Cunningham v. Shelton Sec. Service, Inc.

• Decision Date: 02 May 2001
• Citation: 46 S.W.3d 131
• Parties: Robert W. CUNNINGHAM, Jr, et al. v. SHELTON SECURITY SERVICE, INC., et al.
• Court: Tennessee Supreme Court

46 S.W.3d 131

Robert W. CUNNINGHAM, Jr, et al. v. SHELTON SECURITY SERVICE, INC., et al.

Supreme Court of Tennessee, at Nashville.

March 1, 2001.

Rehearing Denied May 2, 2001.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Angus Gillis, III, Nashville, TN, for the appellants, Shelton Security Service, Inc. and Employers Insurance of Wausau.

Terry R. Clayton, Nashville, TN, for the appellees, Robert W. Cunningham, Administrator of the Estate of Robert W. Cunningham, Sr., and William E. Cunningham, Jr.

OPINION

ANDERSON, C.J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which BIRCH, HOLDER, and BARKER, JJ., joined.

In this workers' compensation case, the estate of the employee, Robert W. Cunningham, Sr., has appealed from a chancery court judgment dismissing a claim for death benefits filed against the employer, Shelton Security Service, Inc. The employee, who worked as a security guard for the employer, died of heart failure while performing his duties at a store. At the close of the employee's proof, the trial court granted the employer's motion to dismiss on the basis that the emotional stress experienced by the employee the night of his death was not extraordinary or unusual for a security guard. The Special Workers' Compensation Appeals Panel, upon reference for findings of fact and conclusions of law, found that there was sufficient evidence of causation to warrant a trial and, thus, reversed the trial court's dismissal. Thereafter, the employer filed a motion for full Court review of the Panel's decision. We granted the motion for review to consider whether the trial court erred in dismissing the employee's claim on the basis that his heart failure did not arise out of the employment because it was not caused by a mental or emotional stimulus of an unusual or abnormal nature, beyond what is typically encountered by one in his occupation. After carefully examining the record and considering the relevant authorities, we agree with the Panel and reverse the trial court's judgment.

BACKGROUND

Robert W. Cunningham, Sr. ("employee") was employed by Shelton Security Service, Inc. ("employer") as a security guard. On May 9, 1991, the employee began working as a guard assigned to the Little Barn Deli and Market on Clarksville Highway in Nashville. He died of heart failure on March 5, 1992, while performing his duties at the store.

At trial, Mishie Lynn Taylor, a night clerk at the store, testified that in the early morning hours of March 5, 1992, three young men entered the store. The employee, Robert Cunningham, Sr., who was performing his duties as a security guard, asked the young men to leave because they were attempting to shoplift. Taylor stated that the suspected shoplifters "talked back" to the employee and cursed at him. She described the verbal confrontation inside the store as "very loud" and said that the employee shouted at the individuals to leave the premises. The employee followed the suspected shoplifters outside the store. Although Taylor could not hear what was said while the group was outside, she could tell that they were yelling at each other. The employee produced his billy club, but did not use it. Taylor testified that the young men threatened to come back and kill the employee. According to Taylor, the employee had similar verbal confrontations with people at the store once or twice a week. She said it was common for him to "go out and yell at these people."

Taylor recounted that although the employee was upset when he returned to the store, he did not act overly concerned about the incident. A short time later, however, the employee began to complain that he did not feel well. He began rubbing his arm. Then, he said that he felt "funny and weird"; that he "had never felt like that before"; and that he could not be still. Taylor told the employee to stay where she could observe him at the front of the store, but he went outside. A few minutes later, Taylor found the employee unconscious in his car. Although Taylor promptly called an ambulance, the employee died before he reached the hospital.

Dr. Melvin Lightford, an internist and emergency room physician, testified that the employee died from "sudden cardiac death." He explained that sudden cardiac death can be caused by many things, both stressful and non-stressful, such as arrhythmia, myocardial infarction, a blood clot, and arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Dr. Lightford admitted that he did not know exactly which of these possible problems caused the employee's death. However, Dr. Lightford stated that the employee's death was "related to the recent . . . events within an hour or two of his death." In response to a hypothetical question setting out the facts of the employee's death, Dr. Lightford testified that there was a "relationship" between the confrontation with the young men and the employee's death. Dr. Lightford opined that "the events, as hypothesized to me, did indeed precipitate what is called sudden cardiac death . . . ."

