This forty-eight year old claimant worked as a warehouse worker for twenty years. He previously worked for National Foods for fifteen years before his employer laid him off in 1995. In November 1995, this employer hired him as a warehouse worker where he worked until July 1998. He stopped working in July 1998 allegedly due to the effects of heat exhaustion. His warehouse duties with the employer primarily involved shipping and
receiving, wherein he would operate an "order picker" in the warehouse to retrieve merchandise. This employer hired him as a "warehouseman" and promoted him to "lead associate" in December 1997, which involved the same job duties in addition to supervision of several employees. The claimant testified that his job duties involved a lot of walking and standing, along with lifting, stooping, reaching and crouching. He described the warehouse as "hot", though the temperature would vary. He described his general work atmosphere as stressful with lots of daily pressure and deadlines.
More specifically, the claimant described his job duties of "filling orders" and "replenishment". When filling orders, he would review a purchase order/invoice. He would then determine the quantity and location of the item so it could be retrieved in the warehouse and prepared for shipment. When handling replenishment, he would restock items in the warehouse so that the "pickers" could continue to fill orders. He testified that replenishment was heavier work and that he would often work up high on his "order picker" near the ceiling, where it was hotter. He testified that he performed replenishment activities over the last few weeks of his employment in July 1998. He testified that he worked longer hours during his last weeks of employment due to a shortage of workers.
The physical demands for the claimant's position required that in an eight hour day, an employee stands for eight hours, walks for five hours, lifts 51 to 100 pounds frequently ( 34-66 % of the time), lifts over 100 pounds occasionally ( 0 33 % of the time), climbs occasionally ( 0-33 % of the time) and stoops and crouches frequently ( 34-66 % of the time). See Exhibit S. An employee also frequently reaches above shoulder height. See Exhibit S. The position description involves "Heavy work: Lifting 100 lbs. maximum with frequent lifting and/or carrying of objects weighing up to 50 lbs." See Exhibit S. The position also requires: "Verying (sic) temperature in workplace" and "Continuous activity - cannot leave work area during working hours, except assigned breaks." See Exhibit S. The specific duties require that an employee "must routinely be able to lift, pull, press, bend, twist and carry up to 60 lbs." In addition, he "must be able to perform strenuous work in varying temperature conditions." See Exhibit S.
The claimant received two fifteen minute breaks and a forty-five minute lunch with no further breaks during overtime. There were no work/rest cycles and no instructions on how to work in hot conditions, but the claimant knew that he had to keep hydrated.
The warehouse is a large cinder block building with an aluminum roof and two small exhaust fans in the 30 feet high ceiling. The warehouse was not air-conditioned. There were both a receiving and a separate shipping dock. The claimant testified that conditions on the dates of his injury were like an oven and that it was hotter inside the building than outside. He testified that another employee brought a thermometer to work the previous year but was told to remove it or he would be fired. On that date, the temperature in the building was eight degrees hotter than the outside temperature.
The maximum temperatures during the period July 6 through July 9, 1998 were in excess of 90 degrees. On July 9, 1998 the temperature at 3:00 p.m. was 90 degrees and at midnight the outside temperature was still 81 degrees and the humidity had risen significantly over the claimant's shift. See Exhibit Q.
On the last date he was able to work, claimant was working on replenishment, which is heavier labor than order picking. He used an order picker, which is a large machine with forks to hold wooden pallets. He would stand on a platform, which would go up 25 feet. He spent 70-75 % of the time on the order picker. It was hotter closer to the roof. The outside temperature had been ninety degrees or above every day on the week of July 6, 1998.
In the four days during the week of his injury, the claimant worked 50 to 55 hours. He worked from 3:00 p.m. until the work was complete for the day. The employer was short workers, and the claimant worked overtime most of the time. One day during the week of the injury, he was still at work when the sun came up. For the twoweek period ending on July 10, 1998, he worked 80 regular hours and 9.25 overtime hours. See Exhibit W. He also received 8 hours of paid holiday for July 4 when he did not work. He was not able to work on July 10 at his 3:00 p.m. shift. Therefore, he worked 89.25 hours in eight days. This period of long hours in high heat made this week different than others.
On the date he last worked, the shift supervisor, Mike Pope, was on vacation. The claimant and two other
lead associates ran the shift but were short on crew.
The claimant began feeling ill on the evening of July 9, 1998. He continued working until about 1:00 or 1:30 a.m. on July 10, 1998. At that time, he felt hot, had a headache, stomach pain, blurred vision, lightheadedness, trouble concentrating. He was sweating profusely and threw up in the rest room. He feared he would faint or that something serious was happening to him. He had never felt anything like that before.
There were a couple of hours of work left to do but he paged the other two lead associates and told them that he was overheated and sick and that he had to leave. He sat in his air-conditioned car for about fifteen minutes feeling disoriented and lost. He wondered what was happening and if he could make it the short distance to his home. Eventually, he drove home, took off hi