Gale A. Askins, Appellant v. Kroger Limited Partnership I and Sedgwick Claims Management, Appellees

Summary

The court affirmed the Commission’s denial of benefits, holding that substantial evidence supported the finding that Askins’s fall resulted from syncope caused by a preexisting arrhythmic heart condition and was therefore idiopathic rather than unexplained. The court also rejected application of the positional-risk and increased-risk doctrines because the risk was personal to Askins and the evidence did not show that her employment increased the risk of falling or syncope. The court vacated the court of appeals’ memorandum opinion. Justice Baker, joined by Justice Hart, dissented and would have held that the fall was unexplained and compensable and would have reversed and remanded for an award of benefits.