E. I. DuPont DeNemours, & Co. v. Johnson

368 S.W.2d 295, 212 Tenn. 123, 16 McCanless 123, 1963 Tenn. LEXIS 404
CourtTennessee Supreme Court
DecidedJune 4, 1963
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 368 S.W.2d 295 (E. I. DuPont DeNemours, & Co. v. Johnson) 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
E. I. DuPont DeNemours, & Co. v. Johnson, 368 S.W.2d 295, 212 Tenn. 123, 16 McCanless 123, 1963 Tenn. LEXIS 404 (Tenn. 1963).

Opinion

Mr. Justice Holmes

delivered the opinion of the Court.

This is a Workmen’s Compensation case in which the Trial Court awarded compensation for 20% permanent partial disability and medical expenses alleged to have resulted from the occupational disease of contact dermatitis. The petition for compensation alleges that:

“On or about the 10th day of January, 1961, the petitioner noticed a rash developing on his hands and on consulting his physician his condition was diagnosed as Contact Dermatitis which the petitioner avers was contracted and brought about by his being required to work in and handle chemical substances in the course of his employment by defendant. This condition has subsequently appeared on other parts of his body including his scalp and forehead and over his hands and arms, which he avers greatly irritates and hinders him in pursuing his duties in the course of his employment in occupations which he is qualified to per[125]*125form, and lie avers that his disability in this respect is at least 50% to the body as a ’whole.”

The defendant in its answer, among other things, stated:

“Defendant avers that the condition from which petitioner is now suffering, if it can be described or designated as an ‘occupational disease’ within the meaning of the Code sections mentioned, the defendant avers that petitioner had such occupational disease on March 12, 1947, and that such occupational disease is, therefore, not covered under the Workmen’s Compensation Law of Tennessee.”

Only two witnesses testified at the trial, the petitioner and a Dr. Miller on the medical staff of the defendant. Without objection, numerous medical reports and records were introduced in evidence.

The only finding of facts made by the Trial Judge other than the findings made in the decree is as follows:

“THE COURT: I can’t follow the 50% idea. I think the man is entitled to some compensation, but I can’t see that it is anywhere near 50%. As I look at the man, and there’s no medical proof here, as I see it, that I am absolutely hound by one way or the other. These things are to he construed liberally, and you all know it, under the terms of this Workmen’s Compensation Law. I looked at the gentleman here on the witness stand, and I see him sitting there, see his hands, and there’s proof here certainly that he is able-bodied except for a condition of this kind that is a recurring condition. That is what all of them seem to think.
I am willing to give him, and will give him, 20% dis[126]*126ability, that would be how many weeks, Mr. Lackey, figure that ont.
MR. LACKEY: That would be eighty weeks.
THE COURT: 80 weeks at $34.00, plus that $150.00. I will let him have that, too.”

The following findings are included in the judgment of the Trial Court:

“1. That petitioner developed an occupational disease known as contact dermatitis in the course of his employment by defendant at some date prior to March 12, 1947;
2. That on said date of March 12,1947, said disease had developed to such an extent that it could be and was diagnosed as contact dermatitis;
3. That subsequent to said date of March 12, 1947, petitioner, over a period of approximately fourteen years was treated from time to time for contact dermatitis but would recover when he changed his work;
4. That the disease would re-occur when petitioner was again exposed in his work with defendant to caustic and acid, one such reoccurrence being on or about the 10th day of January 1961, the date set out in the petition filed in this cause; ’ ’

The record shows that the petitioner entered the employ of the defendant in June 1941 and, except for an absence for military service from 1942 to the fall of 1945, remained an employee of the defendant until April 25, 1961, when he was discharged under the defendant’s “Three Garnishment Rule”. In 1946 petitioner’s work required him to come in contact with chemicals. He [127]*127developed a breaking out on Ms wrists and fingers wMch spread all over Ms hands and face. In 1947 it spread to his scalp and he lost his hair. His condition was diagnosed as contact dermatitis prior to March 12, 1947. He first went to a Dr. Rhea, his family physician, and was referred to Doctors King, Hamilton and Buchanan, dermatologists, in Nashville. On March 25, 1947 he entered the Veterans Hospital in Nashville for this condition and was discharged April 5, 1947. Upon returning to work after this hospitalization, he was transferred to another department where he did not come in contact with chemicals or caustics. His condition improved. On direct examination, petitioner testified that he was finally discharged by Doctors King, Hamilton and Buchanan in 1948. On cross examination, he stated these doctors continued to treat him at intervals until 1954 for the condition on his head, but not for his hands. In September 1958 petitioner was under the care of his personal physician, a Dr. Carl A. Dent, who placed him in the Riverside Sanitarium Hospital in Nashville from September 15, 1958 to October 10,1958 with a diagnosis of contact dermatitis of the scalp. In May of 1960 the petitioner was hospitalized by this same doctor for sciatic neuritis, at which time the doctor found no evidence present of contact dermatitis. The petitioner testified that shortly before January 10, 1961 he was transferred to a department which required him to handle caustics, flake acids and various types of chemicals. He further stated that about January 10,1961 the places on his wrists came back and his hands and fingers began to swell and crack open. .He went to the Chief Director of Medicine at the defendant’s plant at that time and was given medication and a prescription for his condition. As stated, thereafter on April 25, 2961 he was discharged because of garnishments on his salary [128]*128pursuant to the rule of the defendant. Thereafter petitioner went to work for the Cincinnati Sheet Metal & Roofing Company. The record does not reflect the dates of his employment by that company, but petitioner testified that the galvanized tin he came in contact with on that job was “coated for acid resistance” and that the places on his wrists and hands came back and he had to quit that job.

The record shows without contradiction that from 1946 up to the date of trial the dermatitis had manifested itself whenever the petitioner came in contact with soap, caustics and chemicals. The report of Dr. Hamilton of May 6, 1946 states:

“The eruption on his hands is much better, but he states that it got worse when he went back to work with soap.” (Emphasis supplied.)
The petitioner testified:
“I can tell the minute I get around them (chemicals), as far as stinging and itching from them.”
He further stated:
“No, I can’t work around soap.”

The petitioner’s condition was described by his Dr. Rhea in a report dated May 8, 1961 as follows:

“Johnnie 0. Johnson has been seen by me numerous times over the last 15 years because of rash on his hands. He was referred to Dr. Hamilton who called it contact dermatitis.

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

Related

Kuhne v. United States
250 F. Supp. 523 (E.D. Tennessee, 1965)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
368 S.W.2d 295, 212 Tenn. 123, 16 McCanless 123, 1963 Tenn. LEXIS 404, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/e-i-dupont-denemours-co-v-johnson-tenn-1963.