Albert's Case

45 A.2d 660, 142 Me. 33, 1946 Me. LEXIS 5
CourtSupreme Judicial Court of Maine
DecidedFebruary 7, 1946
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 45 A.2d 660 (Albert's Case) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Judicial Court of Maine primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Albert's Case, 45 A.2d 660, 142 Me. 33, 1946 Me. LEXIS 5 (Me. 1946).

Opinion

Hudson, J.

This is an appeal from (a pro forma decree of a Justice of the Superior Court confirming a finding of the Industrial Accident Commission denying an employee’s petition for award of further compensation.

In her petition the claimant set forth that on January 22,1940, while working as a tailing girl in the employ of the Lockwood Company at Waterville, she received a personal injury by accident arising out of and in the course of her employment; that said [35]*35accident happened while she was bending over a box containing bobbins at the end of a spooler, she being caught between the traveler and steel bobbin box; that her chest was crushed and that she suffered injuries to her right arm, shoulder, and other parts of her body, which left her with a condition of osteoarthritis of the right shoulder; and that on account of said injuries she received total compensation ending on May 18,1940. In the pending petition she now claims “further compensation on account of total incapacity subsequent to said date.” The defendant answered that to this she was not entitled. The Commission heard the case at Waterville on October 23, 1944, and dimissed the petition.

It found factually that the employee was injured on January 22, 1940, for which she was paid compensation for total incapacity to and including May 18,1940; that she returned to work on May 20,1940 and worked continuously to January 22,1941, performing the same type of work and at the same rate of pay; that on or about the first day of June, 1942, she was again employed by the Lockwood Company and worked continuously at a wage in excess of that which she was receiving at the time of her accident until July, 1943, a period of over a year, when she quit because of her physical condition. The Commission also found that she was treated by Dr. McQuillan for the injury sustained on January 22,1940, and that she was again examined by him on October 6, 1943, when the doctor found a changed condition in the right shoulder, her condition then being acute. It concluded that there had been “some intervening cause or condition which the employee has suffered which has resulted in her incapacity to work subsequent to May 18,1940, the date of her last payment of compensation, and that the cause or condition is not the result of the accident of January 22,1940. . ..” It added:

“The petitioner fails to sustain the burden of proving that she has suffered, any incapacity to work as a result of her accident and injuries of January 22, 1940, to October 23, [36]*361944, date of last hearing, over and above that for which she has already been compensated.”

It will be noted that the decision of the Commission was based wholly on findings of fact. No issue of law was presented.

Formerly, as held in Orff’s Case, 122 Me., 114, 119 A., 67, and as stated later in Ferris’ Case, 132 Me., 31, 165 A., 160; Weymouth v. Burnham and Morrill Co., 136 Me., 42, 1 A., 2d, 343; Drouin v. Snodgrass Co. et al., 138 Me., 145, 23 A., 2d, 631; and McNiffy. Town of Old Orchard Beach et al., 138 Me., 335, 25 A., 2d, 493, a distinction was made between decisions of the Commission in favor of the employee and those against it. In those against the employee the Court would review the decision, even upon findings of fact, but not so in decisions against the employer. The question of such a distinction again came before this Court in Rohitaille’s Case, 140 Me., 121, 34 A., 2d, 473, and therein the distinction was abolished, the Court stating on page 125 of . 140 Me., page 475 of 34 A., 2d:

“The Commission, by the Act, is made the trier of facts and its findings thereof, whether for or against the claimant, are final; but in arriving at its conclusions it must be guided by legal principles. Failing in this it commits error of law and it is the function of the Court to correct such error. For this purpose the Court will examine the evidence set forth in the record.” (Italics ours.)

And later on page 127 of 140 Me., page 475 of 34 A., 2d:

“We therefore, after careful consideration, disaffirm the claimed interpretation of Orff’s Case, supra, and the rule as to review that would follow such interpretation and, so far as Orff’s Case, supra, Ferris’s Case, 132 Me., 31, supra, Weymouth v. Burnham & Morrill Co., supra, Drouin v. Snodgrass, supra and McNiff v. Town of Old Orchard, supra, are in conflict with the rule here stated, the same are overruled.”

[37]*37To the same effect see Fisher s Case, 140 Me., 156, 34 A., 2d, 621. In Fisher s Case it was stated:

“The issue in this case being factual only and no error of law appearing, the appeal must be dismissed.”

We adhere to the law as enunciated in both the Robitaille and Fisher cases, supra. Before this appeal should be sustained, it would be incumbent upon the claimant to show that the decision below was based upon an error of law. If such error of law were made to appear, it would be the function of this Court, as above stated in the quotation from Robitaille’s Case, to correct such, and for this purpose the Court would examine the evidence set forth in the record. We do not review the evidence with a purpose to discover whether the Commission erred in its finding of facts. It is the trier of facts and its holdings on questions of fact, when there is any evidence in support of the same, cannot be disturbed by us. We will not pass upon the sufficiency of the evidence, but it must be competent and have probative force.

Still, “Upon either finding by the Commission, in favor or against the moving party, if it is apparent that the Commission has disregarded evidence which has probative force in favor of the party against whom the decision has been rendered, the decision will be set aside.” Robitaille’s Case, supra, on page 126.

In the instant case it has not been made to appear that the Commission disregarded evidence which had probative force in favor of the appellant or that the finding of the Commission was founded in whole or in part upon incompetent or illegal evidence. Had there been such, it would have been an error of law which would necessitate the sustaining of the appeal. Robitaille’s Case, supra, on page 126, 34 A., 2d, 475.

The stated contention of counsel for the appellant is “that the decision of the Commissioner is entirely erroneous and not founded on any evidence and definitely contrary to the evidence in the [38]*38case. In other words, the Commissioner found facts without evidence.” But the record does not support this contention. It contains competent and probative evidence in favor of both parties and the question of whether the employee sustained the burden of proof before the Commission under those circumstances was for its sole determination. However, a finding not based on any evidence is an error of law which would compel this Court to sustain an appeal from such a decision.

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Bluebook (online)
45 A.2d 660, 142 Me. 33, 1946 Me. LEXIS 5, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/alberts-case-me-1946.