Vickery v. ACF Industries, Incorporated

454 S.W.2d 620, 1970 Mo. App. LEXIS 619
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedApril 28, 1970
Docket33623
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 454 S.W.2d 620 (Vickery v. ACF Industries, Incorporated) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Missouri Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Vickery v. ACF Industries, Incorporated, 454 S.W.2d 620, 1970 Mo. App. LEXIS 619 (Mo. Ct. App. 1970).

Opinion

SMITH, Commissioner.

This appeal arises from the affirmance by the Circuit Court of an award by the Industrial Commission denying compensation in a workmen’s compensation case. The award by the referee, affirmed and adopted by the Commission, was that the “employee did not sustain injury by accident arising out of and in the course of his employment.’’ It is our duty on review to determine whether on the entire record the Industrial Commission could make the findings and award it did make, i. e., whether the award is supported by competent and substantial evidence in the record. We hold it is.

The parties treat this case as presenting a question concerning the exchange and copying of medical records under Sections 287.140 and 287.210 RSMo. 1959, recently discussed by this court in Springett v. St. Louis Independent Packing Co., Mo.App., 431 S.W.2d 698; Johnson v. Park N Shop, Mo.App., 446 S.W.2d 182; and Weilert v. Fruin-Colnon Corp., Mo.App., 447 S.W.2d 781. The presence of such a question is superficial.

Employee testified that on May 24, 1966, while in the course of his employment, he was violently swung to and fro by a defective hoist which was picking up a metal head assembly upon which he had been working. During this activity something fell on employee’s right foot and he noticed a pain shooting in his hip. He went to the dispensary operated by employer and there received treatment by the nurse on duty, consisting of soaking his foot in cold water and receiving liniment for his hip. He returned to work and later in the evening noticed increased pain in his hip and pain starting in his testicles and going up into his low back. The difficulty in the right foot cleared up within a few days, but the hip and back pain continued, particularly when employee was doing heavy lifting. In July, 1966, employee noticed a numbness in his right leg and consulted his doctor. Eventually his complaints resulted in hospitalization and a hemilaminectomy and spinal fusion.

Employee’s foreman testified for employee and stated he remembered employee having injured his foot but was unaware of any hip or back injury until the week before the hearing. Employee’s co-worker, also presented by employee, remembered the incident and that employee had said he was hurt and was going to the dispensary. He was unable to recall what it was employee said hurt.

Employee’s exhibits included the hospital records from Normandy Osteopathic Hospital where the operation was performed. They include the following: “Onset and course — Patient injured while working 3-4 yrs. ago. Testicles swelled @ time and back began hurting. Pain has been of a low grade and hasn’t caused trouble, but on 7-29-66 pt. began to notice numbness in rt. leg throughout the course of the *622 Sciatic N. — numbness & tingling.” These records carry no indication of injury in May, 1966, or any reference to the accident testified to. by employee and in the history portion after the heading “previous accidents” appears “denies.” Employee admitted he was questioned at length at the hospital and the questioners wrote down things as he talked to them, but he denied making the specific answer appearing on his exhibit — the hospital records.

Employer placed in evidence certain of its records including dispensary records of March 16, 1965, and May 24, 1966, (Exhibits 3 and 2), a surgical case record card for employee of March 16, 1965 (Exhibit 4), and a medical record card for employee of May 24, 1966 (Exhibit 5). Exhibits 2 and 3 were admitted over the objection of employee that they had not been furnished to employee’s attorney at the time he went to employer’s premises to copy medical records. Exhibits 2 and 3 constitute the daily “log” of the dispensary setting forth all employees seen or treated on a given day, their complaints, and their treatment. Exhibits 4 and 5 are cards maintained for the individual employee which are prepared from the dispensary sheets. Exhibits 3 and 4, dated March 16, 1965, pertain to employee’s complaint that he had twisted his leg while working causing “sore left hip — Pain radiates from knee up leg thru hip into buttocks & back.” The treatment consisted of medicine and liniment. Exhibits 2 and 5 dated May 24, 1966, pertain to employee’s complaint that a piece of material hit the top of his foot resulting in “Contused Metatarsal Area on left foot.” They contain no reference to hip or back complaints and reflect the treatment as ice water soak of the foot.

Employer additionally placed in evidence the claim file of Prudential Insurance Company of America relating to employee’s claim for accident and sickness insurance in connection with his hospitalization for his back problems. Under the portion designated claimant’s statement, and signed by employee, appears the following question and answer: “Did the sickness or injury arise out of the Insured’s employment? jgj The same question and answer appears in the employer’s section of the application and in the attending physician’s section. The attending physician was employee’s personal physician selected by him. No benefits could be received under this policy for accident or sickness arising out of the Insured’s employment. Employee did receive benefits based on this application. Employee professed that he merely signed the application in blank and gave it to his doctor.

Claimant bears the burden of proof on all material elements of his claim which includes establishing his injury was incurred in an accident arising in the course of his employment. Meilves v. Morris, Mo., 422 S.W.2d 335. The only injury for which claimant attempted to recover compensation was the injury to his hip and back. The finding of the referee and the commission was that the injury complained of did not arise from accident arising out of and in the course of his employment. For this finding there is adequate support in the record.

The only evidence that the hip and back condition arose from the accident of May 24, 1966, is employee’s testimony. Employee’s medical evidence of causation, posed by hypothetical question, was based upon employee’s testimony respecting the accident, the prior condition of employee’s back as good, and the pain incurred at the time of the accident. On the other hand, Exhibit 5 reflects, contrary to employee’s testimony, that his only complaint on the day of his injury at the dispensary was of injury to his left foot (not the right as he testified). Exhibit 4 reflects that in March, 1965, he did complain of a sore left knee and hip with pain radiating from the knee up through the hip and into the buttocks and back. Any claim for compensation for the 1965 injury was barred by the statute of limitations at the time employee *623 filed his claim. Additionally, employee’s hospital records reflect complaints concerning employee’s back arising from a work injury three or four years prior to the accident in question and make no reference to the claimed accident in May 1966. The application for accident and sickness benefits, signed by employee and upon which he received benefits, states the injury was not employment connected.

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

Related

Farmer v. Treasurer of Mo.
567 S.W.3d 228 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 2018)
Rector v. City of Springfield
820 S.W.2d 639 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1991)
Trammell v. S & K Industries, Inc.
784 S.W.2d 209 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1989)
Jackson v. H.D. Lee Co.
772 S.W.2d 742 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1989)
McClain v. Welsh Co.
748 S.W.2d 720 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1988)
Barnes v. Ford Motor Co.
708 S.W.2d 198 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1986)
Hammons v. Hammons
680 S.W.2d 409 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1984)
Weinbauer v. Grey Eagle Distributors
661 S.W.2d 652 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1983)
Wray v. Schwitzer Co.
615 S.W.2d 646 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1981)
Blair v. Associated Wholesale Grocers, Inc.
593 S.W.2d 650 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1980)
Tillman v. Wedge Mobile Service Station
565 S.W.2d 653 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1978)
Ranger Insurance Co. v. Mercantile Trust Co.
363 F. Supp. 795 (E.D. Missouri, 1973)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
454 S.W.2d 620, 1970 Mo. App. LEXIS 619, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/vickery-v-acf-industries-incorporated-moctapp-1970.