Opinion
No. 78-538
Decided June 20, 1979.
Workers' compensation — Compensable injury — Gradually worsening condition not includable.
CERTIFIED by the Court of Appeals for Franklin County.
Appellee, Bernard Ratner, was employed by Kay Windsor, Inc., as a traveling sales representative, when on June 18, 1974, he suffered a heart attack while on a business trip in Columbus. Appellee, who was 64 years of age at the time, was lying in his motel bed, reading a newspaper and watching television when he experienced pains in his chest. Sometime after 10:00 p.m. appellee was admitted to a Columbus hospital, where he was diagnosed as suffering from a myocardial infarction.
Appellee alleges that the business caused him physical and mental distress, eventually leading to the heart attack. The nature of his job required appellee to carry three to four sample bags of dresses, weighing approximately 50 pounds, on business trips. Appellee was also under emotional strain, due to declining business and the fear that he would soon be discharged.
On December 31, 1975, appellee filed a claim with the Bureau of Workers' Compensation for payment of compensation and medical benefits as a result of his heart attack.
On June 24, 1976, the bureau disallowed appellee's claim. The Board of Review affirmed and the Industrial Commission refused an appeal.
Appellee instituted an appeal to the Court of Common Pleas of Franklin County. Appellee submitted an affidavit to the court from Dr. Allan H. Harris, a physician who examined appellee on January 24, 1977. In his affidavit, Dr. Harris appended a report which stated that there was a "direct relationship" between the heart attack which Mr. Ratner suffered and "his employment which placed him under both physical and emotional strain." Dr. Harris also stated that "[t]here is no denying that the condition of Coronary Artery Disease has been present [in appellee] for a number of years, since this condition takes years to develop to the extent that it produces [heart attacks]." It was Dr. Harris' opinion that this condition, in combination with the stress appellee was experiencing, precipitated the heart attack.
A motion for summary judgment, filed by Robert C. Daugherty, Administrator for the Bureau of Workers' Compensation, was sustained by the Court of Common Pleas. The Court of Appeals reversed this judgment on appeal.
The Court of Appeals finding its decision to be in conflict with the decision of the Court of Appeals for Allen County in Hamilton v. Keller (1967), 11 Ohio App.2d 121, certified the record of the case to this court for review and final determination.
Mr. Benjamin B. Sheerer and Ms. Paula R. Goodwin, for appellee. Mr. William J. Brown, attorney general, Mr. Michael J. Hickey and Mr. John F. Livorno, for appellant.
The Court of Appeals based its decision to overturn the trial court's determination granting summary judgment for appellant entirely on its holding in Bowman v. National Graphics Corp. (Franklin Co. Ct. of App., Aug. 18, 1977), No. 77AP-173, unreported. Although the Court of Appeals was correct in finding the facts of this cause to be within the purview of its holding in Bowman, in view of this court's recent decision in Bowman v. National Graphics Corp. (1978), 55 Ohio St.2d 222, reversing the appellate court's interpretation of the law in the aforementioned case, the judgment of the Court of Appeals must be reversed.
In Bowman, this court held that job-related injuries resulting from a gradual worsening condition are not compensable under R.C. 4123.01(C). The record discloses, without dispute, that appellee suffered from a progressively worsening condition of the heart, eventually culminating in the heart attack. As there was no specifict incident that appellee could identify as causing his heart attack, appellee, under the authority of Bowman, is not entitled to participate in the Workers' Compensation fund.
R.C. 4123.01(C) defines a compensable injury as follows:
"`Injury' includes any injury, whether caused by external accidental means or accidental in character and result, received in the course of, and arising out of, the injured employee's employment."
Accordingly, the judgment of the Court of Appeals is reversed.
Judgment reversed.
HERBERT, W. BROWN, P. BROWN and MAHONEY, JJ., concur.
CELEBREZZE, C.J., SWEENEY and LOCHER, JJ., concur in the judgment.
MAHONEY, J., of the Ninth Appellate District, sitting for HOLMES, J.