Chapman v. Industrial Commission

81 N.E.2d 626, 52 Ohio Law. Abs. 9, 1948 Ohio App. LEXIS 906
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedMay 10, 1948
DocketNo. 20766
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 81 N.E.2d 626 (Chapman v. Industrial Commission) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Chapman v. Industrial Commission, 81 N.E.2d 626, 52 Ohio Law. Abs. 9, 1948 Ohio App. LEXIS 906 (Ohio Ct. App. 1948).

Opinion

[10]*10OPINION

By SKEEL, J:

This action comes to this court on appeal on questions of law from a judgment of the common pleas court in favor of' the plaintiff. The plaintiffs are the dependents of one Alphonse' Chapman deceased.

During his lifetime, Alphonse Eugene Chapman was a regular employee of The Allyne-Ryan Company, a contributor to the State Insurance Fund administered by the defendant. The deceased was employed as a hand grinder. An examination of the record discloses that the place where the deceased worked as a grinder was about 75 feet from two sand blast, machines which were enclosed in steel booths. On occasions the hose carrying sand to the sand blast operation would break, causing some dust outside the booths containing the-sand blast machines. There is also some evidence that the-grinding operation in which the deceased was engaged created some dust. The record also discloses that the deceased wore a mask while at work, the evidence on this point being as follows:

“Q. Were these grinders protected by any mask or anything?
A. Well?
Q. Chapman?
A. He wore a mask.
Q. You say he did, or didn’t?
A. He generally wore one, I noticed him down there-wearing one.
Q. Did all workers wear masks?
A. Yes, all that wanted one. I don’t wear one because I can’t get my breath through them.”
The latter part of this answer was stricken out by the court.
The only other witness that testified about the use of masks when questioned about what would happen when the hose broke, said:
“Q. When the break would come in there, happen like that, what would the workers that were there do — could they stand there without any protection?
A. Oh they used to wear masks, they call it respirators. They have a sponge inside, wet it with water and put it on.
Referee: Do they do that every time?
[11]*11Witness: They wear it steady.
Referee: Always put it on?
Witness: Yes.
Referee: When the machine broke?
Witness: Yes.”

On the afternoon of June 22, 1942, while deceased was ■at work under the usual and ordinary conditions, there being no evidence of any unusual occurrence causing an extraordinary amount of dust either at that time or during any part of that day, the deceased was seen going toward the dispensary, spitting frothy blood. He was given aid in the dispensary and from there he was taken to St. Alexis Hospital where his condition was diagnosed as pulmonary tuberculosis and he was released and remained at home until his case could receive attention at City Hospital. He entered City Hospital on July 22nd. He died there Oct. 24, 1942. The cause of ■death being pulmonary tuberculosis far advanced.

The defendant asserts the following assignments of error:

“1. The court of common pleas erred in refusing to grant ■defendant’s motion to dismiss the petition and enter judgment for defendant on plaintiffs’ opening statement.
2. The court of common pleas erred in overruling the •defendant’s motion for a directed verdict at the close of the testimony.
3. The court erred in permitting plaintiffs to introduce ■evidence over the objection of defendant, which ruling was ■prejudicial to the rights of defendant.
4. The verdict of the jury is contrary to law.
5. The court erred in giving special charges to the jury before argument, as requested by plaintiff, over the objection ■of defendant.
6. The verdict is manifestly against the weight of the ■evidence.
7. Further errors apparent on the face of the record.”

The right of a workman or his dependents in case of ■death, to participate in the fund administered by the Industrial Commission of Ohio, is controlled entirely by statute, §1465-68 GC, which in part reads as follows:

“Every employee mentioned in §1465-61 GC who is injured ■and the dependents of such as are killed in the course of employment, whensoever such injury has occurred, provided the .same was not purposely self-inflicted, on and after January .1, 1914, shall be entitled to receive * * *.”

[12]*12The prerequisite to the right to participate in the fund is that the employee shall have suffered an injury or that death resulted from an injury suffered while acting in the furtherance of and in the course and scope of the employee’s duties. In the case now before us we are concerned with the question of whether or not there is any evidence tending to show that plaintiff’s decedent, while acting in the course of his employment, suffered an injury which accelerated and aggravated a preexisting pulmonary tuberculosis, thereby hastening his death.

The evidence, as disclosed by the record, shows that the regular operation of the foundry caused some dust and that the job of grinding rough spots from finished castings which was the work of plaintiffs’ decedent, caused particles of dust and metal to fly into the air. But as above indicated, on the last day the deceased worked there was no occurrence changing or increasing the amount of dust beyond that normally experienced in the regular operation of the foundry.

The plaintiff, in attempting to support the judgment in her favor relies on the case of Industrial Commission v Polcen, 121 Oh St 377. The facts of this case were that the claimant worked in the sulphuric department of a chemical plant. He received an inguinal hernia as a result of a violent coughing spell. He testified:

“Well .... when I went to work I was all right. I had no-pain of any kind that I know of. We worked all day on the job until between 3 and 3:30. It was gassy all day on the job and I done a lot of coughing that day but about 3:30 or so I was overcome with gas and I went outside and I almost strangled from coughing, I got a little pain but I didn’t think it was as bad as it was. I was outside about half an hour I judge and then went back to it as we often get to-coughing down there; that same evening I told the wife about it. The next morning I had the same pain. It was Saturday and I put in a half day and coming back home I just made it and went home and washed up and went to my doctor and he told me I was ruptured he told me to go to the company doctor and I did on Monday. He examined me and told me I was ruptured.”

Polcen testified further that there was no extraordinary rush of gas at the particular time when he ‘almost strangled from coughing’ and other witnesses testified that there was nothing special in the amount of gas or in the condition at that time, stating that they ‘cough all the time’ and that ‘everybody coughs in the chemical works.’

[13]

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Related

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
81 N.E.2d 626, 52 Ohio Law. Abs. 9, 1948 Ohio App. LEXIS 906, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/chapman-v-industrial-commission-ohioctapp-1948.