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Jensen v. City of Pocatello12/15/2000
as having a "MEDICAL REACTION" and treated Jensen with Benadryl.
Therefore, the Industrial Commission referee had before it a distinct accident that produced "an unexpected, undesigned, and unlooked for mishap, or untoward event . . . ." Clearly, having a severe medical reaction to taking medication for a headache is not an expected event. Thus, we hold that Jensen's medical reaction to the Pain-Off was an accident within the definition provided by the Idaho Code. However, the issue then becomes whether the accident caused an injury which arose "out of and in the course of an employment covered by the worker's compensation law." I.C. ยง 72- 102 (17)(a).
This Court has held that "an injury which cannot be traced to the worker's employment as a contributing proximate cause and which comes from a hazard to which a worker would have been equally exposed outside of the workplace is not compensable under our worker's compensation system." Evans v. Hara's, Inc., 123 Idaho 473, 480, 849 P.2d 934, 941 (1993). In that case, Evans suffered a head injury when he fell on the concrete floor at his place of employment. Id. at 475, 849 P.2d at 936. It was determined that the fall was caused by an alcohol withdrawal seizure. Id. The fall was in an area away from any machinery and "ten to twelve feet from any object." Id. at 476, 849 P.2d at 937.
The Court concluded that the injury was not compensable because it was one in which "a worker would have been equally exposed outside of the workplace." Id. at 480, 849 P.2d at 941. Further, the Court noted that "an injury resulting from an idiopathic fall at the workplace does not arise out of employment and is not compensable under our worker's compensation system without evidence of some contribution from the workplace." Id.
In the present case, the City argues that Jensen's injury was not contributed to by his workplace, and that the ingestion of the Pain-Off was a danger he was equally exposed to outside his workplace. However, as indicated by the Industrial Commission's referee, there is no evidence to support the claim that Jensen was as exposed to Pain-Off outside his employment as there was in Evans. In Evans, the Court found that nothing from the employment contributed to the injury. However, here there was medical evidence that the Pain-Off contributed to the injury. Thus, Jensen has provided evidence that the medication he received at work contributed to, if not caused, his injury of May 1, 1997. Thus, this Court concludes that the present case is distinguishable from Evans and holds that Jensen's illness was an injury under the definition contained in Idaho Code section 72-102(17).
C. The Industrial Commission's Conclusion That Jensen Had Failed To Establish That His Renal Failure Was Causally Related To An Industrial Accident Is Not Supported By Substantial And Competent Evidence.
The City argues that there is substantial and competent evidence to support the Industrial Commission's conclusion that Jensen failed to prove that his renal failure was causally related to his ingestion of Pain-Off. Jensen, on the other hand, argues that the Industrial Commission erred because its conclusions were inconsistent.
As indicated in the standard of review, this Court will not overturn a decision of the Industrial Commission if there is substantial and competent evidence to support its findings. Zapata v. J.R. Simplot Co., 132 Idaho 513, 515, 975 P.2d 1178, 1180 (1999). "Substantial evidence is more than a scintilla of proof, but less than a preponderance. It is relevant evidence that a reasonable mind might accept to support a conclusion." Id.
In a hearing before the Industrial Commis
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