Forest Constructors, Inc. v. Tadlock

160 So. 2d 214, 248 Miss. 460, 1964 Miss. LEXIS 275
CourtMississippi Supreme Court
DecidedFebruary 10, 1964
DocketNo. 42871
StatusPublished

This text of 160 So. 2d 214 (Forest Constructors, Inc. v. Tadlock) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Mississippi Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Forest Constructors, Inc. v. Tadlock, 160 So. 2d 214, 248 Miss. 460, 1964 Miss. LEXIS 275 (Mich. 1964).

Opinion

McElroy, J.

This is an appeal by Forest Constructors, Inc. and United States Fidelity & Guaranty Company from a judgment of the Circuit Court of Scott County, Mississippi, rendered on the 23rd day of May, 1963, affirming an order of the Mississippi Workmen’s Compensation Commission, dated April 9, 1963, directing that compensation benefits for temporary total disability and permanent partial disability be paid to the appellee.

Appellee filed with the Mississippi Workmen’s Compensation Commission Forms B-5 and B-ll, setting out the information required, and alleging that on July 2, 1960 he stepped on a tile drain pipe, slipped and fell into a drain pool, injuring his left leg and back. Appellants filed their answer, Form B-5, 22, admitting all pertinent information set out by appellee, except they denied appellee was temporarily disabled other than from July 4, 1960 through June 2, 1961, denied that appellee was permanently disabled, and denied the average weekly wage, admitting an average weekly wage of only $78.57.

The issues to be determined by the Workmen’s Compensation Commission were duration of temporary disability, degree of permanent disability, the average week[463]*463ly wage, and whether there was a prior existing- handicap which was a contributing factor to the disability, and if there was, the extent of proration therefor.

The attorney referee found that appellee’s average weekly wage at the time of injury1, July 2, 1960, was $101.25; that appellee sustained an accidental injury on said date while in the employ of Forest Constructors, Inc.; that appellee was paid compensation at the rate of $35 a week for three weeks; that thereafter until December 21, 1960 appellee worked for the employer without sustaining loss of earnings; that appellee became disabled January 1, 1961 and was totally disabled until June 9, 1961; that appellee has a 50 percent wage-earning loss in the same or other employment; that appellee had a preexisting condition known as spondylolysis; and that the preexisting condition accounts for 10 percent, or one-fifth, of appellee’s present disability. The attorney referee calculated that claimant sustained a wage-earning loss in the amount of $50.63, that two-thirds of said loss is $33.75, and that said amount reduced by $6.75 per week due to the preexisting condition is $27 a week for his compensation rate for permanent partial disability. The attorney referee ordered that appellee be paid $27 a week for a period not exceeding- 450 weeks, or $10,000, whichever was the lesser in amount.

The Workmen’s Compensation Commission modified the order of the attorney referee, and directed appellants to pay claimant compensation at the rate of $35 per week for temporary total disability from January 1, 1961 through June 9, 1961, and at the rate of $19.72 per week for permanent partial disability from June 10, 1961, limited to 450 weeks or $10,000, whichever is lesser in amount. Appellants appealed from this order to the Circuit Court of Scott County, Mississippi, and on May 23, 1963 the circuit court affirmed the order of the full commission.

[464]*464Woodward W. Tadlock, claimant and appellee, testified the following: He was 52 years of age, married, and had seven children. He had been a carpenter since 1943 and had been employed by Forest Constructors, Inc. since 1959. He ordinarily worked nine hours a day, and earned $2.25 an hour, or $101.25 weekly. He did hard, manual labor, lifting heavy lumber and such things, and did concrete work. He had to climb ladders, sometimes up to 60 feet high, and he carried materials up these ladders. He was injured on June 2, 1960 while working on raising the water level of a cesspool. He was carrying a steel trap door weighing 30 to 40 pounds," slipped on a slick piece of tile, fell in the hole, and fell on his back on a two by six. He was taken to Dr. L. W. Willey, Jr., who treated him for some time, about three weeks for his leg injury and some additional time for his back injury. He thén transferred to Dr. Bill Austin. His condition, after the injury, was “just where I couldn’t hardly go, but I had a family and kids to send to school and I had to try to work and I worked just whenever I — lot of work I done was on my knees. I wasn’t able to stand up.” He was paid compensation for a time, until about June 1 or 2. His condition then wasn’t much better thán on December 31, 1960. His back hurt when he stooped or lifted, and he couldn’t climb ladders.

Dr. J. W. Austin testified that he saw the complainant on January 1, 1961, and that he complained of his back and left leg. His findings led him to believe he probably had a ruptured intervertebral disc in the lumbar area. The history of the case given him by claimant showed claimant was injured on July 2,1960, when he stepped in a hole about a foot deep while carrying a piece of heavy equipment and jerked his back. Dr. Austin testified he prescribed codine and things like that for pain and injections to try to relieve muscle spasms and irritation of nerve roots. He said that in August 1961 appellee had [465]*465obtained maximum recovery, and that in his opinion appellee was permanently disabled to the extent of 100 percent of the body as a whole.

Dr. William C. Warner testified that appellee was referred to him for consultation by Dr. J. W. Austin of Forest, Mississippi, and that in his opinion he had a congenital spondylolysis and had sustained a low back sprain superimposed. He recommended a spinal fusion and also a low back brace. On June 9, 1961 he rated appellee as having a 40 to 50 percent permanent partial disability. In September 1962 he rated appellee as having a 25 to 30 percent permanent partial disability. He found the appellee to have disc trouble, a possible rupture or herniated intervertebral disc, and thought an exploratory operation should be performed on his back for the disc trouble. Of the 40 to 50 percent disability which Dr. Warner estimated on June 9, 1961, he attributed 10 percent to the preexisting spondylolysis and 30 to 40 percent to the injury. He stated that on September 2, 1962, when he last examined appellee, his condition was essentially the same, but on that date he attributed 10 percent disability to the injury. He felt the disability was 10 percent referrable to the trauma, a different figure than he quoted on June 9, 1961, but he stated that the disability fluctuated from day to day.

The sole issue presented by the appellants’ brief and their argument in support are that the decision of the Compensation Commission was not supported by medical findings, and that uncontradicted and unimpeachable medical evidence offered by the appellants was disregarded by the commission.

The lay testimony indicated that appellee was injured, and the medical testimony showed that he was permanently partially disabled, from 30 or 40 percent to as much as 100 percent. Dr. Warner said he was 40 to 50 percent disabled. Dr. Austin said the man was [466]*466permanently disabled to the extent of 100 percent of the body as a whole.

We are of the opinion that the finding and decision of the commission are supported by substantial evidence, both lay and medical testimony, and that the decision of the lower court should be affirmed.

In I.B.S. Manufacturing Company et al. v. Cook, 241 Miss. 256, 130 So. 2d 557 (1961), five physicians testified as to the cause of the deceased’s death.

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Bluebook (online)
160 So. 2d 214, 248 Miss. 460, 1964 Miss. LEXIS 275, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/forest-constructors-inc-v-tadlock-miss-1964.