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SEAMANS v. MAACO AUTO PAINTING5/23/1996
This is an appeal from an Industrial Commission (Commission) decision in a worker's compensation case. The Respondent Dale Harris Seamans (Seamans) seeks compensation for injuries he allegedly sustained in the course of his employment with Appellant Maaco Auto Painting & Bodyworks (Maaco) caused by falling from Maaco's roof. Although the Commission found that it could not determine whether Seamans' fall was accidental or intentional, it found that Seamans had proven a compensable accident. We affirm.
I. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
Seamans worked for Maaco from 1978 to 1991. On June 7, 1991, in the course of his employment with Maaco, Seamans suffered an undisplaced right pelvic fracture and right foot injuries after falling from Maaco's roof. At the time of his injury, Seamans was a manager at Maaco.
On the day of the injury, Seamans told the owner that he had come in early to clean the ventilation stack. Seamans asked a co-worker,
Steve Kraus, to help him. They first cleaned the lower portion accessible from the paint booth and then the roof portion. During the latter process, Seamans returned to the ground. When Kraus believed the project was complete, he called Seamans back up to inspect the stack. They finished scraping and Seamans went around the stack to retrieve the remaining tools. Kraus was in the process of tightening the screws when he stood up and noticed that Seamans was rolling down the roof. Kraus thought the fall was intentional because he did not hear Seamans fall and because Seamans did not cry out for help or put his arms or legs out to stop himself. Seamans fell about 15 feet to the ground below.
Seamans' Pre-Fall State of Mind. For about two to three weeks before the fall, Seamans had daily conversations with a co-worker, Tim Cronin, in which he conveyed his belief that Seamans' wife was having an affair with a neighbor and that she would take the children and leave him.
Seamans also exhibited what others perceived as paranoid-type behavior during the two to three weeks prior to the fall. Although the owner of Maaco reported that Seamans was functioning effectively at work before the fall, Tim Cronin stated Seamans appeared sad and upset, was short-tempered, and his hands trembled, throughout the two weeks preceding the fall.
Seamans' Post-Fall State of Mind. Seamans was taken to the emergency room by paramedics and was combative and belligerent on the way to the hospital. He remained in the hospital overnight. During the next week, Seamans accused his wife of poisoning his sandwich, and for the first time, accused her of having an affair with his boss, Maaco's owner. On June 17, 1991, Seamans returned to work on crutches, but stopped working after about two hours because he felt depressed, began thinking about his boss and his wife all the time and felt his boss did not want him back. He went home and never returned to work.
Seamans' condition continued to deteriorate. In July 1991, Seamans was taken to Intermountain Hospital by his brother where he remained for five days. He was diagnosed as having major depression with early psychotic features and suicidal ideation. Soon thereafter, Seamans tried to strangle his wife. For the next two weeks Seamans did not shave or bathe. He then underwent voluntary treatment at the New Hope Center Hospital. His wife reported a major personality change since the fall.
In August 1991, Seamans was readmitted to Intermountain Hospital where he came under the care of Dr. Michael Estess, and remained hospitalized for two weeks. Dr. Estess obtained information regarding Seamans' employment from others who had dealt with him since the fall
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