Albanese's Case
| Court | United States State Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts |
| Writing for the Court | Before HENNESSEY; ABRAMS |
| Citation | 389 N.E.2d 83,378 Mass. 14 |
| Decision Date | 04 May 1979 |
| Parties | JOSEPH ALBANESE'S CASE. |
Page 83
Decided May 4, 1979.
Page 84
Gerard R. Kineen, Boston, for insurer.
Laurence S. Locke, Boston (Donald N. Freedman, Boston, with him), for employee.
Before HENNESSEY, C. J., and QUIRICO, BRAUCHER, KAPLAN and ABRAMS, JJ.
ABRAMS, Justice.
The question presented is whether a mental or emotional disorder 1 causally related to stressful incidents at work is a "personal injury arising out of and in the course of . . . employment" under the Workmen's Compensation Act, G.L. c. 152, § 26. We hold that if an employee is incapacitated by a mental or emotional disorder [378 Mass. 15] causally related to a series of specific stressful work-related incidents, the employee is entitled to compensation.
The reviewing board found that Joseph Albanese was totally disabled as a result of his mental illness, and that his illness was related to a series of emotionally stressful work-related incidents. However, the board concluded "that as a matter of law the illnesses set forth above in these circumstances do not constitute a 'personal injury' under the Massachusetts Workmen's Compensation Act."
Albanese appealed to the Superior Court, where the judge ruled that he was entitled to compensation under G.L. c. 152. The insurer appealed from the judgment entered in the Superior Court. 2 We transferred
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the case sua sponte from the Appeals Court. We affirm the judgment of the Superior Court.We summarize the facts as found by the board. The claimant, Joseph Albanese, was employed as a "working foreman" by Atlantic Steel Co., Inc., for approximately twenty years prior to 1970. His duties included the supervision of shipping as well as the supervision of certain activities of the plant's employees. In 1967 the business was sold to a new owner and thereafter attempts to unionize the employees were commenced.
[378 Mass. 16] In 1969, the employees voted to unionize, and friction developed between Albanese as working foreman and the workers. Part of the friction was caused by the management's decision to eliminate overtime work, which frequently "required (Albanese) to go out into the shop and prod the men to expedite the work."
Additional friction between Albanese and the men resulted from the activities of Albanese's direct supervisor, the plant manager. On one occasion in 1968, the manager informed Albanese that the company practice of distributing Thanksgiving turkeys was to be discontinued. On a second occasion, the manager told Albanese that the company did not intend to give the workers a Christmas bonus in 1969. On each occasion, after Albanese relayed this information to the workers, the plant manager reversed his own decision. Albanese viewed these incidents as humiliating, and felt that the manager was intentionally attempting to undermine Albanese's relationship with the workers.
On April 17, 1970, Albanese became involved in a "heated argument" with one of the workers over the question whether the worker was entitled to overtime pay. The plant manager informed Albanese that the company did not intend to pay any overtime wages to the worker involved.
Five days later, a meeting was held to discuss the worker's overtime pay. Albanese, the plant manager, the worker, and the union agent attended the meeting. After another "heated discussion," the manager ordered Albanese to give the overtime pay to the worker. When this occurred, Albanese "became distressed, developed chest pains, nausea, and went into the conference room where he laid down for ten minutes. When the chest pains got sharper he went home to bed . . . . (Albanese) has not worked since and has experienced continuing complaints of pains, sweatiness, shortness of breath, headaches, and depression." His condition has been diagnosed as "a chronic anxiety state mixed with depression and somatized reaction and . . . neurocirculatory asthenia."
[378 Mass. 17] Albanese filed a claim under the Workmen's Compensation Act on July 28, 1970. The single member decided that Albanese was entitled to compensation; the reviewing board reversed the decision of the single member and denied Albanese's claim as a matter of law. The board's decision was reversed by the Superior Court.
On appeal, the insurer does not dispute the fact that Albanese has become disabled as a result of a mental or emotional disorder, but argues that Albanese's condition is the result of gradual "wear and tear" and thus is not a compensable personal injury under the statute as interpreted by this court. Spalla's Case, 320 Mass. 416, 418, 69 N.E.2d 665 (1946)....
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Means v. Baltimore County, No. 20
...tit. 39-A, § 201 (1995); Maryland, Belcher v. T. Rowe Price, 329 Md. 709, 621 A.2d 872 (1993); Massachusetts, Albanese's Case, 378 Mass. 14, 389 N.E.2d 83 (1979); Michigan, Carter v. General Motors Corp., 361 Mich. 577, 106 N.W.2d 105 (1960); Mississippi, Borden, Inc. v. Eskridge, 604 So.2d......
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Seitz v. L & R Industries, Inc. (Palco Products Division), No. 79-61-A
...stemmed from a single traumatic event and not from response to everyday-employment stress. Thereafter, in Albanese's Case, --- Mass. ---, 389 N.E.2d 83 (1979), the Supreme Judicial Court awarded compensation to a foreman who had reacted to conflicting orders from his immediate superior over......
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Case of Kelly
...total incapacity compensation benefits under § 34 of the act, the judge in the Superior Court expressly relied upon Albanese's Case, 378 Mass. 14, 389 N.E.2d 83 (1979). Our workers' compensation act offers very broad protection to employees. See Zerofski's Case, 385 Mass. 590, 592-593, 433 ......
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Kelly's Case
...Mut. Ins. Co., 394 Mass. 1007, 476 N.E.2d 221 (1985). Foley v. Polaroid Corp., 381 Mass. 545, 550, 413 N.E.2d 711 (1980). Albanese's Case, 378 Mass. 14, 17, 389 N.E.2d 83 (1979). Fitzgibbons's Case, 374 Mass. 633, 637-638, 373 N.E.2d 1174 (1978). In none of those cases did we suggest that e......
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Means v. Baltimore County, 20
...tit. 39-A, § 201 (1995); Maryland, Belcher v. T. Rowe Price, 329 Md. 709, 621 A.2d 872 (1993); Massachusetts, Albanese's Case, 378 Mass. 14, 389 N.E.2d 83 (1979); Michigan, Carter v. General Motors Corp., 361 Mich. 577, 106 N.W.2d 105 (1960); Mississippi, Borden, Inc. v. Eskridge, 604 So.2d......
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Seitz v. L & R Industries, Inc. (Palco Products Division), 79-61-A
...stemmed from a single traumatic event and not from response to everyday-employment stress. Thereafter, in Albanese's Case, --- Mass. ---, 389 N.E.2d 83 (1979), the Supreme Judicial Court awarded compensation to a foreman who had reacted to conflicting orders from his immediate superior over......
-
Case of Kelly
...total incapacity compensation benefits under § 34 of the act, the judge in the Superior Court expressly relied upon Albanese's Case, 378 Mass. 14, 389 N.E.2d 83 (1979). Our workers' compensation act offers very broad protection to employees. See Zerofski's Case, 385 Mass. 590, 592-593, 433 ......
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Kelly's Case
...Mut. Ins. Co., 394 Mass. 1007, 476 N.E.2d 221 (1985). Foley v. Polaroid Corp., 381 Mass. 545, 550, 413 N.E.2d 711 (1980). Albanese's Case, 378 Mass. 14, 17, 389 N.E.2d 83 (1979). Fitzgibbons's Case, 374 Mass. 633, 637-638, 373 N.E.2d 1174 (1978). In none of those cases did we suggest that e......