Swafford v. Schoeb

1961 OK 33, 359 P.2d 584, 1961 Okla. LEXIS 314
CourtSupreme Court of Oklahoma
DecidedFebruary 14, 1961
Docket39281
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 1961 OK 33 (Swafford v. Schoeb) 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
Swafford v. Schoeb, 1961 OK 33, 359 P.2d 584, 1961 Okla. LEXIS 314 (Okla. 1961).

Opinion

BLACKBIRD, Vice Chief Justice.

Based on its finding that claimant’s right to compensation was barred by statutory limitation, the State Industrial Court en banc vacated, on appeal, the award made in his favor by the trial judge, and denied the claim. The order so entered is challenged on review as contrary to law and unsupported by the evidence.

Claimant sought compensation for disability resulting from an injury to his left knee cap. The accident occurred on November 21, 1950 — the claim was filed in the State Industrial Court on April 14, 1960. Shortly after his injury claimant was attended by Dr. H, who saw him on three office visits. The knee was bandaged and placed in a brace. Some time later, x-rays were taken by another physician, Dr. C. All the treatment as outlined was rendered before the close of 1950, with the consent, and at the expense, of the insurance carrier. There is no evidence of any medical services subsequently furnished to claimant at the direction of, or authorized by, the employer. Nor is there any showing whatever of payments made to him in lieu of compensation, at any time after the injury.

For vacation, it is urged, among others, that the statutory limitation period became arrested, and remained suspended, by the failure of attending physicians, Drs. H & C, to release claimant from their care. The application for compensation, signed by claimant and filed in the State Industrial Court, recites that he was discharged on November 24, 1950. The evidence shows, without contradiction, that he returned to work on that day and continued in the same employment until February 4, 1957. The physicians’ reports do not state whether he actually completed the prescribed course of necessary treatment for the injury, nor do they indicate that additional medical care, beyond that given, should have been rendered. Even if we considered the record sufficient to establish an absence of a formal release from the physicians or a premature termination of treatment, such fact, standing alone, would not operate to extend the time within which the right to compensation may be asserted, since the undisputed evidence discloses that *586 ano authorized medical care of any nature was furnished to claimant after the close of 1950 — during nearly ten years next preceding the filing of his claim. In order to toll the limitation statute there must be proof of actual medical care voluntarily provided by employer for the workman over a period commencing less than a year after his injury and extending, in continuity, uninterrupted by an interval of more than one year between visits to, and treatment by, an authorized physician, to some point of time within one year next preceding the filing of a claim for compensation. The mere existence of need for, •or right to, medical treatment does not, in the absence of a waiver by the employer, prevent the statute of limitation from running. Anchor Plumbing Co. v. Linam, Okl., 325 P.2d 962; National Zinc Co. v. Groszek, Okl., 350 P.2d 961; Bacon v. State Industrial Court, Okl., 352 P.2d 924; compare Indian Drilling Mud Co. v. McGrew, Okl., 311 P.2d 247.

Claimant seems to rely on Wilcox Oil Co. v. Fuqua, 203 Okl. 391, 224 P.2d 255, and Lee Way Motor Freight v. Pritchard, Okl., 301 P.2d 196. These cases are inap-posite. In the former, we held that medical examination, when conducted by the authorized attending physician for the purpose of ascertaining whether treatment (unbroken by an interval of more than one year) should be extended, tolled the statute. As shown by the Opinion in the latter case, the workman’s claim involved therein was filed within one year from the date he last received continuous medical attention, and hence we held that it was timely instituted.

In the present case, the record discloses that, at the request of the trial judge, the employer procured a medical examination of claimant. This was done during the pendency of the proceedings for the purpose of securing expert proof as to the nature and extent of his disability. So far as we are able to discern from the brief, the arrangement of this appointment with the doctor is urged as being tantamount to furnishing medical care which, claimant argues, constitutes, as a matter of law, an act of waiving or tolling the statutory bar of limitation. In this view we cannot join.

