Richardson v. Robbins Lumber, Inc.

• Decision Date: 04 November 1977
• Citation: 379 A.2d 380
• Court: Maine Supreme Court
• Parties: Robert H. RICHARDSON, Jr. v. ROBBINS LUMBER, INC. and/or Commercial Union Assurance Companies.

Page 380

379 A.2d 380

Robert H. RICHARDSON, Jr. v. ROBBINS LUMBER, INC. and/or Commercial Union Assurance Companies.

Supreme Judicial Court of Maine.

Nov. 4, 1977.

Eaton, Glass & Marsano by Francis C. Marsano, Belfast (orally), for plaintiff.

Mitchell, Ballou & Keith by Kevin M. Cuddy (orally), James E. Mitchell, Bangor, for defendant.

Before McKUSICK, C. J., and POMEROY, WERNICK, ARCHIBALD, DELAHANTY, GODFREY and NICHOLS, JJ.

McKUSICK, Chief Justice.

The claimant, Robert H. Richardson, Jr., appeals a pro forma Superior Court order affirming an Industrial Accident Commission decree denying him workmen's compensation benefits on two petitions for award of compensation.

We sustain the appeal and remand the case to the Commission for the taking of further evidence.

On April 15, 1974, Richardson, an employee of Robbins Lumber, Inc. (Robbins), was struck on his right side by a board while sorting lumber on a spruce chain at the Robbins yard. Experiencing severe back pain, Richardson reported the incident to the employer and on Mr. Robbins' advice took the rest of the day off. Thereafter, his employer generally assigned Richardson to less strenuous jobs, enabling him to continue on the job despite occasional pain in his legs and back when he jumped down from a forklift or attempted to lift a heavy object.

On August 7, 1974, while working at the Robbins planing mill, Richardson was struck in the back again by a piece of lumber. Once before that August incident, he had consulted Dr. John W. Wickenden, who had diagnosed his condition as degenerative disc disease, with possibly a mild herniated disc, prescribing medication and treatment accordingly. After the August incident, Richardson saw Dr. Wickenden several times, and the earlier diagnosis was confirmed. During the next several weeks Richardson continued to work, although even the lighter duties to which he was generally assigned sometimes provoked back pain requiring him to lose days from work, and in October Dr. Wickenden prescribed two weeks of full rest. Late that month, Richardson left Maine by automobile for what turned out to be two round trips to Missouri to visit his brother and look for work. On December 6, 1974, at a point in Ohio, on his second return trip from Missouri, the automobile in which Richardson was a passenger was struck from behind by a tractor-trailer, triggering a recurrence of his back pain. Dr. Wickenden again examined Richardson on December 23, 1974, and recommended a myelogram and a possible laminectomy. In February 1975 Richardson underwent two back operations for removal of a ruptured disc. Neither operation proved successful, and since March of 1975 Richardson has been totally disabled.

In April 1975 Richardson filed two petitions for award of compensation based upon the incidents occurring at work in April and August 1974. After a succession of hearings, the commissioner found the evidence insufficient to sustain either petition and order both dismissed. A pro forma order of the Superior Court was entered, from which the employee now appeals.

Before this court, the employee asserts that the commissioner predicated his decree denying compensation upon an incorrect principle of causation. Misapplication of law to established facts comprises error plainly warranting reversal. Harlow v. Agway, Inc., Me., 327 A.2d 856, 858 (1974); Crosby v. Grandview Nursing Home, Me., 290 A.2d 375, 379 (1972). To support his argument, the employee points to the closing paragraph of the commissioner's decree:

"We conclude that it would be merely a guess to conclude the condition that existed in January of 1975, and which was treated surgically in February of 1975, is attributable solely to the occurrences at work in April and August of 1974. As noted above, there were several other occurrences, particularly the automobile accident which could have well been the proximate cause of the back problem as it existed in January of 1975. The evidence is insufficient to sustain either Petition and, therefore, they are hereby dismissed." (Emphasis added)

The quoted language, the employee argues, wrongly requires him to prove that the employment-related incidents were the sole cause of his disability. We agree with the employee's reading of this critical language of the decree and accordingly must sustain the appeal.

It is settled law in Maine that an employee need not prove that a personal injury arising out of and in the course of his employment constituted the sole cause of his ultimate disability. MacLeod v. Great Northern Paper Co., Me., 268 A.2d 488, 489 (1970). See Barrett v. Herbert Engineering, Inc., Me., 371 A.2d 633, 636 (1977); Oliver v. Wyandotte Industries Corp., Me., 360 A.2d 144, 147 (1976); Canning v. State Dept. of Transportation, Me., 347 A.2d 605, 609 (1975). At the outset, to prove entitlement to compensation, the employee must show that a personal injury occurred "arising out of and in the course of" his employment; in other words, he must prove a work-related injury. 39 M.R.S.A. § 51 (1973 Supp.) (amended 1975). Once the existence of a work-related injury has been established, the employer is then liable for compensation benefits for all harm flowing from the injury. Willette v. Statler Tissue Corp., Me., 331 A.2d 365 (1975). Thus, if Richardson's degenerative disc condition arose out of and in the course of his employment, his employer's responsibility for compensation extends through all progressive stages of deterioration. The question would be a factual one of tracing the consequences forward from the date of the original injury at work.

In this case, subsequent to the initial allegedly work-related injury, Richardson suffered renewed back pain following an admittedly non-work-related incident, namely, the December automobile accident. The employer argues that the later automobile accident was an independent, intervening cause sufficient to sever the causal chain set in motion by any prior work-related injury. Whether the...