Prudential Bank v. Moore
| Decision Date | 17 January 1996 |
| Docket Number | No. A95A2467,A95A2467 |
| Citation | 467 S.E.2d 7,219 Ga.App. 847 |
| Parties | PRUDENTIAL BANK et al. v. MOORE. |
| Court | Georgia Court of Appeals |
Workers' compensation. Fulton Superior Court. Before Judge Cook.
Savell & Williams, Mark S. Gannon, Vincent A. Toreno, Atlanta, for appellants.
Drew, Eckl & Farnham, Charles L. Drew, Atlanta, for appellee.
The appellants Prudential Bank and its insurer appeal the trial court's reversal of the denial of benefits to claimant Moore by the appellate division of the State Board of Workers' Compensation.
Claimant was employed as a computer clerk with Prudential. When her supervisor noted that there were numerous errors in her work, claimant explained that these errors were related to vision problems. Shortly thereafter, claimant had a fall at work, apparently from fainting, and hit her head on the baseboard. She alleges suffering diplopia (double vision), headaches, neck pain, and carpal tunnel syndrome as a result of the fall. The administrative law judge made an award in favor of Prudential, finding that the idiopathic fall did not arise out of claimant's employment, and therefore she was not entitled to workers' compensation benefits. The ALJ also found that she failed to prove that any disability she suffered was causally connected to the accident. The appellate division disputed a factual finding relating to claimant's supervisor testifying at the administrative hearing, but it affirmed the finding that the fall did not arise out of claimant's employment and that benefits would not be awarded, citing Borden Foods Co. v. Dorsey, 112 Ga.App. 838, 146 S.E.2d 532 (1965). Claimant appealed to the superior court, which agreed that Borden was controlling. Nevertheless, it disagreed with the appellate division's application of Borden to the facts, reversed the decision and remanded the case.
1. Injuries from idiopathic falls on the job generally are not afforded coverage under the Workers' Compensation Act, since they do not arise out of the employment although they occur in the course of employment. OCGA § 34-9-1(4). Borden Foods Co., supra at 838, 146 S.E.2d 532. There is a narrow exception when, in the process of the idiopathic fall, the claimant strikes some object specifically related to the work place, such as a work bench, machinery or equipment, because of the "increased risk" caused by the presence of the work-related object. United States Cas. Co. v. Richardson, 75 Ga.App. 496, 500, 43 S.E.2d 793 (1947). Claimant maintains the Richardson decision compels that she be compensated in that her idiopathic fall was not directly to the floor, but was interrupted by hitting her head on the baseboard, which she maintains was an increased risk of her employment. Claimant's attempt to contrast hitting one's head on a floor baseboard as opposed to hitting...
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Chaparral Boats, Inc. v. Heath, A04A0981.
...court in Johnson cited the cases of Borden Foods Co. v. Dorsey, 112 Ga.App. 838, 146 S.E.2d 532 (1965) and Prudential Bank v. Moore, 219 Ga.App. 847, 467 S.E.2d 7 (1996). In Borden Foods, evidence showed that, while the employee was walking through the employer's plant to her place of work,......
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Johnson v. Publix Supermarkets
...court found two cases dispositive: Borden Foods Co. v. Dorsey, 112 Ga.App. 838, 146 S.E.2d 532 (1965), and Prudential Bank v. Moore, 219 Ga.App. 847, 467 S.E.2d 7 (1996). It further As [with] the claimant in Borden Foods, Appellee was walking at the time of the fall; she did not fall over a......
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Johnson v. Publix Supermarkers et al., A02A0428
...superior court found two cases dispositive: Borden Foods v. Dorsey, 112 Ga. App. 838 (146 SE2d 532) (1965) and Prudential Bank v. Moore, 219 Ga. App. 847 (467 SE2d 7) (1996). It further As [with] the claimant in Borden Foods, Appellant was walking at the time of the fall; she did not fall o......
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DEKALB COLLISION CENTER, INC. v. Foster
...arose out of employment). 11. Edwards, supra at 567(1), 263 S.E.2d 455; see also Booth, supra. 12. See, e.g., Prudential Bank v. Moore, 219 Ga.App. 847, 848(1), 467 S.E.2d 7 (1996) ("causative danger must be peculiar to the work") (punctuation omitted); A & P Transp. v. Warren, 213 Ga.App. ......
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Workers' Compensation - H. Michael Bagley, Daniel C. Kniffen, Katherine D. Dixon, and Marion H. Martin
...S.E.2d 455 (1979). 32. Id. at 567, 263 S.E.2d at 456. 33. 254 Ga. App. at 480, 562 S.E.2d at 744. See, e.g., Prudential Bank v. Moore, 219 Ga. App. 847, 467 S.E.2d 7 (1996); A & P Transp. v. Warren, 213 Ga. App. 60, 443 S.E.2d 857 (1994); Swanson v. Lockheed Air Craft Corp., 181 Ga. App. 87......
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