Christianson v. North Dakota Workers Compensation Bureau

• Decision Date: 03 June 1991
• Docket Number: No. 900345,900345
• Citation: 470 N.W.2d 613
• Parties: Kenneth W. CHRISTIANSON, Appellant, v. NORTH DAKOTA WORKERS COMPENSATION BUREAU, Appellee, Frontier Lumber and City of Williston, Respondents. Civ.
• Court: North Dakota Supreme Court

Page 613

470 N.W.2d 613

Kenneth W. CHRISTIANSON, Appellant, v. NORTH DAKOTA WORKERS COMPENSATION BUREAU, Appellee Frontier Lumber and City of Williston, Respondents.

Civ. No. 900345.

Supreme Court of North Dakota.

June 3, 1991.

Anseth & Zander, Williston, for appellant, argued by Janet Holter Zander.

Janell M. Knutson (argued), Asst. Atty. Gen., N.D. Workers Compensation Bureau, Bismarck, for appellee.

GIERKE, Justice.

Kenneth Christianson appeals from a district court judgment upholding the North Dakota Workers Compensation Bureau's order denying benefits. Christianson argues that his heart attack was causally related to his employment at Frontier Lumber, Inc. and was precipitated by unusual stress in the course of that employment. He further argues that as a volunteer fireman, he was entitled to the presumption under Section 65-01-02(17), N.D.C.C. We affirm the district court judgment.

Christianson has owned and managed the Frontier Lumber, Inc. since 1980. The business had been profitable. However, beginning in 1986 business declined due to the depressed economy in western North Dakota. Christianson attempted to obtain a disaster relief loan from the Small Business Administration in late 1988. The loan application was denied on or about January 13, 1989. During this time, Christianson also served as a volunteer fireman with the City of Williston. Christianson was the head of the quick attack team and had responded to six fires in the last six weeks before he suffered his heart attack on January 30, 1989. However, he had not been on duty 3 weeks prior to the heart attack. The medical records indicate that Christianson was a heavy smoker, was overweight, had mild hypertension, and reflected a family history of coronary cardiac disease.

In an appeal from a judgment of a district court involving the decision of an administrative agency, review is limited to an examination of the decision of the agency and not the decision of the district court. Grace v. North Dakota Workmen's Compensation Bureau, 395 N.W.2d 576 (N.D.1986). In determining whether an agency's findings of fact are supported by a preponderance of the evidence, the court does not make independent findings of fact or substitute its judgment for that of the agency, but determines only whether a reasoning mind reasonably could have determined that the factual conclusions reached were proved by the greater weight of the evidence. Power Fuels, Inc. v. Elkin, 283 N.W.2d 214 (N.D.1979). The claimant has the burden of showing by a preponderance of the evidence that he was actually injured in the course of employment and that the ensuing disability is causally connected to the employment injury. Inglis v. North Dakota Workmen's Compensation Bureau, 312 N.W.2d 318 (N.D.1981).

However, Section 65-01-02(17)(d), N.D.C.C., ¹ creates a limited exception to this general rule by shifting the burden of proof from the claimant to the Bureau in cases involving specified conditions or impairments of health suffered by a full-time paid fireman. Kroh v. N.D. Workers Compensation Bureau, 425 N.W.2d 899 (N.D.1988).

The Bureau denied Christianson's claims ruling that Christianson had failed to prove an injury arising out of and in the course of an employment, that Christianson failed to prove that the heart attack was precipitated by unusual stress in the course of his employment at Frontier Lumber, Inc., and that he failed to prove with reasonable medical certainty that the heart attack was causally connected to his employment at Frontier Lumber, Inc.

This court stated in Nelson v. North Dakota Workmen's Compensation Bureau, 316 N.W.2d 790 (N.D.1982), that whether unusual stress existed must be determined by analyzing the facts of each individual claim. In order to prove that a heart attack is a compensable injury, the claimant must also prove that the attack was causally related to the worker's employment, with reasonable and medical certainty, Section 65-01-02(8)(a)(3), N.D.C.C. ² Christianson must be able to establish that the heart attack was causally connected to his employment with reasonable medical certainty and that it was precipitated by unusual stress. In order to establish a causal connection between the employment and the heart attack, it is sufficient if the claimant proves that the work related stress was a substantial contributing factor. Nelson, supra at 795. The fact that Christianson had other physical conditions or personal habits which made him more prone to heart disease is not a reason for denying a claim if the preponderance of the evidence indicates that the heart attack was causally related to his employment, with reasonable medical certainty and was precipitated by unusual stress. Id. The record reflects that Christianson exhibited the risk factors associated with heart disease, including a history of smoking, obesity, hypertension and a family history of cardiac disease. In order to satisfy the "unusual stress" requirement of Sec. 65-01-02(8)(a)(3), N.D.C.C., the work causing the heart attack need not be different in nature from the claimant's usual work. Rather, "so long as the...