Golden v. Anaconda Wire & Cable Co.

556 S.W.2d 174, 1977 Ky. App. LEXIS 814
CourtCourt of Appeals of Kentucky
DecidedJuly 15, 1977
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 556 S.W.2d 174 (Golden v. Anaconda Wire & Cable Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Kentucky primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Golden v. Anaconda Wire & Cable Co., 556 S.W.2d 174, 1977 Ky. App. LEXIS 814 (Ky. Ct. App. 1977).

Opinion

HOWERTON, Judge.

The central issue on this appeal is whether or not the circuit court committed error in reversing the finding of the Workmen’s Compensation Board that the appellant had a 50% permanent partial disability. Several other issues are presented by the appellant, the appellee employer, and the Special Fund; but, since we affirm the trial court, the remaining questions are moot.

Golden began working for Anaconda Wire & Cable Co. on August 28, 1971. In February 1972, Golden began working in a department where strong chemical fumes were present. Approximately six months later, the appellant developed a persistent cough and experienced a shortness of breath. He periodically missed work and received treatment for his condition and allergy. On December 17, 1973, he was transferred to the area where he originally worked and which had fewer noxious fumes. He finally quit his employment on June 21,1974. Golden’s compensation claim was filed July 2, 1974.

The Board awarded the appellant medical expenses, total temporary disability and 50% permanent partial disability, and directed that the employer pay 25% and the Special Fund pay 75% of the award for permanent disability. The circuit court found that there was no substantial evidence to support the finding of any permanent partial disability and struck that portion of the award.

Before addressing the specific question of error, it would be beneficial to summarize briefly the duty of courts and the scope of their judicial review in a workmen’s compensation case.

The statutory scope of judicial review in the circuit court is set forth in KRS 342.-285(3), as follows:

(3) No new or additional evidence may be introduced in the circuit court except as to the fraud or misconduct of some person engaged in the administration of this chapter and affecting the order, ruling or award, but the court shall otherwise hear the cause upon the record as certified by the board and shall dispose of the cause in summary manner. The court shall not substitute its judgment for that of the board as to the weight of evidence on questions of fact, its review being limited to determining whether or not:
(d) The order, decision, or award is clearly erroneous on the basis of the reliable, probative, and material evidence contained in the whole record

The portion quoted pertains to facts only and not to interpretations of the law. The provision relates to the required quality and sufficiency of the evidence to support an award. The court is prohibited from substituting its judgment for that of the Board as to the weight of the evidence on questions of fact, which is basically the same rule that applies to the findings of a jury in a civil case. Lee v. International Harvester Company, Ky., 373 S.W.2d 418 (1963). Jury cases require “more than a scintilla” of evidence and workmen’s compensation cases are governed by the “substantial evidence” rule to determine whether or not a finding is “clearly erroneous”. In comparing the two evidentiary rules, the court provided in [176]*176Blankenship v. Lloyd Blankenship Coal Co., Ky., 463 S.W.2d 62, at p. 64 (1971):

. The test of whether evidence is “substantial” is “whether taken alone or in the light of all the evidence it has sufficient probative value to induce conviction in the minds of reasonable men.” (Citing, Wadkins’ Adm’x v. C & O Ry. Co., Ky., 298 S.W.2d 7 (1957)).

The court provided further in Wadkins’ Adm’x, supra, at p. 9:

It is possible that initially sufficient evidence at the close of the plaintiffs case may lose every vestige of its persuasive character in the light of the defendant’s evidence. Thus, what was once more than a scintilla may, upon ultimate analysis, be no longer that sufficient quantum of proof required to present a true issue of fact to the jury.

The Board, as a fact finder, like a jury, is supreme within its own area to pass upon the weight of the evidence when substantial evidence is before it, but the court is the final authority as to what constitutes “substantial evidence” as it applies the judicial test of quality, sufficiency and fitness of the evidence as a whole “to induce conviction in the minds of reasonable men.”

Courts have a duty to make the ultimate decision as to whether the Board’s findings are supported by “substantial evidence”. The test to be applied is well stated in the opinion in Smyzer v. B. F. Goodrich Chemical Company, Ky., 474 S.W.2d 367, pp. 368-369 (1971):

. Although the circuit court held that the board’s findings had no support in the record and were clearly erroneous “on the basis of the reliable, probative and material evidence contained in the whole record,” we think the issue is better stated by the simple inquiry: “Were the findings of fact made by the board supported by substantial evidence?”
Although a court cannot substitute its evaluation of the weight and credibility of the evidence for that of the Workmen’s Compensation Board, nevertheless, the findings of fact of the board when it decides in favor of the claimant must be supported by substantial evidence. Substantial evidence means evidence of substance and relevant consequence having the fitness to induce conviction in the minds of reasonable men. See O’Nan v. Ecklar Moore Express, Inc., Ky., 339 S.W.2d 466.

We have reviewed the evidence as a whole and conclude that the trial court made the correct interpretation of the evidence when it determined:

The court finds that the only reasonable inferences from the evidence as a whole are:
(A) Golden had certain basic allergies.
(B) The allergies made Golden more sensitive and unable to tolerate certain fumes in the employer’s plant.
(C) Respondent, Golden, is entitled to compensation for two separate periods of temporary total disability, as found by the Board.
(D) He has no increased permanent impairment for other work.

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Holbert v. Wickes Lumber Supply
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594 S.W.2d 900 (Court of Appeals of Kentucky, 1980)

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Bluebook (online)
556 S.W.2d 174, 1977 Ky. App. LEXIS 814, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/golden-v-anaconda-wire-cable-co-kyctapp-1977.