McGuire v. N. Glantz & Sons LLC

2012 OK CIV APP 59, 278 P.3d 1060, 2012 WL 2258277, 2012 Okla. Civ. App. LEXIS 41
CourtCourt of Civil Appeals of Oklahoma
DecidedApril 20, 2012
DocketNo. 109,817
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 2012 OK CIV APP 59 (McGuire v. N. Glantz & Sons LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Civil Appeals of Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
McGuire v. N. Glantz & Sons LLC, 2012 OK CIV APP 59, 278 P.3d 1060, 2012 WL 2258277, 2012 Okla. Civ. App. LEXIS 41 (Okla. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinion

JERRY L. GOODMAN, Presiding Judge.

T1 Claimant Charles McGuire seeks review of a three-judge panel's August 10, 2011, order vacating his award for benefits. We sustain the order under review.

FACTS

2 This is the second appeal arising from Claimant's claim for workers' compensation benefits arising out of an alleged work-related injury. The facts are set out in McGuire v. N. Glantz & Son, LLC, 2010 OK 74, 242 P.3d 530, and so will not be set out at length.

{38 Claimant alleged he contracted Hepatitis A from one of several restaurants while on a job assignment as a driver for Employer N. Glantz & Son, LLC. The trial court found the disease to be work-related and awarded benefits, a decision later vacated by a three-judge panel. The panel's decision, in turn, was reviewed by this Court in an unpublished opinion, No. 105,948, McGuire v. Glanz. We held the panel's given reason for vacating the trial court's order was too vague for adequate appellate review because the panel addressed neither the legal nor factual issues raised by the parties. We vacated the panel's order, reinstated the trial court's order, and remanded the matter for further proceedings.

T4 Employer sought certiorari to the Oklahoma Supreme Court, which was granted. The Supreme Court agreed with this Court that the panel's order was too vague for review, but remanded the matter to the panel, posing specific questions to be answered.

[ 5 The McGuire Court stated:

On remand, the three-judge panel shall make specific findings of the law and facts [1061]*1061it finds were contrary to law and against the clear weight of the evidence during its review of the trial court's order. Only then can this Court provide a meaningful review of the panel's legal conclusions and factual determinations. Does the three-judge panel reject the finding of the trial court that the claimant sustained an accidental personal injury in the nature of hepatitis A, arising out of the course of his employment? - The claimant's physician testified that the claimant had hepatitis A and hepatitis C. Does the three-judge panel reject the finding that the hepatitis A caused a consequential injury to the abdomen (gall bladder, liver and abdominal hernia) due to surgery? Does the three-judge panel reject the finding that the respondents' notice defense was overcome by testimony that the claimant's wife gave sufficient notice? Such questions must be answered before this Court can meaningfully review the order.

McGuire, Id. at ¶ 12, 242 P.3d at 533.

16 Following remand, the three-judge panel answered those questions in an order filed August 10, 2011, which states:

1. Does the three-judge pamel reject the finding of the of the [sic] trial court that the claimant sustained an accidental personal injury in the nature of hepatitis A, arising out of the course of his employment?
-g-
The Three Judge Panel finds no Hepatitis A exposure arising out of or in the course of claimant's employment with respondent. There is no objective medical evidence establishing any work related Hepatitis A exposure in this case. Therefore, the Three Judge Panel does reject and reverses the finding of the Trial Court that claimant sustained an accidental personal injury in the nature of hepatitis A arising out of the course of his employment.
2. - The claimant's physician testified that the claimant had hepatitis A and hepatitis C. Does the three-judge panel reject the finding that the hepatitis A caused a consequential injury to the abdomen (gall bladder, liver and abdominal hernia due to surgery? [sic]
-4-
The claimant did not allege any work related Hepatitis C exposure. The Court finds since there was no showing of Hepatitis A work related exposure the issue of consequential injury is also denied as the Hepatitis A exposure claim is DENIED.
3. Does the three-judge pamel reject the finding that the respondents' notice defense was overcome by testimony that the claimant's wife gave sufficient notice?
-5-
The Three Judge Panel does not rely on a lack of notice in reaching its decision.
-G-
THEREFORE, due to the foregoing, the claimant's claim is DENIED. (Italics in original)

T 7 Claimant seeks our review.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

18 When the order of the trial court is vacated by the three-judge panel, the trial court's order stands replaced with that of the review panel so that there is never more than one final decision to be reviewed in the appellate courts. McGuire, Id. at ¶ 7, 242 P.3d at 532 citing Parks v. Norman Municipal Hospital, 1984 OK 53, ¶ 11, 684 P.2d 548, 551.

T 9 Claimant's petition for review was commenced August 30, 2011, after the August 26, 2011, effective date of 85 O.S8.2011, § 340, which sets out the standard of review in an action for review commenced after its effective date. Therefore, we:

may modify, reverse, remand for rehearing, or set aside the order or award upon any of the following grounds:
1. The Court acted without or in excess of its powers;
2. The order or award was contrary to law;
3. The order or award was procured by fraud; or
4. The order or award was against the clear weight of the evidence.

Id. § 340(D).

'I 10 We therefore review the panel's order to determine if it is against the clear weight of the evidence.

[1062]*1062ANALYSIS

T11 Claimant's physician's deposition testimony reflects that he believes Claimant contracted Hepatitis C at birth from his parents, but contracted Hepatitis A through an "almost exelusive oral fecal route." Hepatitis A takes two to four weeks to generate symptoms once it enters the body. It can be transmitted, according to the doctor, by contaminated food, fruits, or vegetables, shaking hands, person-to-person contact, sneezing, coughing, or contaminated water sources. The doctor testified he could not say how Claimant contracted the virus. But, given the time frame in which he contracted it, the fact Claimant only ate at restaurants while on the job, and that nobody at his home contracted the virus, the doctor agreed with Claimant that he contracted the virus while working for Employer. However, the doctor admitted he did not know exactly where the virus was contracted, and could not state with any reasonable medical certainty that Claimant contracted the virus at any particular facility during his work activities, though Claimant was in a "position of exposure" while on the road. Claimant's expert concluded:

[ Ht's on the basis of the exposure to the locations that have a high risk of that type of operation and infection, in the absence of any other definable, documentable source for it other than that.

112 Employer's medical expert agreed Hepatitis A is conveyed via the oral fecal route.

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

Related

Williams Companies v. Dunkelgod
2012 OK 96 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 2012)
Harvey v. Auto Plus of Woodward
2012 OK CIV APP 92 (Court of Civil Appeals of Oklahoma, 2012)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2012 OK CIV APP 59, 278 P.3d 1060, 2012 WL 2258277, 2012 Okla. Civ. App. LEXIS 41, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mcguire-v-n-glantz-sons-llc-oklacivapp-2012.