Rosemary Liszeski v. Athens Furniture Inc.

This workers' compensation appeal has been referred to the Special Workers' Compensation Appeals Panel of the Supreme Court in accordance with Tenn. Code Ann. _ 5-6-225(e)(3) for hearing and reporting to the Supreme Court of findings of fact and conclusions of law. The trial judge found the plaintiff's husband had died as the result of a heart attack while in the course and scope of his employment and awarded her survivors benefits under the Workers' Compensation Act. We reverse the judgment of the trial court and dismiss the case. Thomas Liszeski, the husband of the plaintiff, suffered a heart attack on August 1, 1995 while working in the furniture factory of the defendant. Mr. Liszeski died as a result of this on August 13, 1995. No one was with Mr. Liszeski when he suffered the heart attack. He was found lying on the floor with a wound to his head. At the time of the event, Mr. Liszeski was 47 years of age. His work consisted of operating a machine known as a router. The employee would lift a piece of wood that weighed less than eight ounces and place it on the machine to be cut. He would then stack the cut pieces into a pile. There is, as is usual in cases of this nature, conflicting evidence amongst witnesses as to facts surrounding the event. These touch not only the condition of the employee before the event but also the circumstances and conditions surrounding his work. The defendant offered testimony from a fellow employee of the deceased that the employee's wife said her husband was not feeling well prior to going to work and that he complained of pain in his chest. There was further testimony from fellow employees who testified the deceased did not look well before going to work and that the deceased said he did not feel well. The plaintiff denied that she had said the deceased was not feeling well prior to going to work. Beyond this, the plaintiff called witnesses who testified they were present when the plaintiff talked to a fellow employee of the deceased and that they did not hear the plaintiff say the deceased was not feeling well. The evidence in this record shows the work being done by the deceased was not strenuous work. The environmental evidence shows the ambient or outside 2