Rockwell Graphic Systems, Inc. v. Prince

• Decision Date: 17 April 1985
• Docket Number: No. 84-878,84-878
• Citation: 366 N.W.2d 187
• Parties: ROCKWELL GRAPHIC SYSTEMS, INC., Appellant, v. Barbara D. PRINCE, Appellee.
• Court: Iowa Supreme Court

Page 187

366 N.W.2d 187

ROCKWELL GRAPHIC SYSTEMS, INC., Appellant, v. Barbara D. PRINCE, Appellee.

No. 84-878.

Supreme Court of Iowa.

April 17, 1985.

John M. Bickel and Diane Kutzko of Shuttleworth & Ingersoll, P.C., Cedar Rapids, for appellant.

David A. Scott of Cornwall, Avery, Bjornstad & Scott, Spencer, for appellee.

Considered by REYNOLDSON, C.J., and UHLENHOPP, HARRIS, McGIVERIN, and LARSON, JJ.

UHLENHOPP, Justice.

This appeal presents three issues for consideration: whether the district court erred in placing the burden of proof on the employer to establish that the worker's injuries were not incurred in the course of The facts are hotly disputed. From the record as a whole the worker's compensation agency could find as follows. Barbara O'Brien Prince, the employee, was hired by Goss Division of Rockwell Graphics Systems, Inc. (Goss), on May 24, 1980. On July 8, 1980, while climbing down from an overhead crane, she slipped when she placed her foot upon a loose bolt on the floor and landed on her buttocks with her hands on the floor. She immediately reported the accident to the company nurse, Steven Bertch.

employment; whether, if so, the record as a whole supports the findings of the agency; and whether the agency's decision was sufficient in form.

We note that nurse Bertch's version of Prince's report of the occurrence was markedly different. He stated Prince reported "she was working in the sub-assembly area and had been reaching into a basket, was lifting out a part, and felt something pull or tingle in her back"; she pointed to an area of her back above the belt line and to the side of the midline; and she made no reference to the coccygeal area of her buttocks.

Prince attempted to stay at work through the evening, but she found the pain too intense and obtained an excuse for the rest of the night. In the morning she contacted the day nurse, Rita Swearingen, who made an appointment with the company doctor, Frederic J. Sloan. Dr. Sloan began examining Prince but was called away after a minute or two when another worker fainted. He did not perform a rectal examination nor did he take X-rays. He diagnosed low back strain, and excused Prince from work for five days until July 14, 1980. At the time of the accident Prince testified she weighed 182 pounds. She is five feet, seven inches tall.

During the period away from work Prince contracted poison ivy on the soles of her feet, which delayed her return to work until July 24, 1980. She then returned but was unable to stay at work due to back pain. She did not return to work again until August 25, 1980, when she was reprimanded for absenteeism. She tried to do her job, but found the pain intense.

Prince went to see L.S. Siekerka, a chiropractor, on November 6 and December 11, 1980. At this time, she weighed 150 pounds. She stated that this was due to constipation and pain on elimination as a result of the injury. She quit eating to try to avoid the pain, but the more weight she lost the more discomfort she suffered.

On February 27, 1981, Prince went to her family physician, Richard G. Kirsch. Dr. Kirsch performed a rectal examination and noted that her coccyx was deformed with a deviation to the left. He made an appointment for March 13, 1981, with James W. Turner, an orthopedist.

By March 2, 1981, Prince was unable to stand the pain of sitting in the crane any longer, and reported to medical aid. Nurse Bertch told her to report to sub-assembly. She did so and was given a standing job. One-half hour later the union steward and final assembly foreman came and told her to return to the crane. She said that she could not work in the crane, and she was told to go home. She made a formal claim for a standing position but the request was denied.

At Goss' request, Prince made another appointment with Dr. Sloan on March 3. She went to the appointment, and Dr. Sloan did a rectal examination. At her appointment on March 13, Dr. Turner also did a rectal examination, and he took X-rays. He instructed her on different ways of sitting which might alleviate the pain. The pain persisted. By this time Prince weighed 135 pounds.

On May 6, 1981, Dr. Turner recommended to Prince that she have her coccyx removed (coccygectomy). Dr. Turner sought a second opinion from Albert R. Coates, another orthopedist. Dr. Coates was reluctant to perform a coccygectomy because he thought the pain would merely be transferred higher up the spinal column.

