## Facts

- Robert A. Hill worked for the City of Nichols Hills as a maintenance employee who mowed city lots using a tractor-type mower.
- On May 25, 1970, Hill was directed to mow several overgrown lots in an area with many birds and nests; conditions were dry and windy, producing substantial dust.
- After mowing, Hill experienced extreme thirst, difficulty breathing, and burning/dryness in his nose, throat, and lungs; he worked the next day but then could not continue working.
- Hill sought medical treatment and was diagnosed with histoplasmosis, an infection associated with inhaling fungal spores in dust from soil contaminated by bird or bat droppings.
- Hill claimed the May 25 dust exposure caused or aggravated histoplasmosis and resulted in permanent disability.
- Hill’s compensation claim was amended at hearing to change the injury date to May 25, 1970 and to specify injury to the throat, lungs, and body as a whole.
- The City and its insurer denied a compensable accidental injury, asserted the condition was a noncompensable disease, and argued Hill failed to provide timely statutory written notice and that the lack of notice prejudiced them.
- Medical evidence conflicted on whether Hill had pre-existing histoplasmosis and whether the work exposure caused or aggravated his condition.

## Issues

1. Whether histoplasmosis resulting from inhalation of contaminated dust during a discrete workplace event can constitute a compensable “accidental injury” rather than a noncompensable disease not listed under occupational-disease provisions.
2. Whether there was any competent evidence supporting findings that (a) the workplace dust exposure caused or aggravated Hill’s condition and (b) the employer/insurer were not prejudiced by the absence of statutory written notice.

## Decision

- The Oklahoma Supreme Court sustained the State Industrial Court’s award and denied the request to vacate it.
- The court treated the claim as one for accidental injury from exposure to contaminated dust arising out of and in the course of employment.
- Applying the “any competent evidence” standard, the court held it would not reweigh conflicting medical testimony and found competent evidence supporting causation/aggravation and the extent of disability.
- The court upheld excusal of the written-notice defect based on actual knowledge and a supported finding of no prejudice to the employer/insurer.

## Legal Principles

- A disease process may be compensable as an accidental injury when a discrete work-related exposure (including inhalation of dust) causes or aggravates the condition and produces disability, even if the disease is not listed as an occupational disease.
- In workers’ compensation review, State Industrial Court findings on causation, disability, and related factual matters are conclusive if supported by any competent evidence; appellate courts do not reweigh conflicts in the evidence.
- Failure to provide statutory written notice may be excused when the employer has actual knowledge and is not prejudiced by the lack of formal notice; a supported no-prejudice finding will not be disturbed on review.

## Conclusion

The Oklahoma Supreme Court sustained an award for a city maintenance worker whose work-directed mowing in dusty, bird-contaminated conditions was found to have caused or aggravated histoplasmosis, resulting in 50% permanent partial disability, and it affirmed that the notice defect was excused because competent evidence supported actual knowledge and lack of prejudice.


City of Nichols Hills v. Hill, 534 P.2d 931 (Okla. 1975)