Zambonini v. Industrial Commission

544 P.2d 710, 25 Ariz. App. 493, 1976 Ariz. App. LEXIS 490
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arizona
DecidedJanuary 8, 1976
DocketNo. 1 CA-IC 1250
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 544 P.2d 710 (Zambonini v. Industrial Commission) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Arizona primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Zambonini v. Industrial Commission, 544 P.2d 710, 25 Ariz. App. 493, 1976 Ariz. App. LEXIS 490 (Ark. Ct. App. 1976).

Opinion

OPINION

NELSON, Presiding Judge.

We are called upon to determine two basic questions on review. The first question revolves around the sufficiency of the medical evidence to support the Industrial Commission award finding a non-compensable injury. The second question deals with whether the petitioner was within the course and scope of his employment when the injury occurred and whether the resultant injury arose out of his employment.

On February 23, 1973, while attending a conference in Show Low and Pinetop, Arizona, petitioner Bert Zambonini (Zambbnini), an employee of the Arizona Department of Public Safety, suffered anginal pain during the evening hours shortly after having consumed a heavy meal. It was subsequently determined that petitioner sustained a myocardial infarction on either February 25th or February 26th.

The conference attended by Zambonini involved several high-ranking authorities of the department. The crux of petitioner’s contention is that the stresses and strain of his employment, including the immediate pressure of attending the conference, the altitude in the Show Low area, and the fact that he was required by the circumstances to partake of a heavy meal, contributed to the heart attack. The petitioner urges that these facts establish that he sustained an injury arising out of and in the course of his employment on that date.

Petitioner’s and respondent’s briefs, as well as the record in this case, deal exhaustively with the petitioner’s work history. The crucial aspect of petitioner’s previous employment experience is that the bulk of petitioner’s jobs had involved non-road work. When the petitioner was appointed District Commander, his lack of “road” experience and “command responsibilities” caused feelings of concern about the performance of his duties. The large geographic area to which petitioner was [495]*495assigned, its relative isolation, and removal from supervision combined to make this a difficult assignment. During this time petitioner had various disagreements with his supervisors regarding the handling of certain personnel matters, the murder of two of his men, and other such problems. Petitioner had a policy of responding to all major accidents in the area — without regard to day or hour. Petitioner’s ratings, sometimes unsatisfactory, were another source of anxiety. At the time of the February 23, 1973 incident, petitioner was expecting an evaluation.

The actual meeting or conference of February 23, 1973 broke up around 4:30 p. m. At the hearing petitioner described the activities following the meeting in this fashion: “After it broke up, it is the policy of the organization that, you know, everyone that possibly can stay over and more or less socialize and discuss your problems and what have you on a relaxed basis.” Petitioner further testified, that “the superintendent more or less, you know, liked it to be this way.” This post conference get-together was characterized as a part of the entire day's activities. At a restaurant in Pinetop, petitioner joined the others in ordering a large, expensive meal. Later the group met at the Hanging Tree, a bar. The evening finished with a poker game. Sometime after the meal petitioner experienced pains that he thought were “indigestion”. The pains continued, causing an inability to sleep. In the early morning hours of February 24, 1973, petitioner was admitted to a hospital at Show Low. Three or four days later he was flown to St. Luke’s in Phoenix,

Petitioner asserts that the award of the Commission was not reasonably supported by the evidence. In so doing petitioner relies on the testimony of the doctors who stated that the tension and stress of the employment situation could contribute to the myocardial infarction. The hearing officer found a conflict in the medical testimony and resolved it in favor of the doctors who found no employment contribution to the myocardial infarction.

It is a well-established principle that the hearing officer is to resolve all conflicts in the medical evidence. State Compensation Fund v. Keefe, 22 Ariz.App. 311, 526 P.2d 1266 (1974); Brewer v. Industrial Commission of Arizona, 9 Ariz.App. 319, 451 P.2d 897 (1969). Such resolutions will not be disturbed on appeal if there is reasonable evidence to support them. Micucci v. Industrial Commission of Arizona, 108 Ariz. 194, 494 P.2d 1324 (1972).

In his brief petitioner quotes extensively from the record to support his theory of a stress-induced myocardial infarction. We see no need to repeat any of the extensive testimony given, the thrust of it being that: (1) petitioner’s employment caused or did not cause stress; (2) the stress contributed to or did not contribute to petitioner’s myocardial infarction. Highly qualified practitioners and specialists testified in support of both positions. Complete hypothetical questions were presented containing facts that illustrated Zambonini’s employment situation in order to obtain opinions as to stress and its relation to heart disease in this case. The resolution of the conflicting testimony was clearly a matter for the hearing officer.

Petitioners further argue that the statements of Doctors Cohen, Robinson and Zell constitute an insufficient basis upon which to make the award. Since Dr. Cohen stated that the cause of the myocardial infarction is unknown, the petitioner argues that his testimony is substantially weakened. It is further contended that his medical opinions do not have any substantial reasonable basis. Similarly petitioners argue that since Dr. Robinson could not answer how the stresses and strains of the petitioner’s work affected him, he could not testify as to whether or not there is a causal relation between the employment and the myocardial infarction. Petitioner also urges that his testimony would not be [496]*496reasonable evidence to support the award. The testimony of Dr. Zell is attacked on the basis that his examination of Zambonini was done sometime after the myocardial infarction and that he could not testify as to what petitioner’s condition was prior to the alleged industrial accident. As with the other doctors, petitioner argues that he could not give reasonable evidence as to whether there was causal relationship between the employment activities and the industrial accident.

The respondents answer the attack on the testimony of Doctors Cohen, Robinson and Zell by reference to the cases of Goldstein v. Industrial Commission of Arizona, 22 Ariz.App. 319, 526 P.2d 1274 (1974); Jones v. Industrial Commission, 9 Ariz.App. 543, 454 P.2d 591 (1969); Raftery v. Industrial Commission of Arizona, 15 Ariz.App. 93, 486 P.2d 205 (1971), and Kinsman v. Industrial Commission of Arizona, 6 Ariz.App. 609, 435 P.2d 52 (1968). We agree that these cases provide authority for the proposition that the testimony offered here is sufficient to create a medical conflict and sufficient to support an award denying compensation. In

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Bluebook (online)
544 P.2d 710, 25 Ariz. App. 493, 1976 Ariz. App. LEXIS 490, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/zambonini-v-industrial-commission-arizctapp-1976.