Drop It Like It’s Hot: Navigating Heat-Related Workers’ Compensation Claims in Alabama
By: Dan Avery
As temperatures seem to climb in Alabama each summer, we continue to see more and more claims involving heat stroke or heat-related illnesses. Surprisingly, Alabama does not have a wealth of appellate decisions dealing specifically with this type of claim. That said, there are several important workers' compensation cases involving heat stroke and heat-related injuries which continue to influence Alabama law and which warrant discussion.
Heat-related Illness are Recognized as Compensable Injuries in Alabama
The Alabama workers' compensation reporting system specifically recognizes "Heat Prostration" as an injury category, including “heat stroke, sun stroke, heat exhaustion, heat cramps and other effects of environmental heat.” However, the injury designation confirms exclusion of sunburns.1
Heat stroke is the most serious heat-related illness and is typically marked by a body temperature of 104 degrees or higher. If not treated immediately, a heat stroke victim can go into a coma or evem pass away. Symptoms of a heat stroke include: extreme body temperature (104 degrees or more), altered mental state (confusion, agitation, slurred speech, seizures), skin changes, extremely high heart rate, nausea, vomiting and fatigue.
Case Law Review
The two most relevant cases are Alabama Pipe Co. v. Wofford,2 and Benson-Jackson-Mathers Post No. 5106 v. Donaldson.3
Wofford, the seminal case, involved an employee performing strenuous work in a pipe mill which lead to heat-related issues, including a fatal heart attack. While the Alabama Supreme Court recognized a heat illness can constitute a compensable work injury, the court reversed the award of benefits because of insufficient medical evidence proving the overheating actually caused the heart attack. Wofford established the requirement of competent medical evidence connecting the heat exposure to the injury or death, rather than mere speculation.
In Benson-Jackson-Mathers Post No. 5106 v. Donaldson,4 a construction supervisor worked in hot conditions during the construction of a swimming pool and later died from a heat stroke. The Alabama Supreme Court reaffirmed heat stroke and heat exhaustion can be compensable injuries under Alabama's Workers' Compensation Act but denied benefits in Donaldson because there was no evidence the employee actually suffered heat stroke or heat exhaustion before his death. This case reiterated the holding in Wofford: the claimant must satisfy the burden of a two-pronged test by showing: (1) the occurrence of a heat-related injury; and, (2) the injury caused disability or death.
Satisfying the Two-Part Causation Tests in Alabama
Workers’ compensation heat-related claims in Alabama generally require satisfaction of a two-part causation analysis and require a claimant satisfy both legal and medical causation. In order to establish legal causation for a heat-related injury, a claimant must show the employment exposed the employee to a materially greater risk of heat injury than faced by the general public. To satisfy medical causation, a claimant must submit medical evidence establishing the heat exposure actually caused or substantially contributed to the injury. As with the vast majority of claims in Alabama, compensability often turns on medical causation analysis.
Falls or Injuries Occurring Due to Heat Stroke
Another issue which can arise with heat-related claims concerns injuries caused by a fall of an employee who becomes disoriented or confused due to a heat illness. Not surprisingly, an employee who suffers from the effects of a heat illness at work can experience a seemingly unexplained or “idiopathic” fall. With such “idiopathic” injuries, the general rule remains “the employment must be the source and cause of the accident” to be a compensable work injury. Slimfold Mtg. Co. v. Martin.5 These claims are sometimes difficult to evaluate when falls seem to be due to personal health reasons. For this reason, the opinions of the authorized treating physician are critical to the compensability analysis.
Practical Significance & Guidance
If an Alabama employee suffers heat stroke while working outdoors or in a hot industrial environment, the key issues and areas of investigation typically include:
- whether the work exposed the employee to extreme or excessive heat;
- whether medical records diagnose heat stroke or any type of heat-related illness;
- whether treating physicians address causation and connect the heat exposure to the claimed injury (including later neurological or cardiac problems); and,
- whether the injury arose out of and in the course of employment.
As discussed above, Alabama has relatively few published appellate opinions solely addressing heat-related illnesses. Consequently, it is imperative insurance adjusters and/or the attorney defending the claim gather all the pertinent facts concerning the employment and the injury in order to properly evaluate a claim to determine the position on compensability. Any documentation on the part of the insured to verify the temperatures and conditions of the employment on the date and time in question will be critical as well.
Tasks to consider in investigating a heat-related injury include the following:
- obtain a recorded statement from the claimant and identify any health conditions that might have played a part in the heat-related injury;
- interview potential witnesses concerning the working conditions on the date of the injury;
- document the weather conditions (including temperature and humidity) at the time of the injury;
- speak to supervisors to determine the existence and extent of any heat mitigation measures in place (i.e., water breaks, fans);
- obtain pre-injury medical records to assess whether a personal health condition contributed to the event; and,
- submit a questionnaire to the authorized treating physician to obtain an opinion.
As heat-related claims often turn on specific facts, it is imperative to fully investigate all of these issues in order to determine whether to accept or deny.
1See Alabama Department of Labor WCIO Nature Table, description code 32.
246 So.2d 404 (Ala. 1950).
3 99 So.2d 688 (Ala. 1957).
4 Id.
5 417 So.2d 199, 201 (Ala. Civ.App. 1981).
Attorney Contact Info
Dan Avery
dan.avery@swiftcurrie.com
205.313.3136