On May 27, 1981, Prince was deposed by Goss. At that time Goss representatives told Prince they would rehire her for a Prince reported to medical aid on June 1, and the nurse told her to report to the sub-assembly department. The foreman of that department did not know that Prince would be coming, but gave her a job which normally involved sitting due to the presence of parts on a low table. Prince tried to do the job but, as the work required her to bend over, her back caused her pain. She called Dr. Turner for pain medication, but he was not in the office. She was referred to W.J. Robb, still another orthopedist. Dr. Robb examined her, stated that she had suffered enough, and scheduled surgery for June 15, 1981.

standing-position job; they contacted Dr. Turner, and he stated that Prince could take this sort of job.

After the surgery, Prince continued to be in pain, and suffered painful popping and cracking noises when she walked or did leg lifts. On August 12, she saw Dr. Turner again, and he stated that he did not know what caused the popping and cracking, but told her that she could return to work in one week. She returned from her visit with Dr. Turner only to be informed by the union steward and her employer that as of August 17, 1981, she was being laid off.

A friend referred Prince to John Walker, a Waterloo orthopedist. Dr. Walker requested that Prince's counsel arrange the appointment, which he did. On May 5, 1982, Dr. Walker examined Prince and made an immediate diagnosis of the problem that caused the popping and cracking. He stated that she had certain congenital abnormalities of her lower spine and sprains of the lower spinal segments. He recommended injections for the sacroiliac joint; traction; and other therapy.

Prince also consulted her present family physician, Richard Rowe; Dr. Kirsch had meantime moved away.

Prince next initiated the instant review-reopening worker's compensation proceeding. A hearing deputy heard the case, and in a detailed ruling awarded her certain benefits. Goss appealed within the agency and, after full hearing, the hearing deputy's decision was affirmed by the agency through a deputy commissioner.

Goss then sought judicial review. The district court affirmed the decision of the agency in all respects. Goss thereupon appealed to this court.

Our scope of review is limited. The basic questions are whether the district court correctly applied the law and whether the facts as found have substantial evidentiary support. If, so, we affirm. If not, reversal may be in order. Caterpillar Davenport Employees Credit Union v. Huston, 292 N.W.2d 393 (Iowa 1980); Jackson County Public Hospital v. Public Employment Relations Board, 280 N.W.2d 426, 429-30 (Iowa 1979).

I. Goss complains that the district court erred in requiring it to prove that Prince's injuries were not work related, whereas complainant has the burden to show that in fact the injuries are work related.

Goss states the rule correctly. Freeman v. Luppes Transport Co., Inc., 227 N.W.2d 143 (Iowa 1975). In Freeman we enunciated that the employee must establish three principal elements:

(1) an employer-employee relationship at the time of the injury, (2) an injury arising out of and in the course of the employment, and (3) the disability (or death) proximately caused by the injury.

Freeman at 148 (citations omitted, emphasis added).

In this case the district court inaccurately stated the burden of proof when it said:

The question before the Court, therefore, is whether Goss proved as a matter of law that claimant's injury on July 8, 1980, did not cause her to break her tailbone or cause the back problems of which she now complains.

Actually, the question before the court was whether Prince generated a fact question on the issue, upon the entire record. We will assume for purposes of decision that Goss is right, the court misapplied the burden of proof.

This misapplication does not, however, automatically require a reversal. We must examine the record to determine whether the agency used the correct burden of proof. The agency made the same findings as the hearing deputy made in the original review-reopening decision:

FINDINGS OF FACT

1. Claimant was employed by defendant employer on July 8, 1980.

2. Claimant injured her coccyx when she fell at work.

3. Defendant filed a memorandum of agreement.

4. Claimant's injury caused permanent disability to the body as a whole to the extent of 20 percent.

5. Claimant was disabled from work from March 2, 1981, through August 17, 1981.

6. Claimant's medical expenses are related to the injury, and are fair and reasonable.

7. The rate of compensation is $222.26.

CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

1. This agency has jurisdiction of the parties and subject matter.

2. Claimant was employed by defendant employer on July 8, 1980.

3. Claimant sustained an injury arising out of and in the course of her employment on July 8, 1980.

4. Claimant is entitled to healing period compensation for a period of 24 1/7 weeks.

5. Claimant is entitled to permanent partial disability compensation for a period of 100 weeks.

6. The medical expenses shall be ordered to be paid.

In arriving at his findings and conclusions the deputy commissioner applied the correct law to the burden of proof; he stated in this decision:

Based on the foregoing principles, it is found that claimant has established her burden of proof that she sustained an injury arising out of and in the course of her employment.

(Emphasis...