Pillsbury v. United Engineering Co.

• Decision Date: 14 March 1951
• Docket Number: 12647.,No. 12644,12646,12645,12644
• Citation: 187 F.2d 987
• Parties: PILLSBURY, Deputy Commissioner v. UNITED ENGINEERING CO. et al. (two cases). PILLSBURY, Deputy Commissioner v. MATSON TERMINALS INC. et al. CYR, Deputy Commissioner v. UNITED ENGINEERING CO. et al.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit

187 F.2d 987 (1951)

PILLSBURY, Deputy Commissioner v. UNITED ENGINEERING CO. et al. (two cases). PILLSBURY, Deputy Commissioner v. MATSON TERMINALS INC. et al. CYR, Deputy Commissioner v. UNITED ENGINEERING CO. et al.

Nos. 12644, 12645, 12646, 12647.

United States Court of Appeals Ninth Circuit.

March 14, 1951.

Frank J. Hennessy, U. S. Attorney, Macklin Fleming, R. H. Colvin, Asst. U. S. Attys., all of San Francisco, Cal. (Ward E. Boote, Asst. Solicitor, Herbert P. Miller, Atty., U. S. Dept. of Labor, Employees' Compensation Div., Washington, D. C., of counsel), for appellant.

John H. Black, Edward R. Kay, San Francisco, Cal., for appellee.

Before: HEALY, BONE, and ORR, Circuit Judges.

HEALY, Circuit Judge.

Involved here are consolidated cases, four in number, arising under the Longshoremen's and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act, 33 U.S.C.A. § 901 et seq. In each case the Deputy Commissioner found a partial disability growing out of injury suffered in the course of employment. In one instance (the Shallat case) the award was for permanent and in the others for temporary disability. On appropriate proceedings before the district court the awards were annulled on the ground that the claims were barred because not filed within one year after the injury as provided in § 13(a) of the Act, 92 F. Supp. 898. The Deputy Commissioner appeals.

In each case the claimant suffered a specific injury from accident on a particular date. No latent injury or occupational disease is involved. There were no voluntary payments of compensation. The claims were filed on dates ranging from 18 to 23 months after the injury. Omitting for the moment what we regard as irrelevant or argumentative matters, the Deputy Commissioner's findings were these:

No. 12,644. Claimant Johnson on May 12, 1947, struck his head on a crossbeam of a vessel while working as a welder, "sustaining extensive strain of the muscles of the neck which still continues painful." His employer continued him in lighter work in a partially disabled condition without reduction in wages until May 15, 1948. He lost no time from work as a result of the injury until about June 15, 1948. Throughout the period in question he was furnished by his employer with medical treatment. His claim for compensation was filed January 17, 1949.

No. 12,645. Claimant Curnutt, on the 18th of February, 1947, while performing services as a sheet-metal worker in ship repair operations sustained personal injury resulting in disability as follows: While lifting a heavy object, he wrenched his back. He was disabled from work for six days, after which he was continued in lighter work at full wages until his employment was terminated January 13, 1948. He did not lose wages in excess of seven days until February 5, 1948. His claim for compensation was filed January 17, 1949. Medical treatment was furnished him by the employer throughout the period.

No. 12,646. Claimant Shallat on November 21, 1947, while performing services as a longshoreman on a vessel sustained personal injury resulting in disability as follows: He caught his left hand between a sling and a bight, causing a contusion of the left hand, and exacerbation of a pre-existing progressive arthritis of the proximal joint of the second or middle finger. Apparently he lost no time because of the injury and continued at work. It does not appear from the findings whether he received medical treatment at the expense of his employer. His claim for compensation was filed May 23, 1949.

No. 12,647. Claimant Manos on December 22, 1947, while performing services as a welder in the repair of a ship, sustained personal injury resulting in disability when he was struck on top of the head by an iron bar falling from above, suffering strain of the musculature in the cervical region. Following the injury he continued at his regular occupation as a welder without loss of time or wages until January 31, 1949, at which time, because of the condition of his neck, he was forced to discontinue working as a welder and seek other and lighter employment. Throughout the employer furnished him with medical treatment. His claim for compensation was filed August 17, 1949.

The material portion of § 13(a) of the Act reads: "The right to compensation for disability under this chapter shall be barred unless a claim therefor is filed within one year after the injury, * * * except that if payment of compensation has been made without an award on account of such injury * * * a claim may be filed within one year after the date of the last payment. * * *"

The Commissioner argues that the word "injury" should be construed as meaning "compensable injury." This, he says, has been the practical administrative construction of the term for a long time. He says that the interpretation is "consistent" with § 19(a), providing that a claim for compensation "may be filed * * * at any time after the first seven days of disability", and with § 6(a) providing that "no compensation shall be allowed for the first seven days of the disability * * *." He adds that unless the interpretation meets with judicial approval his office will be flooded with a load of unnecessary claims.

We may observe in passing that the injured men appear to have suffered a disability of greater or less extent from...