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Humboldt Community Schools v. Fleming12/22/1999
factual and legal causation. The claimant must show the job caused the mental injury (the factual causation) and that the mental injury was caused by stress of a greater magnitude than the day-to-day stress experienced by workers in the same or similar jobs (legal causation). See Dunlavey, 526 N.W.2d at 853-54. The question before us is whether the industrial commissioner's findings on these elements are supported by substantial evidence. Gates, 587 N.W.2d at 474.
A. Factual Causation.
The connection between Fleming's job -related stress and his suicide is well supported in the record. Three mental health professionals, including two leading authorities on suicides, testified that Fleming's suicide was caused by job-related stress. Fleming's weight loss, lack of sleep, self-doubt, sense of losing control, loss of appetite, social withdrawal, and crying were seen as objective signs of severe depression. One of the experts testified that suicide is usually caused by one of four factors: major depression, alcoholism, drug abuse, or schizophrenia. Only one factor, depression, appeared to fit in Fleming's case. This witness testified:
here's . . . a characteristic experience of profound discouragement and passivism about things working themselves out so that the solution suicide almost becomes attractive and seductive to people in that position.
Another suicide expert testified that
depressed people almost universally start to have thoughts about suicide, about death. They think about suicide as a solution to the problems they are having, usually very painful thoughts involving loss, guilt and a sense of worthlessness. They will even start thinking that the family would be better off without them . . . . nd when that becomes severe, we call it a major depressive episode or a major depressive disorder.
Humboldt Schools introduced evidence of other possible reasons for the suicide, including grief over the death of a family friend, Fleming's childhood in a dysfunctional family, a family history of mental problems, and possible depression over his knee problems. This evidence, however, was rejected by the industrial commissioner. We believe that the findings as to factual causation were established by substantial evidence.
B. Legal Causation.
Humboldt Schools' principal attack is that, as a matter of law, the claimant failed to meet Dunlavey's test for legal causation, because she failed to show her husband's stress was of greater magnitude than the day-to-day mental stress experienced by other workers in the same or similar jobs.
The claimant's evidence included testimony by six superintendents, from comparable school districts, with six to twenty-six years of experience. The superintendent with twenty-six years' experience, Richard Textor, described a superintendent's job as being mostly administrative. His most stressful experience involved school closings. However, a community controversy of the magnitude experienced by David Fleming, in connection with OBE, would be unusual, according to him.
Another superintendent, Robert Olson, had six years' experience and had been involved in a fight over OBE in 1995. He characterized it as the most stressful experience of his job . OBE-related stress would be greater than the usual stress associated with the job, according to him. Kenneth Shaw, a twenty-one-year superintendent, testified OBE-based issues created much more stressful conditions than those involving day-to-day administration. Other superintendents testified similarly.
The deputy industrial commissioner summarized the testimony of these superintendents and referred as w
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