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Cutsinger v. Spears Manufacturing Company6/28/2002
jury occurring from repetitive trauma may very well satisfy the "accident" language found in the Idaho Code.
Likewise, a more lenient interpretation of the "accident" requirement can be found in Brooks v. Standard Fire Ins. Co., 117 Idaho 1066, 793 P.2d 1238 (1990). In that case, the claimant injured his wrist in a non-work-related motorcycle accident in the summer of 1983. Id. at 1067, 793 P.2d at 1240. On November 11, 1983, the claimant slipped at work and injured his right wrist. Id. He was subsequently diagnosed with a fractured right wrist and was treated by placement of his wrist in a cast. Id. at 1067-68, 793 P.2d at 1240-41. Later, in the summer of 1984, the claimant again experienced severe sharp pain in his right wrist. Id. The claimant's physician testified that the new injury was a culmination of minor injuries. Id.
The Commission determined that the claimant suffered from a compensable accident. Id. at 1068-69, 793 P.2d at 1241-42. On appeal, the appellants argued that the Commission erred in this determination insofar as the claimant had not satisfied the language found in I.C. ยง 72-102. Id. at 1069, 793 P.2d at 1242.
"This Court has held that under the foregoing definition of an accident, a claimant does not need to show that he suffered an injury at a specific time and at a specific place." Id. at 1070, 793 P.2d at 1243. Further, this Court observed "In the present case, Dr. Moss found that the stress fracture to Brooks' wrist was the result of a series of micro-traumas which occurred while Brooks was loading and unloading trucks. There is sufficient competent, substantial evidence of claimant's second job related injury in the record to sustain the Commission's findings." Id.
Another case demonstrating a more lenient interpretation of the "accident" requirement is Bowman v. Twin Falls Construction Co., Inc., 99 Idaho 312, 581 P.2d 770 (1978). In that case, Bowman, a heavy equipment operator, was permanently and totally disabled. Id. at 313, 581 P.2d at 771. He was forced to stop working at the age of 62 after suffering from extreme shortness of breath. Id. He was diagnosed as having moderate to severe pulmonary emphysema with secondary congestive heart failure. Id.
In denying Bowman's claim, the Commission found "Bowman's occupation was not a major contributing factor to his pulmonary disease, and that the disease was not contracted or incurred during his employment and was not due to the nature of his occupation as being characteristic of and peculiar to his work . . . ." Id.
After addressing several issues unrelated to the current case, this Court found Bowman was entitled to compensation since the Commission found that "working conditions" contributed to his total and permanent disability because of the slight aggravation caused by Bowman's inhalation of dust. Id. at 315, 581 P.2d at 773. This Court noted that the Commission was not required to distinguish between major and slight work-related contributing factors. Id. at 316, 581 P.2d at 774. Rather, "When one's employment aggravates, accelerates, or "lights up" a pre-existing disease so that total permanent disability results, the employee is entitled by statute to 100% disability benefits." Id.
This Court later went on to explore whether Bowman's condition constituted an occupational disease. Id. at 319, 581 P.2d at 777. This Court discussed the history of the occupational disease theory of recovery in Idaho:
Idaho was thus among the states to pioneer in awarding relief for workers afflicted by occupational disease. The rationale was that the disease was an "accident." To the objection that an accident connoted a particular, identifiable ev
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