The employee's death certificate stated the cause of death as arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease. However, no autopsy was performed. Thus, according to Dr. Lightford, the cause of death listed on the death certificate was an educated guess made by the medical examiner and not an actual diagnosis. After the employee's estate filed suit seeking death benefits, the employer filed a motion to exhume the employee's body for the purpose of conducting an autopsy. The trial court granted the employer's motion, but on appeal we reversed because the employer failed to make a timely request for an autopsy after obtaining reasonable notice of its necessity. See Cunningham v. Shelton Sec. Serv., Inc., 958 S.W.2d 338 (Tenn.1997).

At the close of the employee's proof, the trial court granted the employer's motion to dismiss because the emotional stress experienced by the employee the night of his death was "not extraordinary nor was it unusual in comparison to the stress he ordinarily experienced in that type of job." The Special Workers' Compensation Appeals Panel, upon reference for findings of fact and conclusions of law pursuant to Tenn.Code Ann. § 50-6-225(e)(3), reversed the trial court's dismissal on the basis that there was sufficient evidence of causation to warrant a complete trial. Thereafter, the employer filed a motion for full Court review of the Panel's decision. We granted the motion to consider whether the trial court erred in dismissing the employee's claim on the basis that his heart failure did not arise out of the employment because it was not caused by a mental or emotional stimulus of an unusual or abnormal nature, beyond what is typically encountered by one in his occupation.

ANALYSIS

Standard of Review

The standard of review in a case such as this is de novo upon the record of the trial court, accompanied by a presumption of the correctness of the findings, unless the preponderance of the evidence is otherwise.¹ Tenn.Code Ann. § 50-6-225(e)(2) (1999 & Supp.2000). When issues regarding credibility of witnesses and the weight to be given their testimony are before a reviewing court, considerable deference must be accorded the trial court's factual findings. See Krick v. City of Lawrenceburg, 945 S.W.2d 709, 712 (Tenn.1997). However, this Court may draw its own conclusions about the weight and credibility of expert testimony when the medical proof is presented by deposition, as it was here, since we are in the same position as the trial judge to evaluate such testimony. See Krick v. City of Lawrenceburg, 945 S.W.2d at 712; Orman v. Williams Sonoma, Inc., 803 S.W.2d 672, 676-77 (Tenn.1991).

Compensability

In order to be eligible for workers' compensation benefits, an employee must suffer an "injury by accident arising out of and in the course of employment which causes either disablement or death. . . ." Tenn.Code Ann. § 50-6-102(12) (1999). The statutory requirements that the injury "arise out of" and occur "in the course of" the employment are not synonymous. See Sandlin v. Gentry, 201 Tenn. 509, 300 S.W.2d 897, 901 (1957). An injury occurs "in the course of" employment if it takes place while the employee was performing a duty he or she was employed to perform. Fink v. Caudle, 856 S.W.2d 952, 958 (Tenn.1993). Put another way, "the injury must have substantially originated from the `time and space' of work, resulting in an injury directly linked to the work environment or work-related activities." Harman v. Moore's Quality Snack Foods, 815 S.W.2d 519, 527 (Tenn.Ct.App.1991) (citation omitted). Thus, the course of employment requirement focuses on the time, place and circumstances of the injury. Hill v. Eagle Bend Mfg., Inc., 942 S.W.2d 483, 487 (Tenn.1997).

In contrast, "arising out of" employment refers to "cause or origin." Id. An injury arises out of employment "when there is apparent to the rational mind, upon consideration of all the circumstances, a causal connection between the conditions under which the work is required to be performed and the resulting injury." Fink v. Caudle, 856 S.W.2d at 958. The mere presence of the employee at the place of injury because of the employment is not sufficient, see Thornton v. RCA Service Co., 188 Tenn. 644, 221 S.W.2d 954, 955 (1949), as the injury must result from a danger or hazard peculiar to the work or be caused by a risk inherent in the nature of the work. See Travelers Ins. Co. v. Googe, 217 Tenn. 272, 397 S.W.2d 368, 371 (1965); Jackson v. Clark & Fay, Inc., 197 Tenn. 135, 270 S.W.2d 389, 390 (1954); Thornton v. RCA Serv. Co., 221 S.W.2d at 956-57; Harman v. Moore's Quality Snack Foods, 815 S.W.2d at 527. As one court has put it, the "danger must be peculiar to the work. . . . An injury purely coincidental, or contemporaneous, or collateral, with the employment . . . will not cause the injury . . . to be considered as arising out of the employment." Jackson v. Clark & Fay, Inc., 270 S.W.2d at 390.

In the present case, there is...