Claim of Bealer v. Town of Amherst

278 A.D. 993, 105 N.Y.S.2d 772, 1951 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 5462

Opinion

Appeal by employer and its insurance carrier from an award of the Workmen’s Compensation Board allowing death benefits to the widow of a deceased employee. The sole issue is whether decedent's death resulted from an industrial accident. Decedent was employed as a laborer by the ffown of Amherst. On the day of his death he was assisting in cleaning sewers, which necessitated pulling slats attached to a cable through the sewer by mea?s °f a manually operated winch, or dragging a bucket through the sewer by the same means. While actually engaged in turning a crank on the winch, decedent felt a numbness in his arm, and shortly thereafter collapsed. He died the same day of a cerebral hemorrhage. His death was causally connected with the exertion of his work by medical testimony. We think the evidence justified the board in finding as a fact that death was due to accidental injuries under the presently accepted meaning of an industrial accident. (Matter of Masse v. Bobinson Co., 301 N. T. 34; Matter of Barnes v. New York World’s Fair 1939, 277 App. Div. 819.) Award unanimously affirmed, with costs to the Workmen’s Compensation Board. Present — Poster, P. J., Heffernan, Deyo, Bergan and Coon, JJ.