Gold Kist, Inc. v. Pope

• Decision Date: 19 October 1988
• Parties: GOLD KIST, INC. v. Robert POPE. Civ. 6496.
• Court: Alabama Court of Civil Appeals

Page 291

539 So.2d 291

GOLD KIST, INC. v. Robert POPE.

Civ. 6496.

Court of Civil Appeals of Alabama.

Oct. 19, 1988.

Rehearing Denied Nov. 23, 1988.

Certiorari Denied Jan. 27, 1989

Alabama Supreme Court 88-303

G. Steven Henry of Clark & Scott, Birmingham, for appellant.

Robert Turner of Chestnut, Sanders, Sanders, Turner, Williams & Pettaway, Marion, for appellee.

HOLMES, Judge.

This is a workmen's compensation case.

The employee brought suit against the employer for workmen's compensation benefits due to a head injury alleged to have been caused by a work-related accident.

After an ore tenus hearing the trial court determined that the employee suffered an accident, arising out of and in the course of his employment, and further found the employee to have suffered a fifty percent loss in his ability to earn.

The employee, through able counsel, appeals, and we affirm.

Viewing the record with the attendant presumptions, we find the following pertinently revealed: At the time of the "accident," the employee was fifty-seven years old. He has a sixth-grade education with no further formal education. He has been employed by the employer for six years as a laborer in the employer's warehouse. During this time the employee never complained of or exhibited any physical infirmities or disabilities.

On the day of the accident, the employee was taking a rush inventory at the top of some pallets of feed at an estimated height of eight feet. The employee testified that he heard someone make a request for assistance over the loudspeaker and that as he started to get down to assist a customer he fell to the concrete floor below.

Following the fall, the employee was taken to the hospital, where he was diagnosed as having a seizure disorder. The doctor who treated the employee testified that he was not able to determine the cause of the seizures, but that it was possible for seizures to be caused by some type of trauma. The doctor further testified that any type of sharp blow or light blow in the proper place or a fall could possibly cause some type of neurological damage to cause a seizure. The doctor also testified, however, that he surmised that the employee had some sort of seizure activity and subsequently fell and sustained trauma to his head.

Subsequent to the accident, the employee testified, he suffered from severe headaches and dizziness. He stated that every time he stoops over he "feel[s] like a weight is pushing forward." He testified that he experiences this pain on a daily basis.

After the accident the employee did return to work for approximately three months until the employer advised him that he could no longer work there due to his seizure disorder. Further, although the employee's doctor opined that he would be able to work in some sort of fashion, the doctor was skeptical as to whether he could work in the same type of job as he had with the employer.

As noted above, the trial court found that the employee did suffer a work-related injury and was entitled to workmen's compensation benefits.

The employer contends on appeal that the employee failed to establish a causal connection between the employee's infirmity and the accident.

To establish that he is entitled to workmen's compensation, the employee must meet two tests of causation--legal and medical. County of Mobile v. Benson, 521 So.2d 992 (Ala.Civ.App.1988).

"To establish legal causation the employee must show that in the performance of [his] duties [he] was exposed to a danger or risk materially in excess of that to which people not so employed are exposed. Put another way, [he] must demonstrate that in the performance of [his] job [he] had to...