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Davenport v. City and County of Honolulu12/30/2002
. . articipation in the Civil Service administrative appeals process to challenge the examination and promotion procedure is too remote from the usual and reasonable work of a firefighter to be considered and incident of [Davenport's] employment. Labor and Industrial Relations Appeals Board, Amended Decision and Order, Jan. 5, 2000 (hereinafter "Board's Amended Decision") (emphasis added).
Regarding Davenport's April 1995 hypertension claim, the Board found that "[Davenport] alleged that [the Department] conducted an improper physical examination on him while he was on industrial leave and that he was threatened with medical disqualification from his job because of his work injury ." Board's Amended Decision at 11. Thus, the Board held "that [Davenport] did not sustain a psychological injury on or about April 10, 1995, arising out of and in the course of employment . . . [because he] was receiving TTD benefits for his May 2, 1994 work injury, and was not at work in April of 1995." Id. at 13.
D. ICA Opinion
Davenport appealed the Board's Amended Decision arguing that the Board was clearly erroneous in making the following findings of facts and conclusions of law: (1) Davenport's January 1994 injury arose out of the administrative appeals process and is thus too remote from the usual and reasonable work of a firefighter to be considered an incident of employment; (2) the alleged harassment did not contribute to the January 1994 injury; and (3) the April 1995 hypertension injury is not compensable because it occurred while Davenport was on leave.
In its published opinion, the ICA affirmed in part, vacated in part, and remanded the Board's Amended Decision. The ICA stated that "regardless of how Davenport's January 1994 claim is articulated, the Board's ultimate determination that it was not compensable was wrong as a matter of law." Davenport I, No. 23141, slip op. at 18. Thus, the ICA held: (1) Davenport's January 1994 injury was compensable because HRS § 386-3 covers psychological injuries arising out of non-disciplinary promotions and demotions; and (2) remand was required for findings on whether Davenport's hypertension was compensable as being the direct and natural result of his prior compensable Achilles tendon and stress injuries.
The ICA relied on HRS § 386-3(a), which states:
If an employee suffers personal injury either by accident arising out of and in the course of the employment or by disease proximately caused by or resulting from the nature of the employment, the employee's employer or the special compensation fund shall pay compensation to the employee or the employee's dependents as provided in this chapter. HRS § 386-3(a) (emphasis added).
Because "Hawaii courts have unequivocally established that purely psychological injuries are within the contemplation of HRS § 386-3[,]" Davenport I, No. 23141, slip op. at 19 (citing Royal State National Insurance v. Labor Board, 53 Haw. 32, 38, 487 P.2d 278, 282 (1971)), the ICA framed the issue on appeal as "whether psychological injuries engendered by non-disciplinary personnel actions . . . arise out of and in the course of the employment and hence fall within the ambit of compensability outlined by HRS § 386-3." Id. at 20-21.
In answering this question, the ICA relied heavily on our decision in Mitchell v. State Department of Education, 85 Hawai'i 250, 942 P.2d 514 (1997), where we held that a teacher's psychological injuries that resulted from being disciplined for her use of corporal punishment in the classroom were compensable. The ICA noted that in Mitchell, this court was guided by the "plain language of [HRS § 386-3] . . . and the legislature's inten
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