Retmier v. Cruse

119 N.E. 32, 67 Ind. App. 192, 1918 Ind. App. LEXIS 154
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedMarch 19, 1918
DocketNo. 10,179
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 119 N.E. 32 (Retmier v. Cruse) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Retmier v. Cruse, 119 N.E. 32, 67 Ind. App. 192, 1918 Ind. App. LEXIS 154 (Ind. Ct. App. 1918).

Opinion

Felt, J.

This is an appeal from an award made for appellee hy the Industrial Board of Indiana. The finding of facts and the award are as follows: “Be it remembered that pursuant to notice fixing the time and place therefor, this cause was called for review at the office of the Industrial Board in the State House, before the full board, on the 27th day of September, 1917, at three o’clock, p. m. The plaintiff appeared by Joseph O. Carson and "Win. H. Faust, her attorneys, and the defendants appeared by J. M. Murray, their attorney. And the full board, having heard the argument of counsel, having reviewed the evidence, and being fully advised in the premises, by a majority of its members, finds that on the 8th day of September, 1915, one Paul Cruse was in the employment of defendant, Frank Retmier, at an average weekly wage of $20.00; that on said date the New Amsterdam Casualty Company was the compensation insurance carrier of the defendant employer; that on the said 8th day of September, 1915, the said Paul Cruse received a personal injury by an accident arising out of and in the course of his employment, as a result of which he died on the 8th day of July, 1917; that as a result of said injury and on account of the disability resulting therefrom, the defendant employer paid to the said Paul Cruse, during his lifetime and after his injury, fifty-eight weeks’ compen-. sation at the rate of $11.00 per week; that the said Paul Cruse left surviving him as his sole and only dependent and next of kin, the plaintiff, his mother, who at the time of his injury and death was wholly dependent upon him for support; that the defendant employer had actual knowledge of the injury of the said Paul Cruse at the time that it occurred, and also [194]*194had actual knowledge of his death immediately after it occurred.

“Award. It is therefore considered and ordered, by a majority of the members, that the plaintiff be and is hereby awarded against the defendants, two hundred and forty-two weeks’ compensation at the rate of $11.00 p¿r week. It is further ordered that the defendants pay the burial expenses of the ' said Paul Cruse not exceeding one hundred dollars. It is further ordered that the defendants pay the costs of this action.

“Dated this 17 day of October, 1917.
“Industrial Board of Indiana, By “(Signed) Edgar A. Perkins “(Signed) Charles R. Hughes.
Members. ’ ’

1. The' error assigned, and relied on for reversal is that the award of the Industrial Board is contrary to law. The assignment is “sufficient to present both the sufficiency of the facts found to sustain the award and the sufficiency of the evidence to sustain the finding of facts. ’ ’

We consider first the sufficiency of the finding of facts to sustain the award.

2. The statement that “Paul Cruse received personal injury by an accident arising out of and in the course of his employment” is a legal conclusion and

not an ultimate fact. Inland Steel Co. v. Lambert (1917), 66 Ind. App. 246, 118 N. E.. 162; Lagler v. Roch (1914), 57 Ind. App. 79, 85, 104 N. E. 111.

It has also been held that it is proper for the Industrial Board to include in a finding its general conclusions which may be reviewed on appeal, but are not [195]*195binding on the court unless the same are supported by the ultimate facts included in the finding of the board, and that conclusions of law cannot be considered in determining whether under the ultimate facts found the injury or death was the result of an accident. Inland Steel Co. v. Lambert, supra.

An agreement to pay compensation during the lifetime of an injured employe, or the payment of compensation to him, has been held to amount to an admission that there had been an accident, for which the • employer was liable to pay compensation, but that such agreement or payment is not an admission that the death of such employe was caused by an accident rendering his employer liable to his dependents for compensation. §37 Workmen’s Compensation Act, Acts 1915 p. 392; Cleverley v. Gas, etc., Co. (1907), 1 B. W. C. C. 82, 84, 24 T. L. R. 93; Perry v. Woodward Bowling Alley Co. (1917), 196 Mich. 742, 163 N. W. 52; L. R. A. 1916A 133, 134.

In Perry v. Woodward Bowling Alley Co., supra, the Supreme Court of Michigan said: “The record does disclose that the deceased sustained an injury, and during his disability received compensation; but it is further incumbent upon the claimant to show, by competent evidence from which fair. inference could be drawn, that his death resulted from the injury. This the claimant has failed to do, and compensation for the death must therefore be denied.” ■

In Cleverley v. Gas, etc., Co., supra, the English Court of Appeals, in speaking of the death of an employe with whom his employers had made an agreement and paid compensation thereunder during the lifetime of the employe, said: “But the agreement only amounted to an admission that there had been [196]*196an accident, and that the company was liable to pay compensation for the same. It was not an admission that the death was caused by the accident.”

3. We have in the finding in this case the ultimate facts of decedent’s employment; that he received a personal injury on September 8, 1915; that he died from such injury on July 8, 1917, and the further finding “that as a result of his said injury and on account of the disability resulting therefrom, the defendant employer paid to said Paul Cruse, during his lifetime, and after his injury,” certain compensation.

Following the decisions aforesaid, the above statement includes all the facts essential to appellee’s right to compensation. It amounts to a finding that said injury resulted from an accident, for which appellant was liable, which necessarily includes the facts that such accident occurred while decedent was engaged in doing the work he was employed to do and that the injury resulted as a natural incident of such employment. McNicol’s Case (1913), 215 Mass. 497, 102 N. E. 697, L. R. A. 1916A 306; In re Harraden (1917), 66 Ind. App. 298, 118 N. E. 142.

Considering the foregoing in connection with the ultimate facts of relationship and dependency the finding of facts is sufficient to sustain the award in appellee’s favor. But it is earnestly contended by appellant that there is no evidence to support the finding that the death of decedent resulted from the alleged accidental injury.

[197]*1974. [196]*196The record shows that on September 27,1915, Paul Cruse dnd appellant entered into an agreement showing a weekly wage of $20 and authorizing a weekly compensation of $11 to be paid by appellant on ac[197]

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
119 N.E. 32, 67 Ind. App. 192, 1918 Ind. App. LEXIS 154, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/retmier-v-cruse-indctapp-1918.