Higgins v. Industrial Com'n
| Decision Date | 17 May 1985 |
| Docket Number | No. 20218,20218 |
| Parties | Jacqueline S. HIGGINS, widow, and Ronald S. Higgins, a minor child of David Harold Higgins, deceased, Plaintiffs, v. INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION of Utah, J.F. Shea Company, Inc. and Employers Insurance of Wausau, Defendants. |
| Court | Utah Supreme Court |
David S. Kunz, Ogden, Paul Richards Howell, Salt Lake City, for plaintiffs.
David L. Wilkinson, Atty. Gen., Robert W. Brandt, Salt Lake City, for defendants.
Jacqueline and Ronald Higgins, claimants and plaintiffs below, sought workmen's compensation benefits for the death of their husband and father, David Higgins. The Industrial Commission denied benefits. We affirm.
In 1982, David Higgins worked as a lubrication engineer for defendant J.F. Shea Company at its Currant Creek Dam project near Heber City, Utah. Higgins worked first from April until June, and after leaving to work for another company for about five months, he returned to work for J.F. Shea on November 8, 1982. Higgins arrived at the jobsite at 4:00 p.m. Near the end of his shift, a little before midnight, he slipped on a grease hose and injured his right shoulder. Witnesses disagreed on whether the shoulder was dislocated or merely sprained. The company nurse administered first aid to Higgins' shoulder by massaging it, after which, Higgins was able to raise his arm to a ninety degree angle without pain.
At about 1:00 a.m., Higgins left the jobsite alone by car for his home in West Jordan. At that time it was snowing, visibility was less than 200 feet, about 12 inches of snow had fallen since 4:30, and the roads were icy. The first 18 miles of road from the jobsite is a mountain road with many curves, some of them hairpin curves. The next stretch of road, U.S. Highway 40, curves much less and had about three inches of snow on it when Higgins left.
Higgins did not return home at the expected time. On November 10th, he was found off Highway 40, about 72 miles from the jobsite, dead from hypothermia. At a gentle curve in the road, his car apparently had continued in a straight line, gone over the embankment and stopped in some high sage brush. The left door of his car was found open, the ignition on, and the gas tank empty. Higgins was lying face down near the right rear wheel, his body frozen. An autopsy revealed that Higgins had suffered a fracture and dislocation of both shoulders and subdural hemorrhaging in both shoulders.
The claimants applied for death benefits, which the administrative law judge denied. Based on detailed findings, the administrative law judge ruled that the claimants failed to prove that Higgins' shoulder injury "was the cause of his [leaving the road] and his ensuing death by hypothermia." (Emphasis added). Claimants petitioned for review, and the case was submitted to a medical panel. The panel found that the industrial injury had merely sprained, not dislocated, Higgins' shoulder, and that although Higgins' full range of motion was limited when he left the jobsite, he had sufficient range to shift gears and steer.
The administrative law judge amended his previous findings by including the medical panel report, and again denied death benefits on the ground that claimants have "failed to sustain by a preponderance of the evidence that the injury to the decedent's right shoulder sustained during the course of his employment ... was a cause of his subsequently leaving the road ... and his ensuing death by hypothermia." (Emphasis added.) On the basis of the administrative law judge's findings and conclusions, the Industrial Commission denied review. On petition for review to this Court, the claimants challenge the Commission's finding that the decedent's industrial right shoulder injury was not a cause of his death.
Our standard for review of the Industrial Commission's findings of fact in workmen's compensation cases is well-settled. We are limited to determining whether the Commission's findings are supported by substantial evidence. Kennecott Corp. v. Industrial Commission, Utah, 675 P.2d 1187, 1192 (1983); Kent v. Industrial Commission, 89 Utah 381, 385, 57 P.2d 724, 725 (1936).
The governing statute in this case is U.C.A., 1953, section 35-1-45, which provides for compensation or death benefits if an employee is injured or killed "by accident arising out of or in the course of his employment." Under this section, the claimant must prove that the work-related event was a contributing cause of the injury. Schmidt v. Industrial...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Jex v. Utah Labor Comm'n
...¶ 18 At the core of this case is a judicially adopted principle known as the “going and coming” rule. See, e.g., Higgins v. Indus. Comm'n, 700 P.2d 704, 707 (Utah 1985); Covey–Ballard Motor Co. v. Indus. Comm'n, 64 Utah 1, 227 P. 1028, 1028 (1924). According to this rule, “accidents occurri......
-
Cross v. Board of Review of Indus. Com'n of Utah
...when he furnishes his own transportation and is injured while going to or coming from his place of employment." Higgins v. Industrial Comm'n, 700 P.2d 704, 707 (Utah 1985); see also Cherne Constr. v. Posso, 735 P.2d 384, 385 (Utah 1987); State Tax Comm'n v. Industrial Comm'n, 685 P.2d 1051,......
-
Hardman v. Salt Lake City Fleet Management
...We are limited to determining whether the Commissions's findings are supported by substantial evidence. Higgins v. Industrial Commission of Utah, 700 P.2d 704, 706 (Utah 1985); Kennecott Corp. v. Industrial Commission, 675 P.2d 1187, 1192 (Utah 1983); Kaiser Steel Corp. v. Monfredi, 631 P.2......
-
Bunnell v. Industrial Com'n of Utah, 860196
... ... Steel Corp./ Geneva ... David L. Wilkinson, Ralph L. Finlayson, Salt Lake City, for The Indus. Comn ... Erie V. Boorman, Salt Lake City, for Second Injury Fund ... DURHAM, Justice: ... Plaintiff ... See, e.g., Higgins v. Industrial ... Commission, 700 P.2d 704, 706 (Utah 1985); Hardman v. Salt Lake City Fleet Management, 725 P.2d 1323 (Utah 1986). It is not for ... ...