Goodwin v. . Bright

163 S.E. 576, 202 N.C. 481, 1932 N.C. LEXIS 139

• Court: Supreme Court of North Carolina
• Decided: March 30, 1932
• Status: Published

Opinion

CoNNOR, J.

An employee who has suffered an injury resulting from an accident wbicb arose out of and in tbe course of bis employment, is entitled to compensation, to be paid by bis employer, wben both tbe employee and tbe employer are bound by tbe provisions of tbe North Carolina Workmen’s Compensation Act, N. C. Code of 1931, section 8081(b), chapter 120, Public Laws of North Carolina, 1929. Tbe injury is not compensable, however, unless it resulted from an accident, which arose not only in the course, but also out of the employment. In Harden v. Furniture Company, 199 N. C., 733, 155 S. E., 728, it is said: “As defined in the North Carolina "Workmen’s Compensation Act, the word 'death,’ as a basis for a right to compensation, means death resulting from an injury; and 'injury’ and 'personal injury’ mean injury by accident arising out of and in the course of the employment, and do not include disease in any form unless it results naturally and unavoidably from the accident. Section 2(f) (j). The mere fact that the injury is the result of the wilful or criminal assault of a third person does not prevent the injury from being accidental. Conrad v. Foundry Co., 198 N. C., 723, 153 S. E., 266.”

In the instant case it is admitted that as shown by all the evidence the death of the deceased employee resulted from an accident which arose in the course of his employment. The question is, whether there was evidence at the hearing before Commissioner Wilson to sustain his finding that the accident which resulted in the death of the employee arose out of his employment. In Harden v. Furniture Co., supra, it is said: “While the phrase 'in the course of’ refers to time, place, and circumstances, the words 'out of’ relate to the origin, or cause of the accident.” It is held in that case that if an employee has sustained an injury, the risk of which might have been contemplated by a reasonable person as incidental to the service when he entered the employment, the injury may be said to have arisen out of the employment; and it may be said to be incidental to the employment when it is either an ordinary risk directly connected with the employment, or an extraordinary risk which is only indirectly connected with the service owing to the special nature of the employment.

This principle was applied by this Court in West v. Fertilizer Co., 201 N. C., 556, in which the judgment of the Superior Court affirming an award made by the North Carolina Industrial Commission of compensation to the dependents of a deceased employee whose death was the result of injuries suffered while he was performing his duties as a night watchman, and caused by an assault made on him by an unknown person for the purpose of robbery, was affirmed. Here the deceased employee, as shown by all the evidence, was exposed by the terms of his employment to a hazard which might have been contemplated by a reasonable person as incidental to the service required of him by his employer. It cannot be held as a jmatter of law that there was no causal connection between the conditions under which he was required to work, and the accident which resulted in his fatal injury.

There was no error of law in tbe finding by tbe North Carolina Industrial Commission that tbe accident which resulted in the death of the employee arose not only in the course but also out of his employment. For this reason the judgment of the Superior Court affirming the award of the Commission is

Affirmed.