Blecha v. Wells Fargo Guard-Company Service, GUARD-COMPANY

• Decision Date: 19 May 1992
• Docket Number: No. 91-204-M,GUARD-COMPANY,91-204-M
• Citation: 610 A.2d 98
• Parties: William BLECHA v. WELLS FARGOSERVICE. P.
• Court: Rhode Island Supreme Court

Page 98

610 A.2d 98

William BLECHA v. WELLS FARGO GUARD-COMPANY SERVICE.

No. 91-204-M.P.

Supreme Court of Rhode Island.

May 19, 1992.

Robert Thurston, Lauren Jones, Jones Associates, Anthony J. Cordeiro, Carrillo & Cordeiro, Providence, for plaintiff.

Harold E. Adams, Adams & Haydon, East Greenwich, for defendant.

OPINION

FAY, Chief Justice.

This is a petition for a writ of certiorari to review a final decree of the Workers' Compensation Commission (commission). ¹ The final decree granted William Blecha (Blecha), an employee of Wells Fargo Guard-Company Service (Wells Fargo), compensation benefits after he suffered a myocardial infarction (heart attack) while at work. The petitioner, Wells Fargo, alleges error for the following reasons. First, it claims that the trial commissioner erroneously found that Blecha's heart attack was causally connected to his employment because he failed to consider the testimony of two witnesses regarding the existence of work-related stress in Blecha's position. Second, it contends that the trial commissioner's award of compensation benefits to Blecha for partial disability after November 17, 1988, was improper because of the inconsistency in the decision in which he expressly relied on the doctor's testimony and subsequently awarded benefits in contravention to that testimony. For these reasons, it alleges that the appellate division erred in affirming the trial commissioner's findings and in failing to address the inconsistency between the relied-upon doctor's opinion and the decree subsequently issued. We conclude that the trial commissioner's decision regarding causation was proper and supported by the evidence but find latent inconsistency between the trial commissioner's decision regarding subsequent disability and his decree, which inconsistency must be resolved by the factfinder. The relevant facts are as follows.

On September 3, 1985, Blecha suffered a heart attack while at work. Blecha was employed as an account representative supervising on-site personnel from a central office but not performing any manual or physical labor. Blecha testified that as an account representative it was his responsibility to ensure that each account was protected by the presence of adequate security personnel, his responsibility to supervise twenty-two to thirty accounts, and his responsibility to supervise as few as one hundred or as many as one hundred and fifty employees. Blecha stated that he was promoted to this position in May 1985. The position entailed dealing with scheduling problems and maintaining shifts in a variety of areas.

Following his heart attack, Blecha underwent corrective surgery on September 16, 1985. On May 30, 1986, Blecha petitioned the commission for benefits for the heart damage and chest injuries he sustained on September 3, 1985. The commission was to determine whether the condition and the injuries arose out of and in the course of Blecha's employment and, if so, to make an award of corresponding disability payments.

During the hearings on May 11, 1987, and October 17, 1988, Wells Fargo presented testimony from two of Blecha's coworkers, James Terry (Terry) and Richard White (White), regarding the work conditions of an account representative. Terry was Blecha's supervisor, and White had held the same position as Blecha for over five years. Terry and White, testifying about their observations of Blecha's work before and on the day of his heart attack, stated that the position was a sit-down job and asserted that the responsibilities did not involve high-level stress. Blecha, however, testified that he personally considered the job to be stressful.

Blecha offered expert testimony from Dr. William Caplan, who testified that he examined Blecha on July 12, 1985, and diagnosed him as having coronary artery disease. He stated that this condition blocks circulation of coronary arteries, which leads to insufficient blood flow through the heart and causes ischemia or angina and can ultimately lead to a heart attack. Doctor Caplan opined that Blecha's heart attack was precipitated by his employment and that as of his most recent examination, Blecha was totally disabled from this injury.

On rebuttal Wells Fargo offered expert testimony of Dr. Elliot L. Sagall. On November 16, 1988, Dr. Sagall examined Blecha and made a summary of findings after also reviewing Blecha's medical records. Doctor Sagall's written report explained that Blecha's heart attack was not causally work related and that in his opinion Blecha could return to his position as an account representative at Wells Fargo.

