Dymak v. Haskins Bros.

271 N.W. 860, 132 Neb. 308, 1937 Neb. LEXIS 178
CourtNebraska Supreme Court
DecidedMarch 9, 1937
DocketNo. 29975
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 271 N.W. 860 (Dymak v. Haskins Bros.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Nebraska Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Dymak v. Haskins Bros., 271 N.W. 860, 132 Neb. 308, 1937 Neb. LEXIS 178 (Neb. 1937).

Opinion

Eberly, J.

This is a proceeding instituted in this court by Haskins Brothers & Company and Great American Indemnity Company, to review an award of compensation made by the district court for Douglas county against the appellants and in favor of Mamie Dymak on July 13, 1936.

Section 48-174, Comp. St. Supp. 1935, provides that this judgment, so appealed from, may be “modified or set aside only upon the following grounds: (1) That the court acted without or in excess of its powers. (2) That the judgment, order or award was procured by fraud. (3) That the findings of fact are not conclusively supported by the evidence as disclosed by the record, and if so found, the cause shall be considered de novo upon the record. (4) That the findings of fact by the court do not support the order or award.”

It appears that the original order appealed from was [310]*310entered in the Nebraska workmen’s compensation court, in the following terms

“1. That on or about April 19th, 1935, the plaintiff was in the employ of the defendant Haskins Brothers & Company, a corporation, as a wrapping machine operator in and about the soap factory operated by the said defendant in Omaha, Nebraska, at a weekly wage of $13.00; that on or about said date, while plaintiff was attempting to start the wrapping machine, pulling the dutch not being sufficient to start the machine, plaintiff held to the clutch with one hand and stooped so that she could turn the fly wheel with the other hand, and in so doing severely wrenched her back in and about the sacro-iliac region, tearing and spraining the bones, ligaments and muscles and soft tissues in and about said sacro-iliac region; that said accidental injury arose out of and in the course of plaintiff’s said employment.

“2. That by reason of said accident and the resultant injuries, plaintiff was temporarily totally disabled from and after April 19th, 1935, to and including January 13th, 1936, a 'period of 34 weeks, -for which period plaintiff is entitled to $8.67 each week; that plaintiff’s temporary total disability was immediately followed by permanent partial disability traceable to said accident and said permanent partial disability is found to be 50% of normal, for which plaintiff is entitled to $4.33 each week for a period of 266 weeks from and after January 13th, 1936.”

Such award also contained an allowance for medical services and for legal services.

In the district court for Douglas county, the award of the compensation court was sustained.

Under the statutory limitations already referred to, this appeal presents the question of the correctness of this judgment.

The order entered is certainly within the powers of the compensation court. Fraud is not alleged, neither is it contended “that the findings of fact by the court do not support the order or award.”

[311]*311There is no question under the evidence that appellee suffered an injury resulting from an accident arising out of and in the course of her employment. She is therefore entitled to compensation, unless her right thereto is negatived by appellants’ contention that “Medical evidence is conclusive that plaintiff had a congenital defect of the sacro-iliac region.”

The following is, in substance, an accurate description of the physical condition of plaintiff as it existed prior to the accident: The X-rays disclosed an abnormal relation between the position of the sacrum and the lumbar spine. The position of the sacrum is more horizontal than normal. Normally the sacrum occupies, or is in, a plane at an angle with the plane of the lumbar spine, the angle being about 45 degrees with the angle at the front, with the apex of the angle at the front. In this case the sacrum is almost horizontal, so that the angle is close to" 80 or 90 degrees. This is not the result of the accident, but rather is a congenital thing. According to the testimony of the experts, this type of back constitutes one that is weaker than a normal spine; more susceptible to strain than a normal spine.

The appellants cite Gilkeson v. Northern Gas Engineering Co., 127 Neb. 124, 254 N. W. 714. In that case Gilkeson’s witnesses’ testimony tended to establish that a mitral regurgitation which existed subsequent to the accident, to which he had been subjected, was caused by it, and was due to the stress and strain thrown upon him. But from a consideration of all the evidence, this court concluded that Gilkeson had a mitral regurgitation and disability therefrom prior to and at the time of the exertion the accident imposed upon him, and that it was not increased in extent by the same. The rule invoked by these facts is wholly inapplicable here, where the undisputed evidence is that the plaintiff worked for defendant, Haskins Brothers & Company, more than eleven years, and prior to this accident had never had an accident or drew compensation. There is no evidence that prior to the accident here in suit she ever suffered from a strain or injury in the sacro-iliac region.

[312]*312The facts in the instant case invoke the application of the well recognized principle, viz.: “Injury from strain or overexertion due to a physical condition predisposing the employee to injury is an injury within the terms of the various workmen’s compensation acts authorizing compensation for injuries, personal injuries, accidental injuries, or personal injuries by accident, even though had the person been sound in every particular the strain would not have been sufficient to cause his death or provoke any serious physical injury.” 71 C. J. 607. See, also, Bunker v. Motor Wheel Corporation, 231 Mich. 334, 204 N. W. 110; Hackley-Phelps-Bonnell Co. v. Cooley, 173 Wis. 128, 179 N. W. 590.

The amount of the award of compensation is challenged as being excessive.

“Under the employers’ liability act * * * the inquiry respecting the extent of an injury to an employee should be directed to his condition at the time of the examination or trial,” and subject to the right to make application for a modification any time after six months from the date of the award. Updike Grain Co. v. Swanson, 103 Neb. 872, 174 N. W. 862.

In Poast v. Omaha Merchants Express & Transfer Co., 107 Neb. 516, 186 N. W. 540, Day, J., in delivering the opinion of this court, employed the following language: “A fair construction of the law would imply that where an employee sustains an injury resulting in temporary total disability, but of such a character that the extent (duration) of the disability cannot then be determined, the employee is entitled to receive compensation under subdivision 1 of section 3662 (now section 48-121, Comp. St. 1929), until such time as a cure is effected, or until it can be determined definitely what percentage of permanent partial loss the employee will suffer.”

Again, the courts of a sister state have had for consideration these facts: “An employee’s back was wrenched in an accident. It failed to get well in the time an ordinary wrenched back would, and arthritis was found. There was no way of determining just when the disability from the [313]*313accident ceased and that from arthritis began. It was held that, so long as disability continues within the legal limit of 300 weeks, compensation should continue.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
271 N.W. 860, 132 Neb. 308, 1937 Neb. LEXIS 178, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dymak-v-haskins-bros-neb-1937.