Allen Company v. Grubb

442 P.2d 492
CourtSupreme Court of Oklahoma
DecidedApril 2, 1968
Docket42270, 42271
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 442 P.2d 492 (Allen Company v. Grubb) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Allen Company v. Grubb, 442 P.2d 492 (Okla. 1968).

Opinion

LAVENDER, Justice.

There is involved here for review awards entered by the State Industrial Court in causes Nos. D-33872 and D-35544, said court. Both claims arise out of alleged accidental injuries sustained by one Robert L. Grubb while working at a hazardous employment for the petitioner, respondent below, Allen Company, Inc., at its plant in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on October 9, 1964. Robert L. Grubb died on May 10, 1965, and will be hereinafter referred to as “deceased”. Other parties will be referred to as they appeared before the State Industrial Court.

In Case No. D-33873 the State Industrial Court entered an award for temporary total compensation together with medical expenses. In Case No. D-35544 the court entered an award in favor of the widow for the death benefits allowable pursuant to the Workmen’s Compensation Act. The respondent and its insurance carrier, who are the Petitioners in this court, appealed to the Industrial Court en banc and upon an order of that court sustaining the award, the Petitioners have brought this action for review.

The facts and petitioners’ contentions are equally applicable as to both cases. The cases were consolidated in this court for briefing and disposition.

Respondent admits the deceased was employed by it on October 9, 1964, and on said *494 date worked for a period of four hours, from 8 A.M. until noon. It denies that deceased was injured while so working and asserts that the injuries sustained by the deceased, if any, and his subsequent death were the result of injuries sustained elsewhere or from other causes and not during the course of his employment for respondent.

In narrative form the evidence is as follows :

Deceased reported for work about 7:30 A.M. on Friday, October 9, 1964, and worked until 12:00 noon. As deceased was leaving the plant, he had a conversation with the workmen for a neighboring companion company of the respondent. One of these workmen testified:

“Mr. Pierce and I were sitting there eating our lunch and Mr. Grubb came out. I said, ‘How are you, Bob?’ and he said, ‘Well, I’m not doing too good,’ and I said, ‘What’s the matter, are you sick?’ He said, ‘No, I raised up under that old unit back there and bumped my head.’ I said, ‘Well, a bump that way kind of hurts once in awhile.’ That’s all that was said and he went on up, I suppose where he had parked his car west of there.”

His testimony is corroborated by the other workman. Both witnesses recalled the incident, but could not remember the exact date it occurred. They both testified deceased did not complain of pain and they watched deceased as he walked to his car and observed nothing unusual about his gait or appearance.

About 2:30 P.M. in the afternoon, deceased was observed coming out of a Safeway store. He staggered backward and a witness had to catch him to prevent his falling. This witness observed no apparent injury to the deceased.

The deceased drove his car from the plant to his home. He arrived home about 3:00 P.M. Mrs. Grubb testified that deceased had a funny look about him, was real pale, his eyes all bugged out, and he seemed to be shaky and dizzy. She examined the top of deceased’s head and found a puffy, swollen, bleeding abrasion. She put some medicine and a cold towel on the abrasion. Deceased went to bed in about an hour. He spent a restless night. In going to the bathroom he would stagger and catch hold of things to support himself.

Deceased slept a portion of the next morning, Saturday, October 10, 1964, and watched the World Series on television. In the afternoon he went to Alfred’s Alibi Bar to ascertain the winner of the “jackpot” on the baseball game.

An attendant at Alibi Bar testified that deceased came into the bar; that he did not appear to have been drinking, but he had a funny look in his eyes and “looked like he didn’t feel good when he walked in.” Deceased seated himself on a stool at the bar. Attendant served him a beer. Deceased took a few sips of the beer and fell backwards off the bar stool. The attendant and others picked him up and seated him in a booth. The attendant did not notice any “injuries” at the time, but deceased appeared to be sick. She called an ambulance. When the ambulance arrived, deceased protested against going to the hospital. At tendant called the wife of the deceased. The wife, Hazel Grubb, and her son helped the deceased into an automobile and removed him from the bar.

When Mrs. Grubb arrived at the bar, the deceased was seated in a booth. He had a wild look about him and his eyes were bugged out.

Mrs. Grubb transported her husband to the Oklahoma Osteopathic Hospital where he was examined by an intern, Dr. T. He was not admitted to the hospital and no tests or x-rays were made.

Dr. T. testified that some of the relatives told him that the deceased had consumed four quarts of beer and he diagnosed the deceased’s condition to be “cerebral claudication due to alcohol intoxication.” No tests were made to determine the alcoholic content of deceased’s blood, *495 although the hospital was equipped to make such tests.

Deceased was not treated at the hospital and was dismissed. The total charge of the hospital and Dr. T. was $3.00 for use of the emergency room.

Mrs. Grubb took her husband home. He remained in bed during the night. The next morning his condition was unchanged. His face was red, his eyes bugged out, and the place on his head was still red, swollen and puffy.

On Sunday morning, October 11, 1964, deceased was admitted to Hillcrest Hospital where he was treated by Dr. L. and Dr. C., principally by Dr. C. He remained a patient in Hillcrest Hospital until his death on May 10, 1965.

Dr. C., a neurosurgeon called as witness by the claimant, first examined the deceased on October 13, 1965. He secured a history direct from the deceased. The deceased told Dr. C. that while working on October 9, 1964, he raised up and struck his head on a nipple on a cylinder. Later, in talking to other members of the family, Dr. C. learned that on October 10, 1964, the deceased had fallen in the bar. Dr. C. made a complete neurological examination of the deceased, checking his mental status, his reflexes, cranial nerve responses and use of limbs. He made x-rays of the skull, also pneumoencephalographic, PEG and electroencephalographic tests. On October 16, 1964, Dr. C. performed a carotid arteriogram.

As a result of these tests and examinations, Dr. C. found that deceased had a large blood clot or subdural hematoma on the left side of his brain. He also found a linear nondepressed fracture in the right occipital region, the right back of the head.

Dr. C. testified that in his opinion the linear fracture might have been caused by the striking of the head in the fall from the bar stool, but it was not related to the blood clot on the left side of the brain. He explained that if the clot had been caused by the blow causing the fracture, it would have formed on the right side near the fracture. He stated that in his opinion the clot on the left side was caused by the deceased striking his head while at work on October 9, 1964.

Dr. C. performed a surgical operation on the head of the deceased. He made small ten cent size burr openings in the skull.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Sooner Construction Company v. Brown
1975 OK 171 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1975)
Sadler v. TJ Hughes Lumber Company, Inc.
537 P.2d 454 (Court of Civil Appeals of Oklahoma, 1975)
Flint Engineering & Construction v. Sawyer
1975 OK 20 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1975)
Silver Seal Products Company v. Owens
1974 OK 68 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1974)
Western States Construction Company v. Stailey
1969 OK 169 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1969)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
442 P.2d 492, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/allen-company-v-grubb-okla-1968.