Lynch v. State

9 Ill. Ct. Cl. 290, 1936 Ill. Ct. Cl. LEXIS 81
CourtCourt of Claims of Illinois
DecidedSeptember 10, 1936
DocketNo. 2575
StatusPublished

This text of 9 Ill. Ct. Cl. 290 (Lynch v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Claims of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lynch v. State, 9 Ill. Ct. Cl. 290, 1936 Ill. Ct. Cl. LEXIS 81 (Ill. Super. Ct. 1936).

Opinion

Mr. Chief Justice Hollebich

delivered the opiniou of the court:

Prior to and on the 17th day of February, A. D. 1934, claimant was in the employ of the respondent as'-a stenographer and file clerk in the Automobile License Department of the Secretary of State, located at 120 South Ashland Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois. The office in which she was working was a room approximately 100x80 feet in dimensions with a 16-foot ceiling. There was a balcony about ten feet above the floor, on which the records were kept. The office was equipped with an electrically-driven paper-cutting machine, which was about three feet high, three feet wide, and three feet deep; an electrically-driven photostatic machine about four or five feet high, two or three feet wide, and about five feet in length; also an electrically-driven multigraphing machine.

There was an iron stairway leading from the main floor to the balcony, which stairway was about three feet wide, and was constructed at an angle of about sixty degrees.

Claimant, in the performance of her work, had certain duties to perform in connection with the aforementioned photostatic machine which was located on the balcony. On the morning of February 17th, 1934 she was carrying some photostatic prints from the balcony to the floor below. In descending the stairway, the heel of one of her shoes caught in one of the stair treads when she about seven feet above the floor, and she fell forward. The side of her body struck the guard rail at the side of said stairway, and she fell head foremost to the terraza floor. She was rendered unconscious and was bleeding from the nose and ears, and was immedi.ately taken to the University Hospital where it was found that she had sustained a basal skull fracture, concussion of the brain, a lacerated mouth, and loosening of the teeth; multiple cointusions on both legs; and a severe cut on her left hip. She remained in a semi-conscious condition for a week, and continued at the hospital until April 9th, 1934 under the care of Dr. Karl A. Meyer who continued to treat her after she left the hospital. On December 14th, 1934 she was referred by Dr. Meyer to Dr. Theodore T. Stone, a specialist in diseases of the nervous system, who treated her until April 23d, 1935, at which time he discharged her as much improved. During all of the time from the date of the accident to the date of taking testimony herein, to wit, on June 3d, 1936, she continued to remain under the care of Dr. Meyer, and is still under his care. During the interval between the time she left the hospital and June 3d, 1936, she was also treated by several other physiciáns.

On August 1st, 1934 she reported back to work, and has continued in the employ of the respondent to this date. Although she has been able to perform only a part of the duties she previously performed, she has received her wages in full during all of the time from the date of the accident to the date of the hearing herein.

Claimant filed her original complaint herein on January 14th, 1935, setting forth the facts and circumstances connected with the accident, and setting forth also that she has received her salary regularly from the Secretary of State from February 17th, 1934 to October 1st, 1934, in the amount of $800.00. The prayer for relief as set forth in the original petition is as follows:

“Claimant therefore asks for an award in the sum of $3,417.52 for medical expenses as per 6ill of particulars attached herewith.”

The Bill of Particulars sets forth numerous items of medical, surgical, nursing and hospital expenses, together with an estimate of future expenses of the same kind, but does not purport to make any claim for compensation for the injuries sustained by the claimant.

On May 12th, 1936, pursuant to leave of court theretofore had and obtained, claimant filed her amended complaint herein in which she asks for compensation for the injuries sustained by her as aforesaid. Such amended complaint sets forth that inasmuch as claimant has received her salary, no claim is made for temporary disability. She asks, however, for compensation for permanent disability, as well as for medical, surgical and hospital expenses incurred to the date of filing such amended complaint, in the amount of $2,052.62.

If the claimant has any right to an award, it is by virtue of the Workmen’s Compensation Act of this State, and the Attorney General has raised the following questions with reference to such right of recovery:

1. Were the claimant and respondent operating under the Workmen’s Compensation Act at the time of the accident in question?

2. If so, did the claimant make claim for compensation and file her application for compensation within the time required by Section 24 of the Workmen’s Compensation Act?

3. If claimant and respondent were operating under the Compensation Act, and claim for compensation was made, and application for compensation was filed within the time required by such Act, is the claimant entitled at this time to compensation for the injuries so sustained by her ?

The questions raised by the Attorney General will be considered in the order above set forth.

I.

Were the claimant and respondent operating under the provisions of the Workmen’s Compensation Act at the time of the accident in questionf

The answer to this question depends upon whether the respondent at the time of the accident was engaged in an extra-hazardous business or enterprise within the meaning of those words as used in Section Three of the Compensation Act. Section Three of such Act states that the provisions of the Act shall apply automatically “to all employers and all their employees engaged in any department of the following enterprises or businesses which are declared to be extra-hazardous, namely:” * * *

“7%. Any enterprise in which sharp-edged cutting tools, grinders implements are used”, etc. * * *

“8. Any enterprise in which statutory or municipal ordinance regulations are now or shall hereafter be imposed for the regulating, guarding, use or the placing of machinery or appliances or for the protection and safeguarding of the employees or the public therein * * * each of which occupations, enterprises or businesses are hereby declared to be extra-hazardous”, etc.

It appears from the record that the office of the respondent in which claimant was working at the time of the accident was equipped with an electrically-driven paper-cutting machine; an electrically-driven photostatic machine; and an electrically-driven multigraphing machine; that such machines were subject to municipal ordinance regulation, to wit, the provisions of the Electrical Code of the City of Chicago with reference to the installation, .alteration, use and inspection of electrical equipment; and were also subject to statutory regulation, to wit, the provisions of the Health, Safety and Comfort Act of this State (Hurd’s Revised Statutes, 1933, Ch. 48, Par. 103, Sec. 1). The record also shows - that the paper-cutting machine is equipped with a knife or blade thirty inches in length.

In the case of Hahnemann Hospital vs. Ind. Com., 282 Ill.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
9 Ill. Ct. Cl. 290, 1936 Ill. Ct. Cl. LEXIS 81, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lynch-v-state-ilclaimsct-1936.