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Mitchell v. Hawai11/1/1994
OPINION OF THE COURT BY MOON, C.J.
Claimant-appellant Regina M. Mitchell, an elementary school teacher, appeals from the Labor and Industrial Relations Appeals Board's (the Board) decision which partially denied workers' compensation benefits for her stress-related injury . The injury claimed by Mitchell arose out of a disciplinary measure taken against her for violating the school rule prohibiting the use of corporal punishment. Mitchell maintains that her injury arose out of and in the course of employment and was therefore compensable under the Hawai'i Workers' Compensation Law, Hawai'i Revised Statutes (HRS) chapter 386. Mitchell's employer, employer-appellee the State of Hawai'i, Department of Education (the DOE), contends that workers' compensation benefits were properly denied because an injury precipitated by stress resulting from a disciplinary action for proper cause does not reasonably flow from the conditions of employment.
For the reasons discussed below, we conclude that this court lacks appellate jurisdiction and therefore dismiss this appeal.
I. BACKGROUND
In September 1989, Mitchell was hired by the DOE as a full-time sixth-grade teacher at Kealakehe Intermediate School (KIS). KIS utilized a "team teaching" method wherein teachers were assigned to teams, and each team established its own rules regarding teaching and classroom management. Teachers were expected to adhere to their assigned team's rules. One of the rules of Mitchell's team was the prohibition against the use of rewards to motivate students. Nevertheless, Mitchell disregarded this rule and rewarded her students for completing their assignments with Friday afternoon parties, treats, and five minutes of play time on a Nintendo video game machine, which she had brought from home.
KIS principal, Brian Nakashima, disapproved of Mitchell's violation of her team's rules and, at a meeting in October 1989, warned her against the use of rewards; however, Mitchell's practice continued. At a November 1, 1989 meeting, Nakashima again expressed disapproval of Mitchell's teaching method; he demanded that she remove the video game from the classroom and discontinue the Friday afternoon reward parties. Nakashima also criticized Mitchell's supervision of study-hall class and her failure to timely submit her grades. After the November 1 meeting, Mitchell became distressed and developed "flu-like" symptoms (low-grade fevers and general malaise), which she attributed to her conflicts with Nakashima.
On January 18, 1990, Mitchell and her students brought in "goodies" for a reward party. Just prior to the afternoon party, Mitchell was informed that one of the students (Joseph) had pilfered cookies intended for the party. Mitchell confronted Joseph and discovered the cookies in his possession. As Mitchell continued class, Joseph became upset and harassed the classmate who had reported him to Mitchell. When reproached by Mitchell, Joseph became unruly. According to Mitchell,
Joseph jumped out of his seat and he rushed across to my desk and he was yelling . . . and he started grabbing papers on my desk. With him grabbing the papers and me grabbing - trying to grab them back I never stood up but I bumped him [with the] inside of my forearm.
Joseph, on the other hand, accused Mitchell of striking him for stealing the cookies and throwing papers. Several students wrote letters in support of Mitchell's position that she did not hit Joseph. Nakashima, however, after conducting his own investigation of the incident, recommended to the superintendent that Mitchell be suspended for five days, without pay, for violating the DOE's rule prohibiti
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