State, Division of Hotels/Restaurants, Division of Risk Management v. Chester J. Cole
| Decision Date | 21 November 1995 |
| Docket Number | No. 94-3909,94-3909 |
| Citation | 664 So.2d 291 |
| Parties | 20 Fla. L. Weekly D2589 STATE of Florida, DIVISION OF HOTELS/RESTAURANTS and Division of Risk Management, Appellants, v. Chester J. COLE, Appellee. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
David A. McCranie, P.A., Jacksonville, for appellants.
Mark A. Zimmerman of James, Zimmerman & Paul, DeLand, for appellee.
The judge of compensation claims (JCC) found appellee Chester Cole's heart attack to have been suffered in the scope and course of his employment with appellant. Because the JCC failed to apply the well-established test of legal causation, we reverse.
Claimant, Chester Cole, is a 47-year-old man who, at the time of his heart attack, had been employed since 1988 by the Department of Business Regulation, Division of Hotels and Restaurants, as a sanitation safety administrator. His job duties included coordinating and attending administrative hearings concerning individuals and businesses charged with violation of Florida Statutes and rules governing hotels and restaurants. Cole had chronic ischemic heart disease of long-standing duration. Approximately two weeks before June 5, 1992, Cole experienced increased chest discomfort, shortness of breath and a burning sensation in this left arm. On June 4, 1992, he participated in a chapter 120 administrative hearing involving the owner of a restaurant known as the Spaghetti House. Cole appeared at the administrative hearing with attorney Tracy Moye, who was the Division's legal representative. The hearing began at around 8:30 or 9:00 in the morning and continued until 5 p.m. Because the hearing had not been completed by 5 p.m., the hearing officer asked to reconvene the next day, which would be Friday, June 5, 1992.
On Friday Mr. Cole came in to work at the usual time, but did not concern himself with the Spaghetti House hearing until around 11 a.m. He went to lunch with attorney Moye and several other Division employees. At lunch Cole and the others discussed strategy with regard to the hearing, which was scheduled to reconvene that afternoon at 3 or 3:30 p.m.
The owner of the Spaghetti House was a very contentious individual who was not represented by counsel at the hearing. During the hearing the owner was verbally abusive toward Cole. At 5 p.m. the hearing had not concluded. Cole testified that he had never on any occasion worked past 5 p.m. Prior to June 5, 1992, Cole had always left work in time to arrive home where he relaxed and had dinner with his wife at 6 p.m. daily. On June 5, however, the participants in the hearing decided to continue through without a dinner break until conclusion. Around 8 p.m., Mr. Cole began to feel ill. At 9:30 he asked attorney Moye if he could be allowed to go home. Cole signed out at 9:30 p.m. and went home. During the night, his wife took him to an emergency room where his condition was diagnosed as anterior wall myocardial infarction.
The JCC made the following findings:
16. It is clear to me that it is unrefuted that the claimant's work day leading up to his heart attack was non-routine and arduous. Although the State of Florida has introduced evidence regarding the claimant's job description, there is no dispute that it was non-routine for the claimant to be working into the evening hours without having an opportunity to break for dinner. Based upon the testimony of the witnesses, as well as my experience in presiding over hearings, I have no doubt that the claimant's activity in attending the hearing into the evening hours was both physically and mentally demanding....
[C]onsidering the overwhelming medical testimony that the claimant's acute myocardial infarction was precipitated or triggered by the arduous work day, and considering the non-routine physical and mental demands of the work day, it is my opinion that the claimant's heart attack is consistent with the parameters for compensable heart attacks set forth in Mosca and Victor Wine. Although the Supreme Court's recent decision in Massie alludes to the fact that long working hours alone are not sufficient to qualify as non-routine physical activity, the facts in Massie appear to be distinguishable from this case. In Massie, the claimant had suffered from a long standing disease of multiple sclerosis (this distinction was noted in Zundell ). Further, in Massie, there was a lack of medical testimony regarding causation (in this case there is ample medical testimony through the deposition testimony of Dr. van den Berg and Dr. Weaver regarding causation). Further, in Massie, the claimant's long working hours had been going on for some time and may be considered to be routine, while Mr. Cole's long work day on June 5, 1992 was the first and only time he had worked that late and also included the additional factor of not breaking for dinner.
17. Having found that the claimant has sustained a compensable heart attack, I reject the defenses as raised by the employer that the claimant's heart attack was noncompensable and did not arise out of and in the course and scope of employment. Specifically, I find that the claimant's work day was sufficiently non-routine and physically demanding to meet the test for compensability under Florida Workers' Compensation Law.
The question before us is whether Mr. Cole's heart attack is compensable under the case law noted by the JCC.
In Florida, heart attacks and other internal failures are compensable "only if the employee was at the time subject to unusual strain or over-exertion not routine to the type of work he was accustomed to performing." Victor Wine & Liquor, Inc. v. Beasley, 141 So.2d 581, 589 (Fla.1961) (on rehearing...
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