Anderson v. Brinkoff: Finally, a Meaningful Definition of Occupational Disease

• Publication year: 1994
• Pages: 383

23 Colo.Law. 383 Colorado Lawyer 1994.

1994, February, Pg. 383. Anderson v. Brinkoff: Finally, a Meaningful Definition of Occupational Disease

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383

Vol. 23, No. 2, Pg. 383

Anderson v. Brinkoff: Finally, a Meaningful Definition of "Occupational Disease"

by Ralph Ogden

This article discusses the Colorado Supreme Court decision in Anderson v. Brinkoff, which provides a concise definition of occupational disease for the first time since occupational diseases became compensable in 1945.

Background

The Workmen's Compensation Act of 1915 made compensability dependent on the happening of an "accident" that arose "out of and in the course of employment."(fn1) The term "accident" was judicially defined as a specific, unforeseen, unintended and unexpected injury-causing event which occurred at a definite point in time.(fn2)

Disabilities caused by "occupational diseases" were the antithesis of disabilities caused by accidents because they arose "gradually," rather than at a specific point in time.(fn3) They were not compensable even if they unquestionably arose out of and in the course of employment, and even if they were a result of injurious conditions which were unique to the employment situation.(fn4)

There were two exceptions to this harsh rule of noncompensability. If a disease arose from "an unusual or excessive exposure at a time reasonably definite," and if "such condition was unexpected and occasioned by an accident," it was compensable.(fn5) Additionally, the accidental industrial aggravation of a preexisting, noncompensable diseased condition was fully compensable as an accidental injury.(fn6)

Gradually Broadening Protections

With the 1945 enactment of the Occupational Disease Disability Act,(fn7) the Colorado legislature began to afford workers disabled by occupational diseases the same protections as workers disabled by accidents. When the Occupational Disease Disability Act was merged into the Workers' Compensation Act by the 1975 legislature,(fn8) occupational diseases were for the first time treated the same as occupational accidents.

The definition of "occupational disease" in the Workers' Compensation Act was first used by the legislature in the 1945 Act. However, it was not authoritatively construed by the Colorado Supreme Court until September 27, 1993.(fn9)

The Facts in Anderson

The claimant in Anderson v. Brinkhoff(fn10) was born in 1952 and became totally disabled from emphysema on December 22, 1988. While working as a carpenter between 1974 and December 1988, he was exposed to construction site dust and other respiratory irritants which were substantially greater in quantity than the respiratory irritants he or any other person was or would have been exposed to outside the construction workplace.

Anderson also was born with a genetic condition known as alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency. Alpha-1 antitrypsin inhibits protein-destroying enzymes which digest foreign material in the lungs. These enzymes are produced whenever airborne respiratory irritants enter the lungs and, unless the body produces sufficient alpha-1 antitrypsin, the proteins which it inhibits will continue working after they have digested the foreign materials and will also digest the individual's own lung tissue. In "normal" individuals, the alpha-1 antitrypsin shuts down the enzymatic activity once foreign materials are destroyed.

Anderson smoked about a pack of cigarettes a day from 1981 to 1985. Neither his alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency nor his emphysema was diagnosed until March 1987, by which time he also was suffering from a severe airflow limitation and heart disease secondary to the emphysema. These problems did not immediately disable him, and he continued working as a carpenter until December 1988.

The claimant's treating physician...