Owings v. Anderson County Sheriff's Dept., 23912

• Decision Date: 18 May 1993
• Docket Number: No. 23912,23912
• Citation: 433 S.E.2d 869,315 S.C. 297
• Court: South Carolina Supreme Court
• Parties: Bobby OWINGS, Appellant, v. ANDERSON COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT, Respondent. . Heard

Page 869

433 S.E.2d 869

315 S.C. 297

Bobby OWINGS, Appellant, v. ANDERSON COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT, Respondent.

No. 23912.

Supreme Court of South Carolina.

Heard May 18, 1993.

Decided Aug. 9, 1993.

Rehearing Denied Aug. 26, 1993.

Alan R. Cochran, of Williams & Henry, P.A., Greenville, for appellant.

F. Earl Ellis, Jr., Ernest J. Nauful, Jr., and Andrew F. Lindemann, all of Nauful & Ellis, P.A., Columbia, for respondent.

TOAL, Justice:

In this workers' compensation case, the Commission denied the employee benefits, finding his unstable angina was not causally related to his employment. We affirm.

FACTS

The claimant, Owings, was diagnosed with early atherosclerotic disease and angina in 1982. At that time, it was noted that Owings was at a "very great risk for developing progressive narrowing and clinically significant coronary artery disease." In March of 1988, Owings began working for the sheriff's department. On November 30, 1988, Owings participated in physical training at the Law Enforcement Academy, which is required of all law officers. Owings performed push-ups, bench presses, and sit-ups on the first day. Owings was unable to sleep in the Academy's barracks that night. The next morning, December 1, Owings was scheduled to complete a timed one and one-half mile run on an outdoor track. After running one or two laps in thirty-one degree weather, Owings developed chest pain and stopped running. Medical tests performed at that time conclusively showed Owings had had a heart attack at some time after 1982; however, it was undisputed his heart attack occurred prior to the running incident on December 1, 1988.

Since December 1, 1988, Owings has developed increased cardiac problems rendering him unable to perform physical labor. According to the report of Dr. Koch, his family physician, Owings' development of unstable angina was more likely than not made worse by the unusual stress and strain of running on December 1. Conversely, Dr. Juk, a cardiologist, reviewed Owings' medical records and opined that the incident of December 1 did not aggravate Owings' underlying cardiac disease, and in fact probably was helpful in that it alerted Owings to the progression of his cardiac disease.

The single commissioner awarded Owings benefits. The Full Commission reversed, finding that Owings was not involved in any unusual or extraordinary activity on December 1, and alternatively that his current cardiac problems were not causally related to that activity. The circuit court affirmed and Owings appeals to this Court.

LAW/ANALYSIS

In order to be entitled to workers' compensation benefits, the employee must show he or she sustained an "injury by accident arising out of and in the course of the employment." S.C.Code Ann. § 44-1-160 (1985). The term "arising out of" in the Workers' Compensation Act refers to the origin of the cause of the accident, while the term "in the course of" refers to the time, place, and circumstances under which the accident occurred. Bickley v. South Carolina Electric & Gas Co., 259 S.C. 463, 192 S.E.2d 866 (1972). An injury arises out of employment when there is apparent to the rational mind, upon consideration of all the circumstances, a causal...