Under the provisions of 85 O.S. 1953 Supp. § 43, the right to institute a claim is forever barred and may not be revived after one year has elapsed since employer paid compensation (or remuneration in lieu thereof) to an injured workman or furnished him medical attention for the alleged injury, unless the limitation period has been waived or tolled by conduct of employer or someone in this behalf. When a proceeding is filed after limitation period has expired, a medical examination of the workman, procured at employer’s instance, to obtain evidence for use at the trial, does not revive the right to prosecute a claim, nor constitute an act of tolling or waiving the statutory bar of time. Dye v. Ed Johnston Grain Co., Okl., 319 P.2d 1004. See also Bacon v. State Industrial Court, supra; National Zinc Co. v. Groszek, supra; Barros v. H. V. Middleton, Inc., Okl., 297 P.2d 920; Vaughan v. Shell Pipe Line Corp., 204 Okl. 175, 228 P.2d 180.

Equally untenable is the contention that the statute of limitation did not attach to the claim until Claimant’s permanent disability became apparent. In this connection reliance appears to be placed upon claimant’s testimony that not until a year before the trial (on May 2, 1960) did he learn that his condition “was not going to heal itself up.” The statute of limitation, claimant urges, does not begin to run against the right to prosecute a proceeding for compensation, until the disability arising from an accidental injury has made itself manifest. Cited in support of this argument are: Swift & Co. v. State Industrial Comm., 161 Okl. 132, 17 P.2d 435; Bartlett-Collins Co. v. Roach, 180 Okl. 521, 71 P.2d 489. This may no longer be regarded as the correct exposition of our law. See York v. State Industrial Comm., 201 Okl. 636, 208 P.2d 563; Cooper v. Oklahoma Hotel Bldg. Co., 205 Okl. 337, 237 P.2d 875. Caouette v. American Airlines, Inc., Okl., 276 P.2d 753; Evans v. Tulsa City Lines, Inc., Okl., 290 P.2d 126.

*587 An injured workman who sustains a compensable injury of which he has, or should have had, knowledge, may not await the expiration of limitation period to assert his right to compensation. Tulsa Hotel v. Sparks, 200 Okl. 636, 198 P.2d 652; Determan v. Wilson & Co., Okl., 304 P.2d 1060.

The record in the instant cause, when viewed in its entirety, clearly refutes the assertion that the disability, for which compensation is sought, failed to disclose its presence until May of 1959. The evidence is replete with testimony that claimant was constantly bothered by pain, the knee “was getting sorer all the time”, and he kept “doctoring it all along” but managed to “hobble around”.

Neither do we find merit in the argument that employer’s failure to file in the State Industrial Court a report of accidental injury constituted a waiver of the defense of limitation. This court has, on many occasions, held contrary to the contention made. See Evans v. Tulsa City Lines, Inc., supra, and cases cited therein.

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

Related

Baker v. DARR EQUIPMENT CO.
2010 OK CIV APP 25 (Court of Civil Appeals of Oklahoma, 2010)
McDonald v. Time-DC, Inc.
773 P.2d 1252 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1989)
Asato v. Meadow Gold Dairies-Hawaii
706 P.2d 13 (Hawaii Supreme Court, 1985)
Smedley v. State Industrial Court
1977 OK 55 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1977)
Apple v. State Insurance Fund
1975 OK 88 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1975)
B.K. Daniel Motor Company v. Washington
1974 OK 152 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1974)
Sooner Petroleum Company v. Carter
1973 OK 83 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1973)
Morrison v. Hurst Drilling Company
1973 OK 22 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1973)
Cinderella Motor Hotel, Inc. v. Wallace
1973 OK 8 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1973)
Special Indemnity Fund v. Barnes
1967 OK 216 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1967)
Shank v. Oklahoma Office & Bank Supply Co.
1963 OK 282 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1963)
Southwest Stone Company v. Washington
1963 OK 104 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1963)
Stillwater Floral Company v. Murray
1962 OK 235 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1962)
Hobart Sales and Service v. Harmon
1962 OK 54 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1962)
Beatty v. Scott
1961 OK 140 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1961)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
1961 OK 33, 359 P.2d 584, 1961 Okla. LEXIS 314, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/swafford-v-schoeb-okla-1961.