Bolles v. Midwest Sheet Metal Co.

Nebraska Court of Appeals·Decided March 11, 2014·No. A-13-203·Published

Opinion

Decisions of the Nebraska Court of Appeals 822 21 NEBRASKA APPELLATE REPORTS

rights were not violated and that there was sufficient evidence to support the trial court’s finding that Meints was guilty on such counts beyond a reasonable doubt. We find that the Beatrice City Code does not contradict state law and does not criminalize conduct which is lawful under any state statute. We also find that multiple prosecutions for the violations of the Beatrice City Code do not violate the Double Jeopardy Clause of the Fifth Amendment. We affirm the decision of the district court.

Affirmed.

Stacy Bolles, wife of Gregory Bolles, deceased, on her behalf and on behalf of others eligible for benefits pursuant to Neb. R ev. Stat.

§ 48-122 et seq., appellee, v. Midwest Sheet Metal Co., Inc., appellant.

___ N.W.2d ___

Filed March 11, 2014. No. A-13-203.

1. Workers’ Compensation: Judgments: Evidence: Appeal and Error.

Under Neb. Rev. Stat. § 48-185 (Reissue 2010), a judgment of the Workers’ Compensation Court may be modified, reversed, or set aside based on the ground that there is not sufficient competent evidence in the record to warrant the making of the order, judgment, or award.

2. Workers’ Compensation: Appeal and Error. In determining whether to affirm, modify, reverse, or set aside a judgment of the Workers’ Compensation Court, an appellate court will not disturb the findings of fact of the trial judge unless clearly wrong.

3. Workers’ Compensation: Evidence: Appeal and Error. In testing the sufficiency of the evidence to support the findings of fact by the Workers’ Compensation Court, the evidence is considered in the light most favorable to the successful party, every controverted fact is resolved in favor of the successful party, and the successful party has the benefit of every inference that is reasonably deducible from the evidence.

4. Workers’ Compensation: Judgments: Evidence: Appeal and Error. Workers’

Comp. Ct. R. of Proc. 11(A) (2011) requires the Workers’ Compensation Court to write decisions that provide the basis for a meaningful appellate review.

5. ____: ____: ____: ____. Workers’ Comp. Ct. R. of Proc. 11(A) (2011) requires the judge to specify the evidence upon which the judge relies.

Decisions of the Nebraska Court of Appeals BOLLES v. MIDWEST SHEET METAL CO. 823 Cite as 21 Neb. App. 822

6. Workers’ Compensation. When a workers’ compensation claimant has suffered a heart attack, the foremost and essential problem is causation, that is, whether the employment caused an employee’s injury or death from a heart attack.

7. Workers’ Compensation: Appeal and Error. The issue in regard to causation of an injury or disability is one for determination by the fact finder, whose findings will not be set aside unless clearly erroneous.

8. Workers’ Compensation. In workers’ compensation cases, the heart injury causation issue consists of two elements: (1) legal causation and (2) medical causation . Under the legal test, the law must define what kind of exertion satisfies the test of arising out of the employment. Under the medical test, the doctors must say whether the exertion (having been held legally sufficient to support compensation ) in fact caused the collapse.

9. Workers’ Compensation: Proof. An exertion- or stress-caused heart injury to which the claimant’s preexisting heart disease or condition contributes is compensable only if the claimant shows that the exertion or stress encountered during employment is greater than that experienced during the ordinary nonemployment life of the employee or any other person.

10. ____: ____. If it is claimed that an injury was the result of stress or exertion in the employment, medical causation is established by a showing by the preponderance of the evidence that the employment contributed in some material and substantial degree to cause the injury.

Appeal from the Workers’ Compensation Court: John R. Hoffert, Judge. Affirmed.

Darla S. Ideus, of Baylor, Evnen, Curtiss, Grimit & Witt, L.L.P., for appellant.

John C. Fowles, of Fowles Law Office, P.C., L.L.O., and John F. Vipperman, of Anderson, Vipperman & Kovanda, for appellee.

Irwin, Pirtle, and Bishop, Judges. Irwin, Judge.

I. INTRODUCTION

Gregory Bolles suffered a heart attack while working for Midwest Sheet Metal Co., Inc. (Midwest), and died as a result. Midwest appeals an award of the Nebraska Workers’ Compensation Court awarding benefits to Bolles’ wife, Stacy Bolles (Stacy). On appeal, Midwest asserts that the compensation court’s award did not comply with Workers’ Comp. Ct. R. of Proc. 11 (2011), because it contained insufficient factual findings, and asserts that the compensation court erred in

Decisions of the Nebraska Court of Appeals 824 21 NEBRASKA APPELLATE REPORTS

finding that Stacy met her burden of proof with regard to both factual and legal causation. We affirm.

II. BACKGROUND 1. Work and Incident

The events giving rise to this cause of action occurred on or about July 27, 2011. On that date, Bolles was employed by Midwest as a foreman. Evidence adduced at trial indicated that Bolles began work on that date at the Midwest shop in Grand Island, Nebraska, at approximately 7 a.m. Bolles ran some errands and picked up some necessary materials, and Bolles and a coworker picked up a compressor for an air- conditioning unit at a supply shop in Grand Island.

There was conflicting evidence about what time Bolles and the coworker arrived at the jobsite for that date, which was in Harvard, Nebraska. There was evidence that they arrived at the jobsite between 9:15 and 9:30 a.m.; there was also evidence that it may have been as late as “around noonish.”

Bolles and his coworkers were to replace the compressor in an air-conditioning unit at a nursing home. The evidence adduced at trial indicated that this was a big and time-­ consuming job. The air-conditioning unit was a large unit, with sheet metal panels on the outside; was situated on two metal rails on concrete slabs; and was located several feet off the ground. The unit was located in a fenced area, with the fencing mostly obscuring the unit from view and shielding it from wind.

When Bolles arrived at the worksite, some of the side panels had been removed. Bolles began working with a screw gun to detach other metal panels. Bolles then climbed up and into the unit and worked inside of it for approximately 1 to 11⁄2 hours. Bolles worked to remove bolts and flanges that kept the compressor in place, and he utilized hand wrenches, ratchets, and screwdrivers to remove the bolts and flanges. There was evidence that Bolles spent the time inside the unit bent over and squatting while removing the bolts and flanges.

Once the compressor was disconnected, Bolles and a coworker attached chains and manipulated the compressor out

Decisions of the Nebraska Court of Appeals BOLLES v. MIDWEST SHEET METAL CO. 825 Cite as 21 Neb. App. 822

of the air-conditioning unit while another coworker operated a front-end loader to actually lift the compressor. The evidence indicates that the compressor that had to be removed weighed as much as 400 pounds. The evidence indicated that Bolles “had to shove it around to clear the pipes” and guide it out of the air-conditioning unit. The process of maneuvering the compressor out of the air-conditioning unit took approximately 30 minutes.

After the compressor was successfully lifted out of the air- conditioning unit, it was placed on the ground. Bolles and his coworkers then removed a variety of other parts, which involved more use of handtools and wrenches.

Parts were then attached to the new compressor, the new compressor was lifted with the front-end loader, and Bolles worked to guide the new compressor into the air-conditioning unit. Bolles was again inside the air-conditioning unit to guide the new compressor into place.

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