Coffee v. Mcdonnell-Douglas Corporation

503 P.2d 1366 (1972)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

P retired from the United States Air Force in January 1966. P applied for a position as a pilot with D. D required each of its pilot applicants to undergo a pre-employment physical examination to establish his physical fitness for the job. P underwent a physical examination at D's Long Beach medical clinic. The examination consisted of a review of P’s medical history, extensive X-rays, urinalysis, an electrocardiogram, and a blood test. P was told that the examination could not be completed until the results of the X-rays and laboratory tests were received, about one week later. However, Dr. Gray signed the examination form on the day of the examination indicating that P was qualified for duties as a pilot, with the understanding that medical approval would be withdrawn if the laboratory tests or X-rays produced any negative results. D required each of its prospective employees to undergo a physical examination. A blood sample was drawn from plaintiff. The sample was sent to an independent medical laboratory on the same day and a blood test report was mailed on July 28, 1966. The blood test was time-stamped and filed. No one reviewed or evaluated the report that had been submitted. The blood test report indicated that something was wrong with P and further inquiry would have been done. Also, P would not have been approved for employment as a pilot. Instead, P was informed by Heimerdinger, the chief pilot in flight operations for D, that he had passed the physical examination and that he was acceptable for employment as a pilot. P began work on August 9, 1966. On March 9, 1967, P collapsed from exhaustion after returning from an extended flight for defendant. He was admitted to the Long Beach Naval Hospital. Dr. Snyder, a hematologist, examined him and found that he had severe anemia, his kidney function was impaired, and that the bone structure of his ribs and skull had deteriorated significantly. P was diagnosed as multiple myeloma, cancer of the bone marrow. Dr. Snyder informed P that he had three to six months to live unless he responded to drug therapy. P lived but it was not easy on him. P received several blood transfusions. P took drugs which caused nausea and weight loss. The drugs compromised his immune system and he also contracted hepatitis. By the fall of 1967, he was in remission and the nausea stopped. P had been able to return to work for D. P sued D and its three doctor-employees (Waters, Gray, and Ruetman) in that they performed the company physical in a negligent manner and failed to discover the presence of the disease. P alleged that the 'disease progressed and became aggravated and spread because P was without medical treatment,' thereby reducing his life expectancy, lessening his resistance to other diseases, weakening his bone structure, and causing loss of wages. Medical testimony established that P had multiple myeloma at the time of the examination, that it is an incurable disease, but that had the presence of the disease been discovered earlier, plaintiff would not have suffered the extent of injuries that he did. The judge instructed the jury that an employer is under no general duty to ascertain whether an employee is physically fit for the job, nevertheless if the employer undertakes and assumes such a duty the employer is liable if the employer performs it negligently. P got the verdict and D appealed. D claims in part that it owed no duty to P.