Tennessee has a state statute providing that heart disease or hypertension is presumed to be job-related for workers’ compensation purposes. As shown in a recent case involving a police officer, the presumption of causation can be rebutted by an employer.
On April 26, 2000, David B. Cloninger, age 53, a police officer for the City of Dyersburg suffered a stroke and was taken to Methodist Hospital in Dyersburg. Cloninger later filed a claim for workers’ compensation benefits.
Cloninger served as the Department’s evidence and property technician, maintaining the record of all seized property and evidence, and ensuring that all property and evidence seized was stored in compliance with Departmental, State, Federal, and OSHA standards. He was subject to changing schedules and was on call 24 hours per day. Cloninger believed his job requirements caused him greatly increased levels of stress and required that he work significant amounts of overtime and take work home with him.
In the battle of dueling doctors, one physician, a neurologist, testified that while Cloninger was suffering from hypertension, it was only at borderline hypertension prior to the stroke. The doctor believed that Cloninger’s stroke was related to his employment as a police officer, and that recent medical literature supported a conclusion that law enforcement officers suffer a higher risk of stroke than the general population and that the higher risk is associated with additional stress.
A cardiologist who testified that he was retained by the City to perform an independent medical examination stated that Cloninger had several risk factors that had caused the stroke, including mild obesity, genetic predisposition for hypertension, alcohol consumption, and tobacco usage. The cardiologist testified that the primary cause of Cloninger’s stroke was chronic hypertension, which was well established before Cloninger became a police officer.
Another neurologist, also retained by the City, testified that Cloninger’s numerous risk factors for stroke included hypertension that had been untreated for 20 years, high cholesterol, mild obesity, history of chronic tobacco use, and steroid use. The doctor stated that Cloninger’s employment as a police officer did not cause or aggravate Cloninger’s stroke.
When a workers’ compensation “chancellor” denied Cloninger’s workers’ compensation claim, he appealed to the Tennessee Supreme Court. The Court upheld the denial of benefits.
The Court concluded that the expert medical testimony of the City’s two doctors rebutted the presumption of causation. The Court also found that Cloninger failed to establish that the stress associated with his job caused his stroke.
Under Tennessee law, an employee has the burden of demonstrating that “a specific acute or sudden stressful event, rather than generalized employment conditions” precipitated a heart attack or stroke. The Court acknowledged that Cloninger suffered work-related stress as a result of being assigned to the evidence locker and being responsible for achieving accreditation. He worked longer hours, took work home, and asked for additional help. However, the Court found missing from the record any evidence of “specific acute or sudden stressful event” that precipitated the stroke or that Cloninger suffered any stress greater in the days before the stroke than any other time. As such, the Court rejected Cloninger’s claim.
Cloninger v. City of Dyersburg, 2004 WL 1933399 (Tenn. 2004).