Green v. Columbia Foods, Inc.

• Court: Idaho Supreme Court
• Writing for the Court: SHEPARD; DONALDSON
• Citation: Green v. Columbia Foods, Inc., 104 Idaho 204, 657 P.2d 1072 (Idaho 1983)
• Decision Date: 21 January 1983
• Docket Number: No. 13885,13885
• Parties: Richard L. GREEN, Claimant-Appellant, v. COLUMBIA FOODS, INC., Employer, and Employers Casualty Company, Surety, Defendants-Respondents.

Page 1072

657 P.2d 1072

104 Idaho 204

Richard L. GREEN, Claimant-Appellant, v. COLUMBIA FOODS, INC., Employer and Employers Casualty Company, Surety, Defendants-Respondents.

No. 13885.

Supreme Court of Idaho.

Jan. 21, 1983.

Wayne P. Fuller, of Fuller & Harris, Chartered, Caldwell, for claimant-appellant.

John W. Barrett, of Moffatt, Thomas, Barrett & Blanton, Chartered, Boise, for defendants-respondents.

SHEPARD, Justice.

This is an appeal from an order of the Industrial Commission denying claimant-appellant Green's application for workmen's compensation benefits on the basis that Green had failed to establish that his alleged disability resulted from an accident arising out of and in the course of his employment. We affirm.

The evidence before the Commission indicated that in 1976 Green, while working on a construction job for Boise Cascade, had injured his back which necessitated missing work for two weeks. In March of 1978, while working for Columbia Foods, Green was struck and knocked to the floor. A company nurse examined Green and Green then returned to his shift. The record does not demonstrate any other loss of work time. In May, 1978, Green began a period of self-employment in the construction of housing. In September, 1978, Green applied for work with Armour Food Company, stating in his application that he had never had back pain or injury to his back which prevented him from working for a day or more. In June, 1979, Green accepted construction work with M & K Construction, which continued until December, 1979. All of the aforementioned employment, dating back until at least 1976, involved strenuous physical exertion.

In December, 1979, Green began having problems with his back, and filed an application for hearing before the Industrial Commission, asserting that the back problems resulted from the 1978 injury sustained while working for Columbia. At that hearing, Green's principal witness was a doctor who had examined Green at his request. That witness testified that Green had degenerative arthritis and a narrowing of disc space. The Industrial Commission evidently viewed that witness's testimony as inconclusive on the question of whether Green's 1979 back problems were caused by the 1978 accident sustained when Green was working for Columbia or caused by the arthritis and disc space narrowing. While some language of the witness might be viewed as possibly establishing that the 1978 incident caused Green's back problems, the testimony of the doctor on cross-examination can be viewed as establishing that Green's back problems of 1979 could be related to the 1978 accident or equally...