Walton County Board of Commissioners v. Williams

320 S.E.2d 846, 171 Ga. App. 779, 1984 Ga. App. LEXIS 2336

• Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
• Decided: July 10, 1984
• Docket: 68055
• Status: Published

Opinions

Deen, Presiding Judge.

The appellee, Robert G. Williams, was employed as a deputy sheriff of Walton County, and in June 1981, while handling bloodhounds during a manhunt, he suffered an attack of heat exhaustion for which he was hospitalized two days. He returned to work immediately thereafter and continued working until October 18, 1981, when he resigned upon the advice of his physician.

The appellee then applied for workers’ compensation benefits and eventually was awarded such by the administrative law judge and the full board, on the basis that his work-related heat stroke gradually so aggravated a pre-existing mental/emotional condition that he became unable to work as of October 18, 1981. The superior court affirmed the award, from which this appeal followed. Held:

Decided July 10, 1984 Rehearing denied July 26, 1984 E. Davison Burch, for appellants. E. Earl Mallard, Jr., M. John Wilson, for appellee.

It is axiomatic that any finding of fact by the board, if supported by any evidence, is conclusive and binding upon the superior court and this court. OCGA § 34-9-105; Banks v. Royal Globe Ins. Co., 160 Ga. App. 18 (286 SE2d 309) (1981). In the instant case, review of the record discloses: (a) the medical/psychiatric opinion of Dr. Charles Fulghum, who on October 28, 1981, felt that there was a connection between the appellee’s strokes and his depression; and (b) the psychological evaluation by Harold Haddle, Ph.D., who noted the appellee’s history of hypertension and recent strokes and concluded on November 4, 1981, that the appellee was suffering from severe depression and anxiety secondary to medical problems. Even though the preponderance of the medical evidence may contraindicate any causative relationship between the heat stroke of June 8, 1981, and the subsequent incapacitating mental/emotional condition, the above two opinions constituted the requisite “any evidence” to support the award, with regard to the issue of compensability. Accordingly, the superior court correctly affirmed the award of the board.

However, the record also indicates that even though the appellee stopped working on October 18, 1981, he continued to receive his salary through March 31, 1982. It thus appears that the appellant was entitled to credit for those payments, to be applied against the compensation award. See OCGA § 34-9-243; Rule 220 (b) of the Rules and Regulations of the State Board of Workers’ Compensation; Liberty Mut. Ins. Co. v. Thomas, 145 Ga. App. 303 (243 SE2d 694) (1978); K-Mart Corp. v. Anderson, 166 Ga. App. 421 (304 SE2d 526) (1983).

For the above reasons, the superior court’s order (and the board’s award) must be affirmed, with direction to remand the case to the board for further determination as to any credit to be applied against the award. See Gen. Motors Corp. v. Dover, 143 Ga. App. 819 (240 SE2d 201) (1977).

Judgment affirmed with directions.

Quillian, P. J., Banke, P. J., Carley and Benham, JJ., concur. McMurray, C. J., concurs in the judgment only. Birdsong, Sognier, and Pope, JJ., dissent.