Smith v. Crane Cams, Inc., AF-1

• Decision Date: 08 September 1982
• Docket Number: No. AF-1,AF-1
• Citation: 418 So.2d 1266
• Parties: Howard Evan SMITH, Appellant, v. CRANE CAMS, INC. and Fireman's Insurance of Newark, Appellees.
• Court: Florida District Court of Appeals

Page 1266

418 So.2d 1266

Howard Evan SMITH, Appellant, v. CRANE CAMS, INC. and Fireman's Insurance of Newark, Appellees.

No. AF-1.

District Court of Appeal of Florida First District.

Sept. 8, 1982.

Frank E. Maloney, Jr., Fort Lauderdale, for appellant.

Charles Desmond Crowley, Fort Lauderdale, for appellees.

ERVIN, Judge.

We reverse and remand the deputy commissioner's order in this workers' compensation case involving two purported occupational diseases. The diseases contracted were forms of dermatitis, and this case is governed by the 1978 Workers' Compensation Act.

Smith was employed by Crane Cams as a screw machine supervisor. He was required to stand and work in unusually dirty oil. Although he had worked with machines for 17 years at other jobs without incident, he began experiencing problems with his fingertips after only a few months at the employer's job site. Smith was sent by his employer to Dr. Geoffrey Siegel, who noted black blotches underneath Smith's nails on his right hand. He diagnosed a bacterial infection known as pseudomonis, which was attributed to the oily conditions at Crane Cams. However, Siegel's associate, Dr. Horowitz, detected a pseudomonis infection of the toenail bed and onychomycosis of the fingernail bed, which is a fungus infection. The onychomycosis was found to be developing secondary to the pseudomonis and was also related to the oily environment at Crane Cams. Horowitz recommended that claimant not return to work for at least four to five months.

During the period that the claimant was undergoing treatment by Horowitz and Siegel, his employer sent him to Dr. Burgess for one consultation visit. Dr. Burgess confirmed the existence of the fungus infection, a condition which causes the patient's nails to separate from the nail beds. He further indicated that the fungus might be causally related as a secondary condition, but was not directly related to the machine oils with which the claimant worked. Burgess felt that the fungus was an ordinary disease of life, often observed in cases involving individuals working in wet or dry conditions.

Dr. Horowitz offered the opinion during his deposition that the fungal infection could happen to anyone, is an ordinary disease of life, and is not normally associated with oily environments. Nevertheless, in direct contradiction to his deposition testimony, Horowitz submitted a chart correlating many dermatological conditions with particular occupations. According to the chart, the onychia fungus is an occupational affliction of machinists caused by grease. Another physician, Dr. Siegel, did not associate the fungus infection with any occupation, but he posited that one holding a job such as that of a machinist, wherein one must immerse his or her hands in water or chemicals, is more subject to onychomycosis.

Regarding the pseudomonis, Dr. Burgess stated that it was a disease more likely to appear in occupations that are irritating to the skin. Dr. Horowitz further amplified upon this testimony, stating that the disease is customarily found in the machinist trade or in jobs, such as baking, bartending or bricklaying, which demand a significant amount of handling of wet objects.

Later, during the hearing, the deputy commissioner heard testimony from two of the employer's supervisors, who had ten years' experience with Crane Cams and forty-four years of experience in the trade, respectively. Both agreed they had never observed or heard of problems in their profession with either the pseudomonis bacteria or onychomycosis fungus. Based on the foregoing evidence, the deputy concluded that the disease was not compensable by applying the test required to determine compensability of occupational diseases. We consider that his findings were incomplete, and remand for further proceedings.

As we have observed on numerous occasions, the four prongs of the occupational disease test are:

(1) the disease must be actually caused by employment conditions that are characteristic of and peculiar to a particular occupation (2) the disease must be actually contracted during employment in the particular occupation;

(3) the occupation must present a particular hazard of the disease occurring so as to distinguish that occupation from usual occupations, or the incidence of the disease must be substantially higher in the occupation than in usual occupations; and

(4) if the disease is an ordinary disease of life, the incidence of such a disease must be substantially higher in the particular occupation than in the general public.

Lake v. Irwin Yacht & Marine Corp., 398 So.2d 902, 904 (Fla. 1st DCA 1981). ¹

As to the first criterion, the deputy found no causal relationship between the oily conditions at the work site and the claimant's fungal infection. The deputy's order suggests that this finding is based on the lack of testing to determine if oils cause the fungus. However, we have previously discounted the need to conduct chemical tests to establish a causal relationship between a disease condition, such as a bacterial or fungal infection, and conditions at the work site or on the job. See King Motor Co. v. Pollack, 409 So.2d 160, 164-165 (Fla. 1st DCA 1982); Irwin Yacht, supra, at 904-905. Because the deputy erred, a re-evaluation of the evidence is necessary.

Since the first prong of the test requires a causal tie between the pseudomonis/onychomycosis and "employment conditions that are characteristic of and peculiar to a particular occupation," we first examine this standard (emphasis supplied). We point out that use of the term "peculiar" does not mean that the hazard or opportunity to contract dermatitis must be unique to the job, or that the disease must be "exclusive to" the particular occupation. ² It means merely that there must be "an increased risk" to which a claimant is exposed in his or her occupation so as to constitute a hazard or condition distinguishing the job from the broad lines of normal employment. See Booker v. Duke Medical Center, 297 N.C. 458, 256 S.E.2d 189, 198-199 (1979); Irwin Yacht, supra, at 905. As noted by the North Carolina Supreme Court: "A disease is 'characteristic' of a profession when there is a recognizable link between the nature of the job and an increased risk of contracting the disease in question." Booker, supra, 256 S.E.2d at 198. ³

To date at least two Florida cases have found a sufficient tie between contact dermatitis and occupations involving the use of oil. See Boggs v. Tire King, Inc., 5 F.C.R. 213 (1963) (claimant was a mechanic); Bridges v. Standard Oil Co., Inc. of Kentucky, 1 F.C.R. 213 (1955) (claimant suffered eczematous dermatitis, job unknown). We find that, as a matter of law, working with oil as a machinist meets the "characteristic of and peculiar to" criterion of the four-pronged test. However, the first prong requires also establishment of a causal tie between the characteristic and peculiar employment condition and the disease. The deputy made no finding in this regard concerning the pseudomonis. Such a finding appears to be absolutely essential, since the evidence suggests that the fungal infection may have been secondary to the pseudomonis bacterial infection. For example our review of the record reveals that Dr. Siegel testified without contradiction that the pseudomonis infection was causally related to the claimant's work with machine oils. Moreover, if the testimony of both Drs. Horowitz and Burgess were accepted by the deputy, he could properly conclude that the fungal infection was related to claimant's use of machine oil. Re-evaluation of this evidence by the deputy for further fact-finding purposes will be necessary.

The second prong of the occupational disease test requires the claimant to establish that the disease was actually contracted during employment. The deputy...