Doctor Sagall expressly stated:

"Based upon the present findings and Mr. Blecha's course to date, it is my opinion that his cardiac status, although precluding his performing work activities involving moderately strenuous to strenuous physical effort, is such that he could resume his previous work as an Account Representative or similar inside work on a full-time basis.

"In regard to the questions of causation that have arisen, it is my opinion that Mr. Blecha's underlying coronary atherosclerotic heart disease, the pathology responsible for the acute myocardial infarction of September 3, 1985, and his subsequent hospitalizations, cardiac surgery, and work disability, as outlined above, cannot be considered medically as being causally related to his employment at Wells Fargo or to any alleged emotional stress resulting from his promotion some two months prior to September 3, 1985, to the position of an Account Representative, but must be viewed as a natural disease process, presently of unknown cause or causes, to which he has been predisposed by reason of his male sex and age as well as the additional recognized background medical risk factors enumerated above.

"In regard to the acute myocardial infarction of September 3, 1985, it is my opinion, based upon the sequence of events described by Mr. Blecha preceding the syncopal episode which heralded that attack, that this pathology resulted solely from the expected, natural, and spontaneous progression of his underlying coronary disease, happening to occur during the course of work activities as a coincidence of time only, but with no causal relationship to his work activities of that day or previously."

On December 29, 1989, after considering the evidence presented, the trial commissioner found that a causal relationship existed between Blecha's heart attack and his work activities. The commissioner stated:

"I found the petitioner to be a credible witness. I believe that the new job assignment, although tolerated by others without undue stress, was not tolerated by the petitioner. I am satisfied that both experts agree that stress may be the proverbial straw that breaks the camel's back. I am persuaded by the temporal aspect of the sequence of events here that the petitioner's anxiety in the new position precipitated in some measure the myocardial infarction. I accept, therefore, the opinions expressed by Dr. Caplan regarding causality."

The trial commissioner further specified that he agreed with Dr. Sagall regarding Blecha's recovery, stating, "I am satisfied, however, that the opinions expressed by Dr. Sagall regarding the petitioner's recovery is [sic ] equally persuasive," thereby embracing the opinion that Blecha could resume his position as an account representative on a full-time basis. However, the trial commissioner specifically stated in his enumerated findings that "as a result thereof he was totally disabled from September 4, 1985 to November 16, 1988, and partially disabled from November 17, 1988," and thereby awarded benefits for Blecha's partial disability. These benefits are presently payable to Blecha.

On October 31, 1990, Wells Fargo appealed to the appellate division of the Workers' Compensation Court, and a hearing was conducted on April 4, 1991. Wells Fargo alleged that the trial commissioner clearly erred by overlooking or misconceiving material evidence, pointing out that he failed to mention the testimony of Terry or White in evaluating Blecha's working conditions on the issue of causation. Wells Fargo alleged further error, contending that there was inconsistency between the trial commissioner's decision and his decree. The trial commissioner expressly accepted Dr. Sagall's opinion that Blecha's condition and recovery allowed him to be able to resume his position as an account representative yet he simultaneously decreed that Blecha was partially disabled as of November 17, 1988, and ordered that Blecha's benefits be continued for partial disability from that date.

On review the appellate division found no error in the decision and decree of the trial commissioner and stated:

"The trial court was confronted with conflicting medical evidence as to both the cause and extent of the injury and incapacity, and also as to the alleged stressful working environment. He thereafter accepted the evidence that showed that the petitioner's ' * * * new job assignment, although tolerated by others without undue stress, was not tolerated by the petitioner * * * I am persuaded by the temporal aspect of the sequence of events here that the petitioner's anxiety in the new position precipitated in some measure the myocardial infarction.' He thereupon accepted the opinion evidence of Dr. William Caplan, the employee's treating cardiologist, as to the cause of the petitioner's incapacity, and that of Dr. Elliot Sagal [sic ], the respondent's medical expert, that the incapacity ended as of November 16, 1988. He is free to do so. Parenteau v. Zimmerman Engineering, Inc., 111 R.I. 68, 299 A.2d 168 (1973). The record contains an abundance of competent evidence to sustain the trial court's findings. There is no error."

Regarding Blecha's incapacity, the appellate division noted that the trial commissioner had the authority to choose to accept the opinion of Dr. Sagall. The appellate division, however, did not address...