Eubanks v. Barnsdall Oil Co.

1934 OK 408, 35 P.2d 873, 169 Okla. 31, 1934 Okla. LEXIS 223
CourtSupreme Court of Oklahoma
DecidedSeptember 11, 1934
Docket24263
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 1934 OK 408 (Eubanks v. Barnsdall Oil Co.) 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
Eubanks v. Barnsdall Oil Co., 1934 OK 408, 35 P.2d 873, 169 Okla. 31, 1934 Okla. LEXIS 223 (Okla. 1934).

Opinion

BUSBY. J.

This is a proceeding to review an award of the State Industrial Commission. On August 5, 1930, the claimant, J. A. Eubanks, who is the petitioner in this court, sustained an accidental personal injury arising out of and in the course of his employment. as a roustabout in the production department of the Barnsdall Oil Company, respondent.

Ho received a blow on the right side of the head, which rendered him unconscious for about 36 hours. His skull was fractured. Two surgical operations were performed on his head and a portion of the skull has been removed. The injury resulted in dizziness, headaches, general nervousness, and a “partial paralysis of his right hand or arm.”

Compensation for temporary total disability has been paid. It is not disputed in this case that the claimant is entitled to permanent disability. The principal question presented involves the method of computing compensation for the disability suffered.

The Commission, after hearing the evidence, entered its order on October 25, 1932, finding that the claimant had a permanent partial disability, compensable under the “other cases’’ clause of section 13356, O. S. 1931, which entitled him to compensation based npon a decrease in earning capacity at the rate of $10 per week, not to exceed 300 weeks. Compensaton was awarded in accordance with the finding. The Commission decided the rate of compensation should be determined solely under the “other cases” clause of section 13356, supra, notwithstanding the fact that claimant’s disability was partly due to permanent partial loss of use of a specific member of the body. The *32 claimant urges that “the State Industrial Commission erred in not awarding this claimant compensation for a permanent partial disability to Ms right arm,” and argues that this cause should he “reversed and remanded to the Industrial Commission, with directions to determine the amount of permanent partial disability to claimant’s right arm and hand, and award compensation therefor in addition to the award for permanent partial disability based on decreased earning capacity.”

In opposition to the theory advanced by claimant, respondents say that the disability to the specific member “entered into and became a part of the general permanent partial disability,’’ and that compensation in this and other similar cases, is properly determined solely upon the decrease of claimant’s earning capacity under the “other cases” clause of section 13356, supra.

The question presented is one of law, and requires an analysis and harmonious interpretation of various provisions of section 13356, supra, which govern the amount of compensation properly payable under the Workman’s Compensation Act. This section contains a specific disability schedule, which prescribed the method of computing- compensation in the event an injury results in the total or partial loss of use of various designated members of the human body. The compensation thus provided is not dependent upon a decrease in earning capacity, and is in lieu of compensation based upon a loss of earning capacity. Thus, if the only disability suffered by an injured workman is a partial loss of use of a specific member, such as the hand or arm, he is entitled to compensation under the specific schedule even though his earning capacity is not decreased by the injury. Conversely, in such a case, he cannot recover more than the amount provided by the specific schedule on the theory that his earning capacity is decreased to such an extent that the compensation provided by the specific injury schedule is inequitable. In other words, the specific disability schedule places an arbitrary and ascertainable value on the designated portions of the human body. However, if the disability suffered extends to portions of the human body not designated in the specific schedule, compensation may properly be awarded under the “other cases’’ clause, based upon and determined by the decrease of the injured workman’s earning capacity. Jones & Spicer et al. v. Wardlow, 164 Okla. 224, 23 P. (2d) 707; Farmers’ Co-Op. Ass’n v. Beagley, 158 Okla. 53, 12 P. (2d) 544; White Oak Refining Co. v. Whitehead, 149 Okla. 297, 298 P. 611; Dailey, Crawford & Pevetoe v. Rand, 155 Okla. 229, 8 P. (2d) 738. The question then arises: What legal effect in determining the rate of compensation should be attached to the fact that a portion of the disability suffered is the loss of, or total or partial loss of use of, a specific member. According to respondent’s con-' tontion, the disability of the specific member should be treated as a part of a greater disability, and compensation is dependent on and limited by the loss of the injured workman’s earning capacity.

In order to test the soundness of the rule which the respondent urges should be adopted, let us assume the existence of a slightly different but none the less possible situation. Let us assume that the blow to the claimant’s head in this case had, instead of affecting claimant’s arm, caused a total loss of sight in one of claimant’s eyes, at the same time affecting other portions of his body to the extent that hisi earning capacity was decreased, let us say, 16 per cent., and that a very slight portion of the decrease in earning capacity could be attributed to the eye. Would the injured workman be precluded from recovering compensation for the loss of the eye under the specific disability schedule. Or let us assume a hip injury resulting in a total loss of use of a leg. Compensation could be awarded under the “other cases’’ clause of section 13356, if there was a decrease in earning capacity. White Oak Refining Co. v. Whitehead, supra. But suppose there is no loss of earning capacity due to the particular ability of the injured claimant to earn a livelihood without the use of the leg and hip. Is he to be deprived of compensation for the loss of use of the specific member merely because the injury had the effect of destroying the use of the hip as well as the leg?

These results would, we think, be contrary to the purpose and intent of the Compensation Act. If the proposed rule will not stand the test of extreme cases, it cannot be adopted in the present case, since the soundness of a rule of law should be tested by its possible application to other eases-

The Workman’s Compensation Act, as we have previously observed, provides a definite schedule for loss of or loss of use of a specific member of the body, without regard to the effect upon the claimant’s earning capacity. It likewise provides for compensation based upon decreased earning capacity in thatl class of disabilities which are not capable of being classified under the specific schedule. Where the disabilities flowing from the injury are of such a nature Hi at a part of them can be classified under *33 the specific schedule and a part cannot be so classified, due consideration must be given to provisions of the statute governing both classes of disabilities. This can only be done by the adoption of a rule which takes cognizance of all applicable provisions of the statute in such cases.

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Bluebook (online)
1934 OK 408, 35 P.2d 873, 169 Okla. 31, 1934 Okla. LEXIS 223, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/eubanks-v-barnsdall-oil-co-okla-1934.