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Schmidt v. Proctor & Gamble6/3/1987
Submitted on Briefs March 5, 1987.
Claimant appeals an order of the Workers' Compensation Court denying him benefits because he did not file his claim within one year as required by Section 39-71-601, MCA. We affirm.
Claimant George Schmidt was hired by Proctor and Gamble in March 1984, as a part-time merchandiser to service stores in western Montana which carry its products. He assisted salesmen in specific markets by building displays, resetting shelving in stores, checking prices and putting up sale material. Schmidt had held a number of jobs before this one, including assistant operator for Montana Power Company, salesman for Sears, sales and light delivery for Modern Equipment Company and Eklund Television and Appliance. Since May 1981 he was in the insurance business, except for the period of approximately eight months between March 1984 and December 1985, when he worked for Proctor and Gamble.
Schmidt claims he injured his back July 16, 1984, while restocking shelves in the Inland Market in Kalispell, Montana. One leg of the display case fell toward him and he had to catch it abruptly. The falling boxes did not knock him over, but in holding up the shelf he experienced a sudden pain in his lower back. There were several unnamed witnesses to this incident who were in the general area of the store at the time. Schmidt listed one Shirley Diaz as a witness in the pretrial order but she was not called to testify at trial. Schmidt made no report of the incident to his employer, although he told his wife, who was in the store at the time it happened.
A year later the Schmidts traveled from Great Falls by automobile to visit their children in Utah. Two days before leaving, Schmidt had helped his son change a tire. In Pocatello, Idaho, he experienced such severe pain in his lower back his wife drove him to the Pocatello Regional Medical Center emergency room. He told the emergency room staff he pulled his back while changing a tire. He did not mention the accident the previous July, nor did he tell the doctor of any previous back problems. He was put in traction and given medication for several days.
After he returned to Great Falls, Schmidt was seen by Dr. Alexander Johnson, a neurosurgeon. Schmidt did not inform Dr. Johnson of the incident at Inland Market. Schmidt also was examined by Dr. Thomas Power, an orthopedic surgeon. Apparently Dr. Power was not informed of the tire changing incident. Schmidt, however, had told Power he had experienced back problems for more than twenty years which developed into pain in his left buttock and leg in early July 1985.
Prior to undergoing surgery in August 1985, Schmidt notified Drs. Johnson and Power he had applied for veterans' pension benefits, workers' compensation benefits and Medicaid. The claim for workers' compensation benefits filed August 18, 1985, more than one year after the incident in Kalispell, was denied. Schmidt then petitioned for an emergency hearing and a trial was held. Schmidt appeals the resulting judgment denying him benefits.
We are asked to decide whether the Workers' Compensation Court abused its discretion in denial of benefits to Schmidt because he failed to file notice of the accident claimed to have caused the injury.
"Our function in reviewing a decision of the Workers' Compensation Court is to determine whether there is substantial evidence to support the findings and conclusions of that court. We cannot substitute our judgment for that of the trial court as to the weight of the evidence on questions of fact. Where there is substantial evidence to support the findings of the Workers' Compensation Court, this Court cannot
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