Blann v. Harvill-Byrd Electric Co.

459 S.W.2d 267, 249 Ark. 456, 1970 Ark. LEXIS 1124
CourtSupreme Court of Arkansas
DecidedNovember 16, 1970
Docket5-5328
StatusPublished

This text of 459 S.W.2d 267 (Blann v. Harvill-Byrd Electric Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Blann v. Harvill-Byrd Electric Co., 459 S.W.2d 267, 249 Ark. 456, 1970 Ark. LEXIS 1124 (Ark. 1970).

Opinion

J. Fred Jones, Justice.

This is a workmen’s compensation case in which the claimant-appellant, Mr. Blann, suffered a compensable heart attack on May 25, 1967, while carrying tools weighing 45 to 50 pounds up some steps in the course of his employment as an electrician by Harvill-Byrd Electric Company. Mr. Blann filed a claim for permanent and total disability. A hearing before a referee on April 9, 1968, resulted in an award of 15% permanent partial disability to the body as a whole. The award was sustained by the full Commission and affirmed by the circuit court on appeal. Mr. Blann has appealed to this court and relies on the following points for reversal:

“There was no substantial evidence to support the finding that appellant was not totally and permanently disabled.
There was no substantial evidence to support the findings that appellant was not permanently disabled from earning ‘high time’ which would entitle him to maximum benefits under the act.”

Following his heart attack on May 25, 1967, Mr. Blann went to Dr. B. B. Livingston in Camden, who recommended that he go to the hospital. On May 29, 1967, he went to the Veterans Administration Hospital in Little Rock where electrocardiograms were made, and where he remained under treatment and observation for about 28 days. Mr. Blann testified that after his release from the hospital, he tried installing some light fixtures in a school building in El Dorado but had to quit because of his heart condition. He testified that he then tried a maintenance job at Helena and was able to work only 10 or 12 days. He says that while working in Helena he was asked to climb a chemical tank and un-stick an elevator on top of the tank about 165 feet above the ground, and when he had climbed about 25 feet, his heart started bothering him and he had to come back down. He testified that he was discharged the next day and didn’t work any more until September. He testified that he was examined by Dr. Ellis in El Dorado on September 14, 1967, and on or about September 15, 1967, he went to work for the Alleghaney Electric Company on a paper mill job in Alexandria, Louisiana.

At the hearing before the referee on April 9, 1968, Mr. Blann testified that with the exception of one week when he was out of work because of Union trouble, he had not missed a single day’s work from the time he went to work for Alleghaney in April, 1967, until the day of the hearing. He testified that he has not seen a doctor since he last saw Dr. Ellis in September, 1967, and has received no medical attention. He says, however, that he carries nitroglycerin tablets in his pocket and takes them when he experiences chest pain. He testified that he is now restricted to ground work and has been unable to work above 40 feet in height, which demands extra pay called “high time.”

Mr. Allen O. Hobbs, business manager of the Electrician’s Union in El Dorado, testified that in that area the wage scale for journeymen electricians is $5 per hour and that “high time” would be $7.50 per hour. He testified that “high time,” under the Union contract, refers to work on towers, steeples, smokestacks, and other similar hazardous locations. He testified that “high time” is usually available on big jobs but that locally, in the residential shops, there wouldn’t be any. He says that on large industrial jobs “high time” would probably constitute 20% of the wages on a year in year out basis.

Dr. Ellis testified that he examined Mr. Blann on September 14, 1967, and primarily from the history and symptoms related to him, he tentatively diagnosed Mr. Blann’s condition as arteriosclerotic heart disease consistent with angina; that at that time he was of the opinion Mr. Blann had suffered some permanent partial disability but was of the opinion that it would take approximately one year to determine what Mr. Blann’s ultimate condition would likely be. On January 4, 1968, Dr. Ellis made a written report of his findings on September 14, 1967. He interpreted his own electrocardiograms as revealing no definite abnormalities, but interpreted the electrocardiograms performed in May and June at the Veterans Hospital, as indicating abnormalities consistent with infarction of the anterior myocardial wall. Dr. Ellis concludes his written report as follows:

“It is my opinion that this patient has arterio-sclerotic heart disease. It is also my opinion that he sustained a myocardial infarction in May, 1967. I believe that he continues having angina pectoris secondary to arteriosclerotic heart disease and that his physical output should be limited to tolerance. I would not want to perform an exercise tolerance test to ascertain this diagnosis at this time.
I believe that Mr. Blann should not perform manual labor which would involve more than the use of such instruments as pliers and screwdrivers at ground level for the next year. I do not think that he should climb ladders or stairs in the performance of his duties for the next year. I believe that any work involving the lifting or carrying of more than ten to fifteen pounds should be prohibited for the next year. His cardiac functional and therapeutic classification, in my opinion, is III-C.”

On February 16, in answer to inquiries made by the compensation carrier to Mr. Blann’s attorney and forwarded on to Dr. Ellis, he reported as follows:

“Regarding your question as to whether the healing period has or has not ended, I believe that the healing period of the condition has not occurred yet. I believe that it will take approximately one year for me to determine what the patient’s ultimate condition will likely be.
Regarding your next question as to the determination of permanent partial disability, I believe that Mr. Blann is permanently disabled partially. I consider him 100% disabled permanently from the standpoint of his doing any work on any high level. I further consider him 100% disabled from the standpoint of his performing manual activity that would involve any strenuous physical exertion at any level. I believe that he has no disability relative to his performing sedentary or semi-sedentary work or so-called ‘light Work.’ ”

Dr. Alfred Kahn, Jr. examined Mr. Blann and recommended that he should continue to perform light work. After explaining that “angina pectoris” is warning pains which warn an individual that he is putting more work on his heart than his heart will tolerate, Dr. Kahn testified that a heart patient, such as Mr. Blann, should avoid extremes in temperature and fatigue and should exercise to the point of almost inducing pain because of angina pectoris. He testified that exercise is not injurious, but actually prolongs life, if properly administered. He testified that the tracings on electrocardiograms should show definite evidence of coronary artery occlusion, which is the closure of the blood vessel leading to the muscle, and that he detected some muscle death on the tracings made at the Veterans Hospital. He testified, however, that in his opinion, the tracings made at the Veterans Hospital did not indicate a very large area of damaged muscle because the electrocardiograms made at his own office are now normal. Dr. Kahn testified, in part, as follows:

“Q. Would you recommend that he refrain from lifting?
A.

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Bluebook (online)
459 S.W.2d 267, 249 Ark. 456, 1970 Ark. LEXIS 1124, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/blann-v-harvill-byrd-electric-co-ark-1970.