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Briney v. Pacific Employers Insurance Company6/24/1997
Submitted on Briefs January 16, 1997.
The claimant, Brett Briney, filed an amended petition in the Workers' Compensation Court for the State of Montana in which he sought partial disability benefits as a result of injuries he sustained during the course of his employment with Stauffer Chemical Company on May 24, 1981. In response, Stauffer's insurer, Pacific Employers Insurance Company, denied that Briney's disability was a result of his May 24, 1981, injury , and affirmatively alleged that Briney's disability resulted from a series of events, some of which occurred during the course of his employment and some of which occurred outside the course and scope of his employment. Following trial, the Workers' Compensation Court found that Briney had not proven a causal relationship between his work-related injury and his current disability, and therefore, entered judgment for the insurer. Briney appeals. We reverse the judgment of the Workers' Compensation Court.
The following two issues are raised on appeal:
1. Was there substantial evidence to support the Workers' Compensation Court's finding that Briney's current disability is not causally related to the injury that he sustained during the course of his employment on May 24, 1981?
2. Is Briney entitled to attorney fees, costs, and the imposition of a twenty percent penalty pursuant to ยงยง 39-71-611 and -2907, MCA?
FACTUAL BACKGROUND
On May 24, 1981, Brett Briney was employed in the furnace department as a precipitator operator by Stauffer Chemical Company in Butte, Montana. His job was to keep the precipitator running at maximum efficiency by removing and dumping the dust and waste product twice during each shift, and by removing slag which accumulated on the unit. On that date, slag had formed around the rim of the filter on the number one precipitator, so he began to "rod out" the precipitator with a steel bar when he heard a pop and felt pain in his low back and legs. He had to be assisted from the area, and was taken to the hospital where he was treated by the emergency room physician with muscle relaxants and bed rest, and told to see an orthopedic surgeon.
In response to that advice, Briney saw Charles R. Canty, M.D., on May 29, 1981. After examining Briney, Dr. Canty diagnosed a probable herniated nucleus pulposus or disc extrusion in the lumbosacral portion of Briney's lower back. Dr. Canty treated him conservatively and after noting no neurological deficit, allowed him to return to work on June 22, 1981.
Briney testified that although he has had good days and bad days since his return to work in 1981, he has never been completely pain free. The proof established that complaints of pain in his lower back and legs were particularly noted following numerous work-related and nonwork-related incidents which caused stress to Briney's lower back. He was treated by several physicians during the years following his return to work, and missed work on occasion due to treatment for back complaints, but was able to continue with his employment at Stauffer Chemical until October 1993.
In 1993, Briney underwent surgical treatment of a pilonidal cyst. Following that treatment, he was physically inactive for a period of time. Due to the inactivity, he was unable to continue the exercise regime he had followed for his back. His condition deteriorated, and he has been unable to return to his job at Stauffer Chemical since that time.
On October 21, 1994, Briney filed his original petition for emergency trial in which he alleged that he was totally disabled and entitled to reinstatement of tempo
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