thus, the only evidence that Stevens’ problems may have been attributable to the tumor is the testimony of Drs. Poore and Martin, which is speculative in nature.
Both Drs. Martin and Poore admitted that Stevens’ tumor could have existed without causing any symptoms, but they opined that, because those problems abated once the tumor was removed, it is probable that the tumor was the source of Stevens’ headaches and personality change.2 Both doctors admitted that alcohol abuse can also produce headaches and behavioral changes of the type alleged by Stevens. Furthermore, any post-surgery changes in Stevens’ condition can plausibly be explained by the fact that Stevens reportedly had attained sobriety at that time. Neither Dr. Poore nor Dr. Martin were aware of Stevens’ history of alcoholism at the time of their testimony. I cannot escape the conclusion that any problems experienced by Stevens were clearly the product of his alcohol abuse.
The unquestioned medical expert on the rare condition experienced by Stevens was Dr. Rodney Geier, a board-certified Cincinnati radiation oncologist, who reviewed the hospital records in this case. His opinion was that the symptoms that might be expected from this type of tumor would be “hoarseness ... some difficulty swallowing, symptoms related to the vagus nerve or the tenth cranial nerve,” but not headaches or personality changes. His opinion further was that he would not expect such a tumor to secrete catecholamines, and that any such secretion would not modify Stevens’ behavior.
I add a few words about the majority’s construction of the doctrine of maintenance and cure. In upholding the award to Stevens, the majority relies on dicta from Vaughan v. Atkinson, 369 U.S. 527, 82 S.Ct. 997, 8 L.Ed.2d 88 (1962). That case, however, is easily distinguishable from the present situation. In Vaughan, the seaman plaintiff checked into a hospital only five days after returning from a three month voyage. Additionally, in contrast to the case at bar, it is obvious that the defendant shipowner in Vaughan knew, before the end of the voyage (i.e., during the employment relationship), that the plaintiff was ill, because the defendant issued the plaintiff a certificate to receive hospital treatment once the ship docked. See id. at 528, 82 S.Ct. at 998.
The Supreme Court has stated that the doctrine of maintenance and- cure should not be “narrowly confined.” See Aguilar v. Standard Oil Co., 318 U.S. 724, 735, 63 S.Ct. 930, 936, 87 L.Ed. 1107 (1943). In my opinion, this admonition is not contravened by concluding that maintenance and cure does not apply to an illness, only speculatively and tenuously connected to a seaman’s employment, which was first discovered six months after the seaman was terminated due to alcoholism and assaultive behavior. Further, it may be that Stevens waived any claim to maintenance and cure by failing to report the 1991 fall that allegedly activated his tumor and by failing to seek medical attention at any time while in the employ of McGinnis. See Vella v. Ford Motor Co., 421 U.S. 1, 5 n. 4, 95 S.Ct. 1381, 1384 n. 4, 43 L.Ed.2d 682 (1975) (leaving open the question of whether *1362“a seaman may forfeit his right to maintenance and cure by not reporting a known injury or malady, or by refusing from the outset to allow proper medical examination, or by discontinuing medical care made available”). In any event, Stevens’ condition was not manifest during his McGinnis employment.3
' In sum, I would reverse on the basis that Stevens has not proven that his tumorous condition manifested itself during his employment with McGinnis.

. Carey admitted that he failed to inform McGin-nis of several violent episodes involving Stevens in 1991 and 1992. He further testified that he did not know that Stevens had or was treated for an alcohol abuse problem.

. Dr. Poore, a family practitioner, did not review the hospital records, and agreed that he would defer to the opinion of specialists, yet he disagreed with the other doctors about the secretion of catecholamines from the tumor.

. To “manifest,” according to Webster's THIRD NEW INTERNATIONAL DICTIONARY, is "to show plainly” or “to make palpably evident or certain.”