Cortrim Mfg. Co. v. Smith
| Decision Date | 31 July 1978 |
| Citation | 570 S.W.2d 854 |
| Parties | CORTRIM MANUFACTURING CO., Appellant, v. Mrs. Charles W. SMITH, Appellee. 570 S.W.2d 854 |
| Court | Tennessee Supreme Court |
Edwin L. Treadway, Steven C. Rose, Kingsport, for appellant.
Fred M. Leonard, George W. McRee, Bristol, for appellee.
In this action the plaintiff seeks to recover death benefits provided by the Workmen's Compensation Act for the death of her husband who was an employee of the defendant. The trial court found the issues in favor of the plaintiff and awarded benefits. The defendant has appealed asserting that the Chancellor erred in failing to sustain defendant's objection to a hypothetical question posed by the plaintiff to Dr. Ronald D. Caldwell, a heart specialist who testified on behalf of the plaintiff, and in finding that there was any causal connection between the death of the plaintiff's husband and his employment.
The defendant produces various wood products for the furniture and other industries and in so doing employed an assembly line consisting of six large wood-working machines. Each of these wood-working machines consisted of various components such as "motor heads," "knives," etc. Once the production of a particular wood product was finished, the machines could be "taken down" and "rebuilt" so that a different wood product could be fabricated. The changing of the components of these machines was referred to as "set up work," and the plaintiff's husband was one of the three employees of the defendant who performed this work. In addition to set up work the plaintiff's husband also performed "adjustments" on the machines after they were set up and while they were employed in production of wood products. The testimony indicates that the set up work was quite strenuous whereas the adjusting work, although it involved considerable stooping and bending and sometimes making adjustments close to the floor while the adjuster was on his knees, was not quite so strenuous.
For about two years prior to his death, the plaintiff's husband suffered from arteriosclerotic heart disease manifested as anginal pain and shortness of breath and for which he was treated by Dr. Ronald D. Caldwell, an internal medicine specialist, since August, 1975. On Monday, November 29, 1976, the plaintiff's husband appeared to be as well as he had been for months when he took his wife to work and reported for work himself at about 7:30 a. m. From 7:30 a. m. until approximately 9:50 a. m. the plaintiff performed his duties which consisted of "adjusting" one of the wood-working machines above mentioned. At about 10:00 a. m. he told Clarence Jackson, a fellow worker, that he was ill and was going to lie down on a couch or go home. He reported to the first aid department and his condition worsened so that about 12:00 noon he was taken in a truck from the defendant's factory to a nearby hospital where he was admitted to the intensive care unit and died shortly thereafter. Dr. Caldwell stated that the cause of death was cardiogenic shock resulting from acute myocardial infarction.
Dr. Caldwell testified that the heart attack occurred while the deceased was at his work. The hypothetical question to which the defendant objected was:
(At this point the defendant objected on the ground that the question as propounded did not contain a full and true hypothesis, did not show the condition of the decedent when he came to work that morning and that there was no evidence showing that the decedent exerted himself in the way and manner set forth in the question.)
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Tindall v. Waring Park Ass'n
...cases by expert medical evidence. See, e.g., Seay v. Town of Greeneville, 587 S.W.2d 381, 383 (Tenn.1979); Cortrim Manufacturing Co. v. Smith, 570 S.W.2d 854, 855 (Tenn.1978); American Enka Corp. v. Sutton, 216 Tenn. 228, 236-237, 391 S.W.2d 643, 645 (1965). Furthermore, "by 'causal connect......
-
State ex rel. Com'r, Dept. of Transp. v. Veglio
...for the trial court to allow discussion of the hypothetical presented and we find no abuse of discretion. See Cortrim Manufacturing Co. v. Smith, 570 S.W.2d 854 (Tenn.1978). The State asserts that even if the hypothetical was sufficiently supported by the evidence, it overemphasized the use......
-
Parker v. Ryder Truck Lines, Inc.
...with chains. The activity was found to have aggravated a previous arteriosclerotic heart condition. See also Cortrim Manufacturing Co. v. Smith, 570 S.W.2d 854 (Tenn.1978); Lawrence County Highway Department v. Hardiman, 531 S.W.2d 792 In the case of P & L Construction Co. v. Lankford, 559 ......
-
Hinson v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
...the incident was in fact the cause of the injury. P & L Const. Co., Inc. v. Lankford, Tenn., 559 S.W.2d 793 (1978); Cortrim Mfg. Co. v. Smith, Tenn., 570 S.W.2d 854 (1978). Under this rule the testimony of Drs. Fentress and Wiesman when coupled with that of the plaintiff, Mrs. Hinson, suppo......