Bowman v. Smith-Built Homes, Inc.

424 S.W.2d 801, 221 Tenn. 102, 25 McCanless 102, 1967 Tenn. LEXIS 358
CourtTennessee Supreme Court
DecidedDecember 15, 1967
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 424 S.W.2d 801 (Bowman v. Smith-Built Homes, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Tennessee Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bowman v. Smith-Built Homes, Inc., 424 S.W.2d 801, 221 Tenn. 102, 25 McCanless 102, 1967 Tenn. LEXIS 358 (Tenn. 1967).

Opinions

Mr. Justice GresoN

delivered the opinion of the Court.

This is an appeal from a judgment of the Chancery Court of Greene County, denying recovery under the workmen’s compensation statutes. A proceeding was initially instituted by Mr s. Maggie Glover Bowman, seeking benefits by reason of the death of her husband as a result of a heart attack suffered while in the employ of Smith-Built Homes, Inc. The original petition was filed in the Circuit Court of Washington County, but was dismissed for lack of venue. The employer, Smith-Built Homes, Inc., and Hartford Accident & Indemnity Company, the employer ’s insurer, then instituted the instant case in the Chancery Court of Greene County.

The position of Smith-Built Homes, Inc. and Hartford Accident & Indemnity Company was that the appellant has wholly failed to show that Mr. Bowman’s death arose out of his employment.

Mrs. Bowman’s contention was that her husband’s death was an accidental occurrence suffered in the course of and arising out of the normal and regular activities of his employment.

The trial judge filed a memorandum opinion and entered a decree, in which he concluded that the death of [104]*104Mr. Bowman did not arise ont of and in tlie course of Ms employment. Mrs. Bowman has appealed to this Court and assigns three errors:

“(1) There is no material evidence to support the verdict and judgment of the Court.
(2) There is no material evidence to support a finding of fact in the verdict to the effect that the death of the deceased was caused by his violation of instructions given him by his physician at the hospital.
(3) The verdict and judgment in this case are based on erroneous conclusions of the Court drawn from facts which are undisputed.”

Assignments of error (1) and (3) may be more intelligibly discussed together. Basically, they argue the fallibility of the trial court’s ultimate conclusion that the employee Bowman’s death did not arise out of his employment. In resolving the composite issue presented by these two assignments of error, it is necessary to bear in mind that the instant ease is not one where the trial court has made a mistaken application of the law to a single justifiable conclusion of ultimate fact or multiple such conclusions. It is only misleading to confuse application of the law with conclusions of ultimate fact by the trial judge, whether founded upon controverted or uncontroverted evidentiary facts. If the ultimate conclusion of the trial judge is a factual one, then review by this Court is confined by the Workmen’s Compensation statutes to the determination of whether or not such finding is supported by any material evidence. Ward v. Commercial Ins. Co. (1963) 213 Tenn. 100, 372 S.W.2d [105]*105292; Travelers Ins. Co. v. Googe (1965) 217 Tenn. 272, 397 S.W.2d 368.

The evidence presented shows that the employee Bowman, fifty-nine years of age at his death, had worked for Smith-Built Homes, Inc. for a number of years as a carpenter. Approximately seven months prior to his death, he had been promoted to foreman. There is no doubt on the record that for many months prior to his demise Mr. Bowman had a history of heart trouble.

On the day of his death, Bowman arose, as usual, and drove to a job site at nearby Limestone, Tennessee. He gave some instructions to an employee and supervised some other activities. Following the lunch-hour, he was squatting down, viewing some blueprints, when he grabbed his chest and his face became extremely flushed. Shortly thereafter, he left the job site and drove home. He entered the hospital for examination and treatment the same afternoon, but died a few hours later.

Four doctors testified at the trial, only two of whom had treated Bowman. One of the treating physicians testified that he had examined Bowman on several dates prior to his death. He had seen Bowman two months before the death and had suspected cardiovascular involvement. This doctor testified that his opinion was that Bowman’s job as foreman would not be “any more stress to him that being at home where he would be upset and nervous, and things like that. ’ ’ The attending physician at the time of death testified on the issue of causation, as follows:

“Q. Doctor, explain, if you will, sir, to the Court in laymen’s terms in so far as you can what you mean?
[106]*106A. I think it is something that happened to Mr. Bowman that was not caused directly by his work, that it could have happen had he been home in bed or out fishing or anywhere else.
Q. Doctor, if yon will assume the same hypothetical question that I gave you before, and add to that claimed worry and anxiety by reason of responsibility associated with the foreman’s job, would that in your opinion cause, precipitate or aggravate the cardiac death?

A. I can’t believe that it would.”

This medical testimony simply must be recognized as material evidence to support the trial judge’s finding that there was no causal connection between the heart attack and any hazard of the employment.

The rationale of a recent decision of this Court, factually similar to the present case, is quite applicable. From the opinion of Mr. Justice Chattin, in Travelers Ins. Co. v. Googe, supra, it appears:

“ (4) The phrase, fin the course of,’ refers to time and place, and Arising out of,’ to cause or origin; and an injury by accident to an employee is fin the course of’ employment if it occurred while he was performing a duty he was employed to do; and it is an injury Arising out of’ employment if caused by a hazard incident to such employment. Shubert v. Steelman, 214 Tenn. 102, 377 S.W.2d 940 (1964).
‘ (T)he mere manifestation of a heart condition without any proof of strain or overexertion at work does not show an accidental injury even though the development of the heart disease may have been [107]*107hastened by the employee’s usual and ordinary work.’ 99 C.J.S. Workmen’s Compensation, see. 177, page 604; Hagewood v. E. I. DuPont, 206 Tenn. 239, 332 S.W.2d 660 (1960).’

In Larson’s Workmen’s Compensation Law, Section 38.83, page 565, it is said:

‘There must still be an unexpected result, and there must still be an exertion — some exertion — capable medically of causing the collapse. This can by no means be taken for granted. If heart failure overtakes the employee while waiting for a bus or an elevator, you simply have no strain at all to provide an accidental result of employment activity. The natural progress of the disease may bring it to its fatal climax during working hours, but if the employee’s activity at the time involves no effort, or effort which cannot support medically a causal connection, it can be rightly said that the outcome was neither accidental nor causally related to the employment. It was not accidental simply because it did happen; it happened by the inexorable march of the disease.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Allied Chemical Corp. v. Wells
578 S.W.2d 369 (Tennessee Supreme Court, 1979)
Haddix v. Day & Night Manufacturing Co.
540 S.W.2d 639 (Tennessee Supreme Court, 1975)
Treadway v. Associated Transport, Inc.
302 F. Supp. 301 (E.D. Tennessee, 1969)
Chapman v. Aetna Casualty & Surety Co.
426 S.W.2d 760 (Tennessee Supreme Court, 1968)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
424 S.W.2d 801, 221 Tenn. 102, 25 McCanless 102, 1967 Tenn. LEXIS 358, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bowman-v-smith-built-homes-inc-tenn-1967.