Dalton Fire Department v. Gossage

Deen, Presiding Judge.

The appellee, Prater Gossage, was employed by the City of Dalton Fire Department. On January 31, 1985, while performing a prefire inspection of a warehouse storing dyestuffs and chemicals, he sneezed. In pursuing this workers’ compensation claim, Gossage contended that he sneezed because of a cold he had contracted a few days earlier and because of the respiratory irritants at the pre-fire inspection site, and that this sneeze caused a herniation of a lumbar disc.

On February 8, 1985, Gossage went to his personal physician, who was not on the employer’s approved list of…