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Tillman v. Madison County Sheriff's Department3/1/1999
REVERSED
OPINION
This workers' compensation appeal has been referred to the Special Workers' Compensation Appeals Panel of the Supreme Court in accordance with Tenn. Code Ann. § 50-6-225(e)(3) for hearing and reporting to the Supreme Court of findings of fact and Conclusions of law.
Review of the findings of fact made by the trial court is de novo upon the record of the trial court, accompanied by a presumption of the correctness of the findings, unless the preponderance of the evidence is otherwise. Tenn. Code Ann. § 50-6-225(e)(2). Stone v. City of McMinnville, 896 S.W.2d 548, 550 (Tenn. 1995). The application of this standard requires this Court to weigh in more depth the factual findings and Conclusions of the trial court in a workers' compensation case. See Corcoran v. Foster Auto GMC, Inc., 746 S.W.2d 452, 456 (Tenn. 1988).
The trial court found the plaintiff, a police officer, had suffered a heart attack during the course of making an arrest of a large, strong man who resisted the plaintiff and other officers when he was being taken into custody. The trial Judge found the plaintiff had suffered a 45 percent permanent partial vocational disability.
We find the evidence does not support the finding that the plaintiff suffered a heart attack and reverse the judgment.
First, we note that this case is not based upon Tenn. Code Ann. § 7-51-201(a)(1) because counsel for the plaintiff at the commencement of trial argued to the court that the case did not involve the presumption created by that statute. Therefore, the trial Judge held it was not necessary to address the presumption.
At the time of trial, the plaintiff was age 51 and a high school graduate. He had previously worked in plants in the area in which he lived. In 1987, the plaintiff began work for the Madison County Sheriff's Department. His primary duty was as a jailor.
On August 26, 1996, the plaintiff was called to the local courthouse because of a disturbance being created by a man. The plaintiff began to talk to the man, whom he described as being very irate and having the appearance of being under the influence of something. Other officers came to assist the plaintiff, and he, along with the other officers, set about to physically subdue the man. The plaintiff testified this man was very strong and it required a considerable amount of exertion to arrest him.
The plaintiff testified he began to suffer chest pains during this fracas. The plaintiff returned to his office but continued to suffer heart pain and went to his home. The plaintiff then went to a local hospital for care. He testified the pain lasted approximately one hour and 15 minutes.
The plaintiff was treated by a cardiologist in the Jackson Hospital Emergency Room and then by Dr. Tony Phillips, a cardiologist who took over his care. Ultimately, Dr. Allen Spalding performed coronary by-pass surgery on the plaintiff.
Although we do not think in the context of this case, for purposes of determining the issue raised, the plaintiff's past history is that significant, we note that the plaintiff has a history of heart problems dating back to 1988 and that he was treated by angioplasty in October 1994 and again in November 1995. The plaintiff began to have some symptoms six weeks prior to the August 26, 1996 event and had made an appointment to see Dr. Phillips on August 26, 1996, the day of the event in this case.
The medical evidence in this case consists of three medical depositions and various medical records of Dr. Phillips and Dr. Spalding. The medical depositions were from Dr. Spalding, a cardiologist who did the cor
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