Supreme Court of Alabama June 20, 2003, 1012284 (Ex Parte Phenix Rental Center)

On November 12, 1997, Phenix Rental Center ("Phenix") filed a complaint in the Russell County Circuit Court for a judgment declaring whether Phenix's employee, Angel Ray Batiz, was entitled to workers' compensation benefits under the Alabama Workers' Compensation Act. Batiz had been diagnosed with hepatitis C ("hepatitis"), which he alleged was for him an occupational disease.