Lea MacHinery Company v. Emmons

1964 OK 216, 395 P.2d 857, 1964 Okla. LEXIS 431
CourtSupreme Court of Oklahoma
DecidedOctober 6, 1964
Docket40932
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 1964 OK 216 (Lea MacHinery Company v. Emmons) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lea MacHinery Company v. Emmons, 1964 OK 216, 395 P.2d 857, 1964 Okla. LEXIS 431 (Okla. 1964).

Opinion

DAVISON, Justice.

The evidence is undisputed that on May 4, 1963, Cecil Franklin Emmons, an employee of petitioner, Lea Machinery Company, suffered a coronary occlusion resulting in a myocardial infarction terminating in death on the same day.

On May 31, 1963, Mary Katherine Em-mons, claimant, as surviving widow, filed a claim under the death benefit provisions of the Workmen’s Compensation Act with the State Industrial Court. Petitioner and its insurance carrier, State Insurance Fund, in their answer alleged that “his death was caused by coronary thrombosis and that his heart disease and attack was not the result of an accidental injury received while employed by the respondent.”

The trial judge entered an order awarding death benefits to claimant. The order was affirmed on appeal by the court en banc. Petitioners bring this original proceeding to review said order.

The sole question to be determined is whether there is any competent evidence to sustain the order of the State Industrial Court ■ finding that deceased employee on May 4, 1963, “sustained an accidental injury arising out of and in the course of his employment, consisting of a heart attack, from which he died on said date.”

The widow’s claim was predicated upon an accidental injury to the heart from work-connected exertion and strain allegedly suffered by claimant when he and a co-employee installed tracks on a D-8 Caterpillar tractor in the afternoon of the day preceding employee’s death.

The pattern of proof necessary to establish an accidental injury from work-connected strain or exertion consists of two essential elements: (1) lay testimony as to the nature of labor performed by the workman when injury occurred; and (2) expert opinion that the exertion attendant upon such activity as shown by the evidence was sufficient in degree to, and did produce, the strain to which disability or death is sought to be ascribed. Only when both of these evidentiary components are supplied may the fact of an accidental injury from strain be established. Berryhill v. Prudential Premium Co., Okl., 394 P.2d 520; Black, Sivalls & Bryson, Inc. v. Coley, Okl., 367 P.2d 1017.

Michael Lynn McKenzie testified for claimant. His testimony was that on May 4, 1963, he was employed by Lea Machinery Company as a mechanic’s helper; that on said date he saw deceased greasing Caterpillars and scrapers; that in doing this duty it was necessary for deceased to climb upon some of the Caterpillars and to stoop on others; that he later saw deceased talking to Mr. Lea and another employee and that at that time deceased fell to “one knee like he was going to vomit. Then he fell over against the pickup and hit his head and just fell down;” that deceased was then taken to a hospital where he was dead on arrival. He further stated that deceased was a Caterpillar mechanic, a master mechanic; that deceased “operated and tore down all this equipment like a regular automobile mechanic would tear down your car. The only difference in them is that heavy equipment is a lot heavier. It is considered extremely hard work;” that on May 3, 1963, the day preceding the death of employee, witness and deceased installed tracks on a D-8 Caterpillar; that to put on the tracks “the tractor was jacked up completely off the ground. We drag in the other track. They are lifted by man power upon the sprocket and the sprocket turns it over and then you carry it over the rollers to the front aisle. And this track, I don’t know how much it weighed but I know it is more than I want to lift;” that it took all afternoon to change the tracks. Witness testified further:

“Q. Mr. McKenzie, was this track changing activity a very exerting type of work?
*859 Yes, sir. >
And required expenditure of physical energy to a great extent? SO
Yes, sir.
■ * * * * *
“Q. Was the work performed in the track changing activity heavier than normal ?
“A. Yes, sir.”

Claimant testified that deceased left home for work each day around 5:00 to S :30 A.M.; that he usually returned from work around 6:30 or 7:00 P.M.; that on May 3, 1963, deceased returned from work about 6:30 P.M.; that “he seemed to be utterly exhausted,” he was “dredged with perspiration and he was very pale;” that deceased “washed up” and fell on the bed; that shortly thereafter when he came down the steps to dinner “he was unsteady like he was dizzy on his feet and he held on to the rail all the way down the stairs, which was unusual;” that after deceased finished his dinner he sat down on the floor in the bedroom; that deceased got up from the floor and went into the dining room “and he walked in there and grabbed himself and said ‘oh, I think my heart has got me;’ ” that deceased then fell down on the end of a couch; that about 8:30 or 9:00 P.M. deceased went to bed; that the next morning deceased “was pale and feeling weak” hut that he went on to work at S :30 A.M.; that the next information she received was that her husband was dead.

Dr. C. testified by written report for claimant. He stated that on November 30, 1962, he had examined deceased for the purpose of deceased obtaining a life insurance policy; that at that time the examination revealed no abnormalities of the heart.

Dr. O testified for claimant by way of deposition. As a basis for a hypothetical situation Dr. O was asked by claimant to assume, among other things such as age, weight, etc., that deceased was a physically active man with no known heart difficulty, that he had been previously examined by Dr. C as a condition to receiving a life insurance policy and found to have no heart “murmur or arrhythmia,” that on a particular day deceased had assisted in the changing of tracks for a Caterpillar tractor, which type of work was heavier than his usual work and that such work lasted all afternoon, that on arriving home shortly thereafter “he was observed to be noticeably more exhausted. He was very, very tired. He was pale. He experienced noticeable shortness of breath. He was.seen to be unsteady on his feet. He complained to his wife of chest pain and held his hand to his chest in the area of his heart.” “He ate his evening meal, walked up a flight of stairs, was again experiencing, or seemed to experience shortness of breath. He was again unsteady, pale and grasping at the banister.” “On Saturday morning, May 4th, he reported to work, was observed to grease some heavy equipment,” that that afternoon he was “seen to strain or give the impression of straining. He gave the impression of being in pain” and shortly thereafter died. Dr. O was then asked his opinion as to the cause of death assuming the hypothetical situation to be true. Dr. O stated that in his opinion “he died of a heart attack or more precisely a myocardial infarction, probably precipitated by a coronary thrombosis. On reviewing these facts, it appeared to me that the first sign of this fatal illness appeared earlier in the evening of May 3rd when he complained of chest pain, shortness of breath and lightheadedness. In view of the fact that he underwent some undue exertion within a relatively short period prior to this, I think there is a strong likelihood that this unusual exertion might have precipitated this illness which began about Six or Seven P.M. on May 3rd.”

“Q.

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Bluebook (online)
1964 OK 216, 395 P.2d 857, 1964 Okla. LEXIS 431, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lea-machinery-company-v-emmons-okla-1964.