Leadley v. State

19 Ill. Ct. Cl. 70, 1949 Ill. Ct. Cl. LEXIS 26
Court of Claims of Illinois·Decided December 7, 1949·No. No. 4137·Published

Opinion

ScHUMAN, C. J.

Claimant, Oliver Leadley, was first employed by the-Division of Highways on October 25, 1926, as a maintenance patrolman. He continued in this position until February 1, 1933, when he resigned. He again re-entered State employment on April 1, 1941 as an extra gang foreman. He continued in this capacity until the date of the alleged injury on November 10, 1947. The salary of Mr. Leadley previous to his injury on November 10, 1947, totaled $2,515.00. ‘

On November 10, 1947, Mr. Leadley was in charge of a group building a concrete culvert drop box about one mile west of Mackinaw on Route 9 in Tazewell County. The job for the day was to pour a concrete footing at the bottom of a 15-foot hole. They began pouring the concrete early in the morning. About eleven o’clock that morning the sky became overcast and intermittent rain began to fall. The evidence showed that unless the concrete was completed in the footing before heavy rain set in, all of the previous work and material would be' lost. That in order to speed up the work, Mr. Leadley got down into the hole to puddle and properly place the fresh concrete. The men on the ground above poured the concrete into the form as rapidly as Mr. Leadley could take care of it.

This work continued through the noon hour and until three o’clock that afternoon when it was completed.

Sometime after one o’clock P.M., Mr. Leadley felt a sharp pain in his left chest and noticed that he was short of breath; however, because of the urgency of the task, work was continued until the footing was completed.

That after completing the work down in the hole, Mr., Leadley lifte dthe concrete mixer by himself, which the' evidence shows was a two-man job, and also lifted the water pump and the hose, which was also a two-man job. And he did this in order to get the mixer and the pump off of the highway.

That after completing the work, Mr. Leadley and the group ate their lunch. Mr. Leadley ate a few bites, but became ill and vomited what he had eaten. After eating their lunch the group started for their headquarters at Peoria, and Mr. Leadley was driving the truck; however, they had only gone a short distance when Mr. Leadley became violently ill and asked his helper to drive for him. By the time the truck had reached East Peoria, Mr. Leadley was so ill that the helper, in alarm,, stopped at the office of the nearest physician, Dr. W. A. Lowy, for aid.

Dr. Lowy testified that he examined Mr. Leadley about 3:30 in the afternoon on November 10, 1947, and that from his examination he concluded that Mr. Leadley had had a heart attack. That he had him removed to St. Francis Hospital in Peoria, Illinois, where he remained until December 15,1947. That a few days after Mr. Leadley was admitted to the hospital, Dr. Lowy had an electrocardiogram made, and a few days before he was sent home from the hospital on the first occasion, he had another electrocardiogram made. Dr. Lowy saw Mr. Leadley periodically through March and April of 1948, and he was again brought to St. Francis Hospital May 31st, where he remained through June 3rd and at that time was brought back because of paint fume poisoning. That on June 1, 1948 Dr. Lowy again took another electrocardiogram. That in the doctor’s opinion the electrocardiogram shows that Mr. Leadley had sustained a coronary thrombosis on November 10, 1947 and that the future examination by the electrocardiogram showed his old heart attack, but nothing new. That in his opinion the only heart attack that Mr. Leadley ever sustained was the one on November 10, 1947. That in his opinion the coronary thrombosis which he found on November 10, 1947 was caused from over-exertion, and from the type of work he was doing on November 10, 1947. That the condition he found, relative to his heart, was permanent and that it would prevent Mr. Leadley from doing any manual labor.

The evidence shows that Mr. Leadley never had any previous physical trouble before, with the exception of minor cold ailments. That he took a physical examination when he applied for the State job and before he resumed work for the State. The evidence further shows that Mr. Leadley had worked hard all of his life and that the only kind of work that he ever performed was manual labor.

The facts show that Mr. Leadley returned to light supervisory work ou July 1, 1948, and continued on that basis until November 23, 1948 when he was unable to continue work, and that he has not done any work since that time, either manual or otherwise.

The facts show that Mr. Leadley was paid compensation from November 10, 1947 until July 1, 1948. That he was again placed on compensation beginning November 23, 1948 until November 30, 1948, when he filed a claim with the Court of Claims.

The burden on the claimant was to prove that the physical disability of the claimant was the result of an accident arising out of and in the course of his employment. This rule is too well settled to require any extended citation of authorities, either in the Court of Claims, or by any other decisions of the State Court.

In this case the undisputed evidence is that Leadley’s disability was caused by a coronary thrombosis. The proof, without question, shows that coronary thrombosis of the heart may result from over-exertion from manual labor. The record in this case shows that on the day in question, on November 10, 1947, Leadley had performed considerable extra work in the course of his employment. That because of rain the men working felt that all of their labor would be lost, and materials used in pouring the footing would also be lost, unless the work could be accomplished before heavy rain set in. That in order to speed up the work, Mr. Leadley got down into the hole himself and puddled the concrete, and took care of it as fast as the men poured it down into the form, and that this work continued on through the noon hour until sometime around 3 o’clock in the afternoon,- and at that time Mr. Leadley, himself, lifted the concrete mixer and the pump and hose, which ordinarily was the work of two men, off the hard road. This character of work subjected Mr. Leadley to unusual exertion. Tbe unusual exertion, basically and logically, resulted in tbe condition as found by Dr. Lowy. Mr. Leadley suffered the attack at a place where the duties of his employment required him to be, and while he was in the discharge of those duties. There can be no question about this, as there is no dispute of these facts in the evidence.

In the opinion of the Court the facts in this case are almost identical with that set forth in Fittro vs. Industrial Commission, 377 Ill. page 532, where the Court on page 538-539 said:

“The evidence shows that over-exertion and fatigue is liable to induce and bring about acute dilation of the heart. The proof further .shows that during the day preceding and up to the time of the accident, Fittro, in the discharge of his duties under his employment was subjected to unusual exertion and activity of a character which was calculated to bring about an acute dilation of the heart.”

As said by this Court, in the City of Joliet vs. Industrial Commission, supra:

“The attack was suffered at a definite time and place and the cause ■of attack arose out of and in the course of the employment.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Leadley v. State, 19 Ill. Ct. Cl. 70, 1949 Ill. Ct. Cl. LEXIS 26 (Ill. Super. Ct. 1949).

19 Ill. Ct. Cl. 70 (Leadley v. State) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.