City of Glendale v. Industrial Accident Commission

FOX, Acting P. J.

Harry Enochs entered the employ of the city of Glendale as a fireman in 1924. He continued with the department, rising to the rank of captain, until February, 1955, when it became necessary for him to give up his work because of a heart attack. It is not disputed that he had been afflicted with coronary arteriosclerosis for many years and that such disease was nonoccupational. Mr. Enochs first experienced heart distress on July 6, 1954, while pushing an automobile from a driveway at a fire. Thereafter, until the termination of his employment, he experienced a “tight feeling in the heart area” every time he responded to a fire alarm. Upon some occasions the pains in his chest were severe. At approximately midnight on February 16, 1955, while at home in bed, Mr. Enochs suffered a heart attack. He had returned home from work at 8 o’clock that morning. The last fire he had attended was on January 22, 1955, which required him to be away from the fire station 13 minutes. The last incident in his duties requiring any particular exertion was on February 11, when he participated in a routine fire drill. Between February 11 and February 16 Enochs reported for duty on his regular shifts but spent most of his time between shifts at home lying down resting. The commission found he suffered injury arising out of and in the course of his employment consisting of myocardial infarctions and heart strain. In relating these heart conditions to each other, the

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respondent commission determined that Mr. Enochs sustained compensable injury “consisting of myocardial infarctions and heart strain which were superimposed upon a non-industrial and non-disabling, pre-existing coronary arteriosclerosis.” It also found that his disability was total and permanent. The commission concluded: “There is no basis for an apportionment of the permanent disability between the effects of injury and pre-existing disease.” As a consequence of this conclusion the respondent commission made a maximum compensation award in favor of Mr. Enochs and against the city, which acted as its own insurance carrier.

The city seeks to have this award annulled on the ground that under the law and the facts of this case the disability should have been apportioned between the preexisting disease and the industrial injury. We have concluded that the position of the city is sound.

Section 4663 of the Labor Code provides: “In case of aggravation of any disease existing prior to a compensable injury, compensation shall be allowed only for the proportion of the disability due to the aggravation of such prior disease which is reasonably attributed to the injury.”