Smith v. State

11 Ill. Ct. Cl. 220, 1940 Ill. Ct. Cl. LEXIS 15
CourtCourt of Claims of Illinois
DecidedMarch 14, 1940
DocketNo. 2853
StatusPublished

This text of 11 Ill. Ct. Cl. 220 (Smith 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
Smith v. State, 11 Ill. Ct. Cl. 220, 1940 Ill. Ct. Cl. LEXIS 15 (Ill. Super. Ct. 1940).

Opinion

Me. Chief Justice Hollbkich

delivered the opinion of the court:

Claimant was injured August 12th, 1935, while in the employ of respondent as a laborer at the Griffin Gravel Pit in Moultrie County. He was immediately removed from the scene of the accident to the office of Dr. Stephen Ambrose in Lovington, and from there to St. Mary’s Hospital in Decatur where he was X-rayed, and where he remained for treatment until August 18th when he was returned to his home and remained in bed until September 9th.

The X-rays showed no fracture of the skull, no fracture of the ribs, and no evidence of fracture to the bony part of the chest, but revealed an old arthritic condition in the knee joint, and a floating cartilage that apparently had lodged in the tendon above the knee cap.

At the time Dr. Ambrose first examined claimant, he complained of pain in his head, chest and knee. Apparently the head and chest gave him no further trouble at that time, but he continued to suffer considerable pain from the knee injury. At the suggestion of Dr. Ambrose, claimant was given .a treatment by Dr. Stewart Wood, an orthopedic surgeon of Decatur, and also was given diathermy treatments by Dr. Scaggs of Lovington for about eight weeks.

The knee continued to bother claimant, and at the suggestion of the Department of Highways, claimant was taken to Chicago and placed under the care of Dr. Henry B. Thomas, an orthopedic surgeon, who removed the floating cartilage on May 23d, 1936. Thereafter claimant was given physiotherapy treatments under the direction of Dr. Thomas, and later returned to his home. The date of such return does not appear in the evidence, but apparently at that time claimant was able to do some light work. His condition improved, and from the evidence in the record it appears that so far as the injury to his knee is concerned, claimant had fully recovered from the effects of the injury, and was able to resume his former work on September 1st, 1936.

The record "discloses that claimant had suffered a previous injury to his knee, and had the floating cartilage since 1928, but apparently it did not interfere with the performance of any of his duties. Inasmuch as there was no previous disability, and inasmuch as the accident of August 12th, 1935 aggravated the pre-existing condition, and thereby produced the disability in question, claimant is entitled to recover therefor under the provisions of the Compensation Act. Rockford City Traction Co. vs. Ind. Com., 295 Ill. 358; Ohlson vs. Ind. Com., 357 Ill. 335.

Claimant had been working for respondent for about a week prior to the injury, and his wages were fifty cents (50c) per hour. At the time of the accident he was forty-seven (47) years of age, was married, and had one child under the age of sixteen years. Compensation payments therefore must be computed on the basis of Eleven Dollars ($11.00) per week, in accordance with the provisions of the Compensation Act.

From all of the evidence in the record, there is no question but what the claimant, as the result of the injury to his knee, was temporarily totally disabled, from the date of the accident, to-wit, August 12th, 1935, to September 1st, 1936. The respondent paid all medical and hospital bills and also paid claimant the compensation due him to October 19th, 1935. There remains due to claimant for "temporary total disability as aforesaid, compensation at the rate of $11.00 per week from October 19th, 1935 to September 1st, 1936, to-wit, Four Hundred Ninety-five Dollars ($495.00).

The complaint which was filed on February 29th, 1936, was apparently based upon the injury to claimant’s knee and leg, and no mention is made of a disability resulting from claimant’s coronary condition. At the hearing, and in counsel’s Brief and Argument, the claim is made that in addition to the disability resulting from the injury to his knee, claimant is completely and permanently disabled by reason of a coronary disease resulting from the accident of August 12th, 1935.

In the case of Madison Coal Co. vs. Ind. Com., 320 Ill. 65, the employee in his application made claim for temporary total disability as well as for partial disability, but made no claim for total permanent disability. Upon the hearing before the Industrial Commission, award was made for total permanent disability, and on review it was contended that the application was not sufficient to sustain the award. In that case the Supreme Court said:

“We do not regard it essential to a proper statement of claim for compensation for the applicant to state specifically the amount of compensation claimed. It is essential that he state informally the time, place, manner and character of the accident so that the employer will be advised of the nature of the claim and can properly prepare his defense. * * *
Under section 12 of the Act the employee is required to submit himself for medical or surgical examination when requested by the employer. The question for the Commission to determine was the amount of compensation due under the provisions of the Act, and no useful purpose could be served by requiring the employee to determine that question in advance and to state his conclusion in the application for adjustment of claim.”

Claimant therefore is not limited to the disability alleged in his complaint, but is entitled to show any and every disability which he has sustained as the result of the accident in question.

■ It therefore becomes necessary to determine from the evidence in the record whether the claimant is completely and permanently disabled, as contended by him, and if so, whether such disability is the result of the accident of August 12th, 1935.

When the claimant was first examined by Dr. Ambrose on the day of the accident, he complained of pain in his head, chest and knee. From that time until after he returned to work about September 1st, 1936, very little appears in the record as to any complaint relative to claimant’s heart condition.

In the fall of 1936 claimant took up work of different kinds, cutting broom corn, working in soy beans, driving a truck, and engaged in trapping, but the time he commenced or completed any of said work, or the time he was engaged therein, does not appear in the record. During the trapping season in the fall of 1936 claimant went to Dr. Ambrose’s "office, complaining of pain in his chest and arm, and stated that when he walked too long or too fast against a strong wind, he would have to sit down and rest. This was the first time the pain in his chest was severe enough to cause him to seek the services of a physician, and he had never previously said anything to Dr. Ambrose to cause the Doctor to believe that he had any coronary condition.

Dr. Ambrose at that time made a diagnosis of coronary thrombosis and stated that it was his impression that the condition came on spontaneously. He also stated that in his opinion claimant was permanently disabled at that time (October 14th, 1937), and that as a general thing, that type of heart condition does not improve.

Dr.

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Rittler v. Industrial Commission
184 N.E. 654 (Illinois Supreme Court, 1933)
Illinois Bell Telephone Co. v. Industrial Commission
156 N.E. 319 (Illinois Supreme Court, 1927)
Madison Coal Corp. v. Industrial Commission
150 N.E. 724 (Illinois Supreme Court, 1926)
Byram v. Industrial Commission
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American Smelting & Refining Co. v. Industrial Commission
187 N.E. 495 (Illinois Supreme Court, 1933)
Ohlson v. Industrial Commission
192 N.E. 196 (Illinois Supreme Court, 1934)
Rockford City Traction Co. v. Industrial Commission
129 N.E. 135 (Illinois Supreme Court, 1920)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
11 Ill. Ct. Cl. 220, 1940 Ill. Ct. Cl. LEXIS 15, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/smith-v-state-ilclaimsct-1940.