City of Fort Smith v. Brooks

842 S.W.2d 463, 40 Ark. App. 120, 1992 Ark. App. LEXIS 762
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arkansas
DecidedDecember 9, 1992
DocketCA 92-239
StatusPublished
Cited by47 cases

This text of 842 S.W.2d 463 (City of Fort Smith v. Brooks) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
City of Fort Smith v. Brooks, 842 S.W.2d 463, 40 Ark. App. 120, 1992 Ark. App. LEXIS 762 (Ark. Ct. App. 1992).

Opinion

Elizabeth W. Danielson, Judge.

The City of Fort Smith . appeals from a decision of the Workers’ Compensation Commission finding that appellee Robert Brooks was entitled to benefits for his psychological condition. Appellant contends on appeal that the Commission’s decision is not supported by substantial evidence and that in the alternative, if the claim is compensable, appellee is not entitled to benefits prior to September 20, 1990. We affirm.

Appellee was employed with the Fort Smith Police Department for sixteen years. During this time, he worked in patrol duty, criminal investigation, and internal affairs. The Commission found that he had an excellent police record and that, prior to the injury in question, he had never demonstrated any signs of psychological illness. The Commission further found that until the May 17,1990, incident, appellee was healthy and stable; that he had no financial or marital problems; and that he appeared to have the perfect disposition to be a supervising officer. In 1978, appellee was forced to kill man in the line of duty. At that time, psychological counseling was offered but was not mandatory. Appellee declined counseling after the shooting incident. He testified that following the shooting he experienced a range of emotions and reactions, including depression, but felt that he could handle the matter and eventually “try to block it out” of his mind, which he felt he was able to do.

In May of 1988, appellee was promoted to captain, and in November of 1989, he was transferred to the Internal Affairs Division. He as the only employee in that division and, as the captain in charge, was responsible for the investigation of complaints against and allegations of misconduct by police officers; the investigation of minor complaints against police officers; assisting in the hiring process, i.e., conducting interviews, examinations, testing, and background investigations; and the serving of subpoenas. Since appellee left this position in May of 1990, three of these job responsibilities have been removed from the Internal Affairs Division and assigned to other departments, leaving only the job of investigating complaints and allegations of misconduct. Appellee testified that when he first started working for internal affairs, he was successful in having investigations resolved within a 30 day period, but during the period of time he was in that position the volume of complaints doubled and it began taking anywhere from 60 to 90 days to get a determination on a complaint.

Chief Ralph Hampton, Chief Don Taylor, Captain Larry Hammonds, and appellee all described the internal affairs job as being stressful. The internal affairs officer was described as a “headhunter” and the officer being investigated as the “victim.” When questioned about the job-related stress in internal affairs, Chief Hampton testified that there was a certain amount of self-imposed isolation since the officer would have to guard against any type of associations that might be interpreted as partiality.

In November of 1989, appellee had to investigate a shooting in the line of duty by a fellow police officer. During the course of the investigation, appellee was called upon at a press conference to relate his own experience of shooting a suspect in the line of duty. Appellee testified that the investigation and press conference incident brought back memories of the shooting, which he described as “a horrible experience, one that very few police officers have to face in their career.”

Appellee continued to function as the internal affairs officer until May 17,1990. Ón that date, while making a presentation at a retirement party, he began experiencing trouble breathing, dizziness, shaking, and nervousness. He testified he felt like everything was closing in on him. He returned to his office, hoping the symptoms would go away, but they became worse instead. Appellee left work then and was seen by a psychiatrist the next day. He has been under regular treatment since then. He attempted to return to work for three days in July of 1990 but was unable to continue.

Reports from three different physicians indicated that ap-pellee’s psychological condition was work related. Dr. Joe Dorzab diagnosed appellee as having major depression and described his personality as that of a workaholic. Dr. Dorzab concluded that appellee was “suffering from a disabling disorder that is at least in part work related and may be mostly job related.” The Commission found that appellee’s psychological injury arose out of and occurred during the course of his employment and awarded temporary total disability benefits from June 6,1990, to a date yet to be determined.

Appellant’s first argument is that the Commission’s decision . is not supported by a preponderance of the evidence because the record does not show that appellee was subjected to greater job stress than other internal affairs officers. We disagree.

In McClain v. Texaco, Inc., 29 Ark. App. 218, 780 S.W.2d 34 (1990), we stated that when determining the compensability of nontraumatically induced mental illness that is alleged to have resulted from the claimant’s work, the claimant must show more than the ordinary day-to-day stress to which all workers are subjected, and that this rule implies that the comparison be made between similarly situated employees. 29 Ark. App. 218 at 220, 224. We also stated that while comparisons to fellow employees may be of some evidentiary value, the ultimate test in determining compensability is whether the stress constitutes an abnormal working condition for that type of employment. 29 Ark. App. at 224. Whether the stress was more than ordinary and whether the psychological injury was causally connected to it or aggravated by it are questions of fact for the Commission to determine. Barrett v. Arkansas Rehabilitation Servs., 10 Ark. App. 102, 661 S.W.2d 439 (1983).

When the Commission’s findings of fact are challenged on appeal, we affirm if they are supported by substantial evidence. Patrick v. Arkansas Oak Flooring Co., 39 Ark. App. 34, 833 S.W.2d 790 (1992). Substantial evidence is such relevant evidence as a reasonable mind might accept as adequate to support a conclusion. Lewis v. Camelot Hotel, 35 Ark. App. 212, 816 S.W.2d 632 (1991). We do not reverse the Commission’s decision unless we are convinced that fair-minded persons with the same facts before them could not have arrived at the conclusion reached by the Commission. Willmon v. Allen Canning Co., 38 Ark. App. 105, 828 S.W.2d 868 (1992).

Appellee’s position was described by himself and another witness as that of a “headhunter.” Those being investigated were considered “victims.” The testimony of the other officers who had at some point served as internal affairs officers established that while they would characterize the job as “stressful,” the conditions under which they served were much less strenuous than that encountered by appellee. During appellee’s time as internal affairs officer, the number of complaints doubled.

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Bluebook (online)
842 S.W.2d 463, 40 Ark. App. 120, 1992 Ark. App. LEXIS 762, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/city-of-fort-smith-v-brooks-arkctapp-1992.