Raines, Matter of, 76-1345
| Decision Date | 30 October 1978 |
| Docket Number | No. 76-1345,76-1345 |
| Citation | 36 Or.App. 715,585 P.2d 721 |
| Parties | In the Matter of the Compensation of the Beneficiaries of Forrest RAINES, Deceased. Theresa M. RAINES, Claimant and Beneficiary, Appellant, v. EDWARD HINES LUMBER CO., Employer and Carrier, Respondent. ; CA 10612. |
| Court | Oregon Court of Appeals |
Harold Banta, Baker, argued the cause for appellant. With him on the brief was Banta, Silven & Young, Baker.
Scott M. Kelley, Portland, argued the cause for respondent. With him on the brief were Donald O. Costello and Cheney & Kelley, Portland.
Before RICHARDSON, P. J., and LEE and JOSEPH, JJ.
Claimant, the deceased worker's widow, appeals denial of benefits under the Workers' Compensation Act. The referee denied the claim and the Workers' Compensation Board adopted the opinion of the referee. Claimant asserts that where the evidence is evenly balanced the liberal construction of the Act afforded injured workers should tip the evenly balanced scales in favor of claimant. Secondly, she argues there is a presumption in favor of compensability when a worker suffers a heart attack during working hours and while engaged in the performance of duties for the employer. Finally, she contends the medical opinions of two of the medical experts should be disregarded because they were based on inaccurate and incomplete hypothetical fact situations.
The facts surrounding the worker's death are essentially undisputed. He was a fifty-three year old log truck driver who weighed 230 pounds and stood five feet ten and one-half inches tall. Claimant testified her husband was in good health prior to suffering the fatal heart attack. However, postmortem medical evidence disclosed he had a preexisting arteriosclerotic heart condition which was unknown to the worker or his family. He also suffered from hypertension which was being controlled by medication.
Claimant stated the decedent arose in his customary fashion, ate a normal breakfast and left for work at approximately 4:30 or 5:00 a. m. on the date of his death. He made no complaints of illness or discomfort to his wife on that day or the previous day.
Decedent picked up his log truck, drove to the logging site of his employer, picked up a load of logs and delivered the load to the mill site. He returned to the logging site and parked his truck along the side of the road to await his next load of logs. Decedent walked up to the area where another truck was being loaded. He observed this process for a short period of time and then began walking back toward his truck. He was found dead near his truck approximately ten minutes later. Neither his death or his activities immediately preceding it were observed by the other workers in the area.
Decedent was found lying in a crumpled position with his head against a log on the side of the road down an incline approximately three feet lower than the road. The body was opposite the driver's door of the truck which was standing open. The distance from the body to the truck was approximately 20 feet. Decedent's hard hat, which he had been wearing when observed walking on the road, was lying on the ground midway between his body and the truck. He was clutching one glove in his hand and the other was found lying on the roadway about five feet from the body.
The air temperature at the time was 15 to 20 degrees, the ground was frozen and there was a dusting of snow present. The mortician who prepared the body for burial noted a bruise and "V" shaped laceration on the front of decedent's head near the hairline, an abrasion inside the lower right hand side of his mouth which appeared to be made by a tooth cutting into the lip area and an "L" shaped cut on the back of his head where some bleeding had occurred. The evidence indicated there was a small amount of blood on the log where decedent's head was lying.
Decedent died of a heart attack. The death certificate listed death due to "Hypertensive Arteriosclerotic Heart Disease." All three cardiac specialists who presented written reports concluded death was from cardiac arrhythmia or loss of heart rhythm. The expert evidence indicated this heart failure could occur spontaneously or be induced by some type of stress. None of the experts stated that stress of necessity would had to have been involved.
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