Oklahoma Railway Co. v. Banks

1932 OK 85, 8 P.2d 17, 155 Okla. 152, 1932 Okla. LEXIS 94
CourtSupreme Court of Oklahoma
DecidedFebruary 2, 1932
Docket22686
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 1932 OK 85 (Oklahoma Railway Co. v. Banks) 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
Oklahoma Railway Co. v. Banks, 1932 OK 85, 8 P.2d 17, 155 Okla. 152, 1932 Okla. LEXIS 94 (Okla. 1932).

Opinion

SWINDALL, J.

On April 27, 1931, II. E. Banks, as claimant, filed with the State Industrial Commission his first notice of injury and claim for compensation against the Oklahoma Railway Company, respondent, to recover compensation for an accidental personal injury alleged to have occurred on or about the 2i7th of March, .1931, by claimant getting cement in his eye. Notice was given of a hearing before the Commission on June 3, 1931. Evidence was taken and on July 1, 1931, the Commission made and entered of record its findings and order as follows:

“(1) That claimant herein on the 27th day of March, 1931, was in the employment of this respondent and engaged in the performance of manual labor as defined by the Workmen’s Compensation Law.
(2) .That arising out of and in the course of such employment with respondent herein, claimant sustained an accidental personal Injury on March 27, 1931, by a piece of concrete striking him in the right eye.
“(3) That the average daily wage of claimant at the time of said injury was $3 per day.
“(4) That by reason of said injury the claimant was temporarily totally disabled from March 30, 1921, to May 15, 1931.
“The Commission is of the opinion, upon consideration of the foregoing facts, that claimant is entitled to temporary total compensation, at the rate of $11.54 per week, from) March 30, 1931, to May 15, 1931, less the statutory five-day waiting period, being a period of six weeks and a total sum of $69.24.
“The Commission is of the further opinion, that claimant is entitled to permanent' total compensation for the loss of 'his right eye in the amount of $1,154.”

Within the time provided by law, the respondent, as petitioner, commenced this proceeding against H. E. Banks and the State Industrial Commission of Oklahoma, as respondents, to review said award. Upon the conclusion of the evidence before the Commission the petitioner, as respondent before the Commission, moved the Commission to dismiss the application of the claimant for *153 the reason that no notice was given to the respondent of the accidental injury alleged to have been sustained by the claimant within a period of 30 days as prescribed by law, and in support of this motion reference is made to the evidence heretofore introduced at the hearing of this case and the evidence is made a part of this motion. .The evidence was taken before an inspector and the inspector immediately overruled the motion and an exception was saved by the petitioner. The first proposition urged by the petitioner is that the record herein shows conclusively without any conflict whatever in the evidence that claimant failed to comply with the provisions of section 7292, C. O. S. 1921, and that therefore the State Industrial Commission has no statutory power or authority to make and enter its order of July 1, 1931, awarding claimant compensation for his alleged accidental injury. It is clear from the record that if the claimant sustained an accidental personal injury arising out of and in the course of his employment, the same occurred on or before the 25th of March, Í931, for the reason the record shows conclusively that the work at the place where he claims to have been injured was suspended on that date, and that he never worked there after that date. The respondent, H. E. Banks, contends that the Commission found that the accidental injury occurred on- March 27, 1931, and that the claim was filed within 30 days, and further contends that the fact that claimant became ill with pneumonia a short time after the alleged accidental injury was sufficient reason for not giving written notice to- the petitioner as required by section 7292, C. O. S. 1921, and further contends that his wife, someone in his behalf, gave notice to tho foreman of the petitioner a few days after the accident. These contentions might be tenable if there was any competent evidence to sustain the same. However, we have searched the record and find that the undisputed evidence shows that the injury, if any, occurred to the claimant on or before March 25, 1931, that he worked for two days after the eye was alleged to have been injured, and that his eye was burning him some, and that he did not notify his foreman or the Oklahoma Railway Company or any of its proper agents. He testified that he did not become ill with pneumonia until the night before he was taken to the hospital, and that he was not taken to the hospital until the 5th of April, which is 10 days after he claims he was injured. Mrs. Wilma Banks was called as a witness on behalf of the claimant, but upon objection being made to her testifying upon the ground that she was the wife of the claimant and upon the objection being sustained, no effort was made to qualify her as a witness in the case and she did not further testify. Therefore, in our opinion, there is no competent evidence offered by the respondent to excuse his failure to give -written notice as required by section 7292, supra. Respondent to sustain hi-s contentions relies upon Oklahoma Gas & Electric Co. v. Thomas, 115 Okla. 67, 241 P. 820. The second syllabus is as follows:

“In an action to enforce compensation for-an injury to an employee under the Workmen’s Compensation Act, where it appears that no written notice of the injury was given, as required by section 7292, C. O. S. 1921, a want of prejudice to the employer by reason of a failure to give the written notice sufficiently appears where it is shown that the employer had actual notice of such injury, soon, after it occurred, and, with full knowledge of the injury, omitted to administer any relief; and where the employee makes proof of such actual notice of his injury, the burden of proof then shifts to the employer to show that in spite of such actual notice he is still prejudiced ■by the failure to give the written notice.”

Counsel for claimant contends that this case sustains his contentions in the case at bar. The principal distinction between that case and the case at bar is that in that case the court found that the employee made proof of such actual notice of hi-s injury and in this case there is an entire lack of proof.

For the reasons above stated, we are forced to sustain the contention of the petitioner. The issue is foreclosed by the following decisions of thi-s court: Oklahoma Natural Gas Corp. v. Baker, 148 Okla. 277, 298 P. 875; Velie Mines Corp. v. Rogers, 150 Okla. 185, 1 P. (2d) 353; Ford Motor Co. v. Hunt, 146 Okla. 105, 293 P. 1038; and W. E. Edmiston Drilling Co. v. Russell, 151 Okla. 108, 1 P. (2d) 374. We also call the Commission’s attention to the fact that we are unable to determine from the record how they arrived at the finding that the respondent was totally temporarily disabled from March 30, 1931, to May 15, 1931. The record shows that the claimant became ill with pneumonia on April 4th and was sent to the hospital on April 5th and remained in the hospital a portion of the time for which he was allowed temporary total disability, and it was not shown that the pneumonia grew out of or was the result of any accidental injury. We also fail to find any competent evidence to show a permanent *154 loss of the right eye. Dr. McDonald testified on behalf of respondent and his qualification as a specialist in eye, ear, nose, and throat ailments was admitted.

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

Related

Nevada Industrial Commission v. Adair
217 P.2d 348 (Nevada Supreme Court, 1950)
Skelly Oil Co. v. Grimm
1944 OK 89 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1944)
Gulf Oil Corporation v. Garrison
1938 OK 476 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1938)
Evans-Wallower Lead Co. v. Byrd
1935 OK 1121 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1935)
Southwestern Light & Power Co. v. Pittman
1935 OK 1026 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1935)
Greer County Gins v. Dunnington
1933 OK 616 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1933)
Oklahoma Railway Co. v. Banks
1933 OK 853 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1933)
Skelly Oil Co. v. Johnson
1932 OK 433 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1932)
Southland Cotton Oil Co. v. Pritchett
1932 OK 362 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1932)
Coline Oil Corp. v. Vaughn
1932 OK 335 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1932)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
1932 OK 85, 8 P.2d 17, 155 Okla. 152, 1932 Okla. LEXIS 94, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/oklahoma-railway-co-v-banks-okla-1932.