Workers’ comp case reversed

Friday, Dec. 8, 2000 | 10:43 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- A young automobile painter, who suffered a heart attack in Las Vegas after inhaling paint fumes from a defective respirator, is going to get another chance to prove he qualifies for workers' compensation benefits.

The Nevada Supreme Court Thursday reversed the decision of District Judge James Mahan that Brandon Smeltzer was not entitled to benefits from the Employers Insurance Company of Nevada.

At age 21, Smeltzer had the heart attack while on the job, but he was denied benefits by Employers Insurance on the grounds that heart ailments are excluded from compensation.

The court told Mahan to send the case back to an appeals officer to re-examine the possibility there was a "causal relationship between the work incident and Smeltzer's heart attack."

It said an appeals officer "could find that the respirator's malfunction caused Smeltzer's heart to undergo a 'sudden' or 'violent' application of force when he breathed the noxious paint fumes."

The court said this case may be an exception to the rule excluding benefits for heart ailments.

Quoting from a previous decision, the court said, "The primary purpose of Nevada's workers compensation laws is to provide economic assistance to persons who suffer disability or death as a result of their employment."