Welch v. Safeway Stores, Inc.

393 P.2d 594, 87 Idaho 396, 1964 Ida. LEXIS 251
CourtIdaho Supreme Court
DecidedJune 26, 1964
Docket9169
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 393 P.2d 594 (Welch v. Safeway Stores, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Idaho Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Welch v. Safeway Stores, Inc., 393 P.2d 594, 87 Idaho 396, 1964 Ida. LEXIS 251 (Idaho 1964).

Opinion

*398 McQUADE, Justice.

Plaintiff-appellant, Mary E. Welch, is hereinafter referred to as claimant. Defendant-respondent, State Insurance Fund, is hereinafter referred to as surety and the Industrial Accident Board as the Board. Defendant-respondent, Safeway Stores, Inc., is hereinafter referred to as Safeway.

On June 5, 1961, claimant petitioned the Board for compensation benefits. Claimant alleged that she had received a personal injury caused by an accident arising out of and in the course of her employment with Safeway, which employment was covered by the Workmen’s Compensation Law.

Hearing on this claim was had at Sand-point, Idaho, on June 16, 1961, and in Spokane, Washington, on October 17, 1961. The Board concluded that claimant had not met the burden of proof of an accident within the meaning of I.C. § 72-201 and I.C. § 72-1013 and denied the claim. Claimant takes her appeal to this court from the order of denial.

Claimant was born with a back defect and she has been troubled off and on with pains arising from this congenital anomaly since the age of twelve. In most instances, her discomfort from her abnormality has been relatively minor and has been closely associated with her menstrual periods.

Claimant graduated from high school in 1955 when she was 17 years of age. Following graduation she worked approximately one year for a cleaning establishment. Claimant testified at the hearing that, except for an occasional minor incident, she did not experience any back pain during this period.

From July 1956 through July 1957, claimant was employed as a waitress in an ice cream shop. Her duties entailed washing dishes, waiting tables and general restaurant service. Claimant’s employer testified that claimant was an efficient, regular worker who never complained of back trouble.

Claimant was employed as a domestic from August 1957 through October 1957. At this employment claimant did general housework, consisting of cooking, cleaning and caring for children. Even though this work required occasional lifting, claimant’s employer testified that claimant was an uncomplaining and efficient employee.

In August 1958 claimant, then 21 years old, was employed by the Bonners Ferry *399 Safeway Store as a checker.- Her employment required her to stock shelves and to lift items from shopping carts. In order to perform her duties adequately in transferring items from shopping carts to the counter, claimant had to bend and twist her body.

At the hearing claimant’s family physician testified that on August 1, 1959, claimant visited him with a complaint of pain in the right hip and the lower spine which was much worse at the time of her menstrual periods. These visits were repeated on the 31st of August and again in October with a similar history. In between her menstrual periods, claimant’s condition would improve considerably. In January or February of 1960 and again in May 1960, claimant experienced pain in the lower part of her back and in her right hip. However, there was a difference in the type of pain involved:

“From August of 1959 I noticed more of the sharp pain in my back and leg, different than it had ever been before. When I was lifting things, especially, it would be a real sharp pain, where before it was a dull aching cramp that I had in my back.”

Claimant saw her family doctor again •on June 9, 1960. He reported at the hearing that her condition had become much worse and was no longer limited to the time of her menstrual periods. Claimant was in continual pain.

On June 21, 1960, claimant consulted with Dr. Jack B. Watkins, a specialist in orthopedic surgery, practicing in Spokane, Washington. Dr. Watkins was of the belief at this time that claimant’s symptoms were originating from her congenital anomaly. He suggested conservative treatment consisting of B-12 shots to relieve the neuritis and referred claimant back to her private physican.

The following day, June 22, 1960, claimant notified Safeway through oral conversation with its manager, Robert Mayo, of the difficulties she was having with her back. She also asked for insurance forms at that time. On August 19 claimant formally notified Safeway of her injury. However, she wrote in her claim that she was unable to give the date on which her accident occurred. The Board received claimant’s notice of injury and claim for compensation on September 7, 1960.

Claimant continued to work until September 19, 1960. However, her condition continually worsened. On September 21 she returned to Dr. Watkins and was hospitalized shortly thereafter. She was placed in traction in an attempt to relieve her pain, but this treatment had no effect.

*400 On October 12 a myelogram was taken, which revealed a herniated disc located in claimant’s back one level above the congenital defect. Surgical steps were taken to correct this condition, and on October 17 the herniated disc was removed and the vertebrae were fused.

Claimant was placed in a body cast following surgery. Her recovery was satisfactory until February 1961 when she began to develop more pain in her right leg. It was soon discovered that she had developed a pilonidal cyst which had become infected. After treatment of this, her symptoms gradually subsided and she began to improve again. However, in May 1961 she developed more pain and was once more admitted to a hospital and placed in traction. Following this hospitalization claimant again began to improve; however, at the time of the hearing held by the Board, she was still unable to return to her employment.

As noted earlier, the two statutes relevant to the problem presented herein are I.C. §72-1013 and I.C. §72-201. Their provisions are as follows:

“72-1013. Injury — Accident.—‘Injury’ or ‘personal injury’ includes death resulting from injury within two years after the accident but is not to be construed as being synonymous with accident. An ‘injury’ or ‘personal injury’ to be compensable must be the result of an accident.”
“72-201. Right to compensation for injury. — If a workman receives personal injury caused by an accident arising out of and in the course of any employment covered by the Workmen’s Compensation Law his employer or the surety shall pay compensation in the amounts and to the person or persons hereinafter specified.
“ ‘Accident,’ as used in this law, means an unexpected, undesigned, and unlooked for mishap, or untoward event, happening suddenly and connected with the industry in which it occurs, and which can be definitely located as to time when and place where it occurred, causing an injury, as defined in this law.
“The terms ‘injury’ and ‘personal injury,’ as the same are used in this law, shall be construed to include only an injury caused by an accident, as above defined, which results in violence to the physical structure of the body. The said terms shall in no case be construed to include an occupational disease in any form and only such nonoccupational diseases as result directly from an injury.”

*401

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
393 P.2d 594, 87 Idaho 396, 1964 Ida. LEXIS 251, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/welch-v-safeway-stores-inc-idaho-1964.