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Lockridge v. Santens of America2/20/2001
Appeal From Anderson County Thomas J. Ervin, Circuit Court Judge
Heard October 12, 2000
AFFIRMED
In a decision affirmed by the workers' compensation commission and the circuit court, the single commissioner found Perry W. Lockridge was not entitled to benefits, concluding his heart attack was not an injury by accident arising out of and in the course of his employment. Lockridge appeals. We affirm.
BACKGROUND
In February 1994, Santens of America, a manufacturer of towels, hired Lockridge as a lead man on the weekend shift. A lead man is responsible for mixing dyes and chemicals and operating the dye machine. Operating the dye machine requires the lead man to lift buckets and bags weighing fifty to fifty-five pounds each.
In November 1994, Lockridge experienced heart problems requiring angioplasty. By December 1994, Lockridge had returned to work as a lead man on the weekend shift. Between January and June of 1995, the plant closed eleven weeks due to a slowdown in production. In July 1995, Lockridge was promoted to department head of the dyehouse, a weekday job that also required him to report to work on Saturday. In this position, Lockridge supervised the lead men, performed inventory counts, and checked the dye colors. Lockridge's job essentially consisted of office work, and he no longer lifted buckets and bags of chemicals.
On October 14, 1995, Lockridge planned to go to the plant for a shift change and to check the dye. The lead man scheduled for the 11:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. shift could not work, and Lockridge was unable to get a replacement lead man to report until 3:00 p.m. Lockridge had decided to close down the dyeing operation between 11:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m., but the plant manager persuaded Lockridge to fill in as the lead man during that time frame.
Lockridge worked the four hour shift for the dyeing operation utilizing four vats and two dryers. When Lockridge worked as a lead man prior to his promotion, he operated only three vats and one dryer. Lockridge lifted between 1600 and 3000 pounds of chemicals during the shift.
As he worked, Lockridge became extremely tired, began sweating, and developed pain in his neck and jaw. He also experienced shortness of breath and soreness between his shoulders. Although Lockridge originally intended to stay at the plant until 5:00 p.m., the onset of these symptoms caused him to return home as soon as the replacement lead man arrived at 3:00 p.m.
Throughout the evening, Lockridge continued to experience symptoms and eventually was transported to the emergency room at Anderson Area Medical Center where he was diagnosed as having sustained a heart attack. Lockridge was then transferred to Greenville Memorial Hospital where he underwent quadruple bypass heart surgery. Lockridge was fifty-eight years old at the time of the heart attack.
Following his operation, Lockridge returned to work at Santens in various capacities but was terminated in December 1996 for reasons not involved here and has not been employed since.
In denying Lockridge's claim, the single commissioner concluded he did not suffer an injury by accident arising out of and in the course of employment. Moreover, the commissioner found Lockridge's heart attack was not caused or induced by unexpected strain or overexertion in the performance of his job duties or by unusual or extraordinary conditions in his employment on October 14, 1995. The full commission determined that all of the single commissioner's findings of fact and rulings of law were correct as stated, affirmed the hearing commissioner, and adopted his decision as its own. The circ
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