Alexander Smith, Inc. v. Genette

• Decision Date: 25 November 1957
• Docket Number: No. 40553,40553
• Citation: 98 So.2d 455,232 Miss. 166
• Parties: ALEXANDER SMITH, Inc., and Employers Mutual Life Insurance Company v. Lois W. GENETTE.
• Court: Mississippi Supreme Court

Page 455

98 So.2d 455

232 Miss. 166

ALEXANDER SMITH, Inc., and Employers Mutual Life Insurance

Company v. Lois W. GENETTE.

No. 40553.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

Nov. 25, 1957.

Vardaman S. Dunn, Jackson, for appellant.

Pyles & Tucker, Jackson, Willard L. McIlwain, Greenville, for appellee.

KYLE, Justice.

This case is before us on appeal by Alexander Smith, Incorporated, and its insurance carrier from a judgment of the Circuit Court of Washington County affirming an order of the Mississippi Workmen's Compensation Commission awarding compensation to Lois W. Genette, an employee of the appellant corporation, for an accidental injury arising out of and in the course of his employment.

The record shows that the appellee, Lois W. Genette, was employed by the appellant corporation on January 17, 1953, as a night watchman for the Greenville Mills plant at Greenville, Mississippi. He was 52 years of age at that time. He had suffered from hypertension for a period of several years, but was given a physical examination prior to his employment and was passed for work as a night watchman. He worked regularly for the appellant corporation from the date of his employment until November 15, 1953, when he fell on a ramp at the northeast corner of the main building of the plant while making his rounds as night watchman, and was carried to the hospital where he was examined and was found to be suffering from a cerebral hemorrhage or what is commonly known as apoplexy, and he was never able to work thereafter.

The appellee filed his claim for compensation on November 8, 1955, and a hearing was had on the claim on March 13, 1956. At the conclusion of the evidence the attorney-referee found that Genette had sustained an accidental injury on November 15, 1953, which arose out of and in the course of his employment. The attorney-referee found that his average weekly wage exceeded $37.50, and the attorney-referee ordered that the employer and its insurance carrier pay to the claimant compensation for temporary total disability at the rate of $25 per week for the period from November 16, 1953, through December 10, 1953, and compensation at the rate of $25 per week for permanent total disability from and after December 19, 1953, but not to exceed 450 weeks or $8,600, whichever shall be lesser in amount, and that the employer and its insurance carrier pay all medical expenses incurred as a result of said injury. The commission affirmed the order of the attorney-referee, and the circuit court, as stated above, affirmed the order of the commission.

Two points are argued by the appellants' attorneys as ground for reversal of the judgment of the lower court: (1) That the claimant's evidence was insufficient to show that he fell on the ramp or platform as claimed; and (2) that the evidence failed to show a causal connection between the alleged fall or work incident, upon which the appellee relies to support his claim for disability compensation, and the appellee's admitted present disability. It is therefore necessary that we give a brief summary of the testimony.

Genette testified that, while he was making his rounds as night watchman, between 8 o'clock and 9 o'clock P.M. on November 15, 1953, he hung his foot on a piece of tin lying on a ramp leading into the main building of the plant, and fell over the edge of the platform on to a concrete driveway running under the back part of the building, that he turned a somerset as he fell, and hit his head on the right side and his hip on the concrete 4 or 5 feet below. He crawled to the edge of the platform, got up on his feet and walked up the incline, however, and reentered the building through the back door and continued his rounds as a night watchman. At Station No. 7 there was an elevator, and as he went through a door he got his feet hung and fell to his knees near the elevator. He finally made his way to the weaving department, which was near the elevator, and told Willie King, a colored employee, about his fall. He made a telephone call to his wife. Mr. Beckum, his foreman, was notified and arrived at the plant a few minutes later. Genette stated that he told Mr. Beckum about his fall, but he did not tell him where he fell. Mr. Beckum carried him to the plant gate, and Mrs. Genette drove up in the family car, and she and his son, Merl, took him to the hospital, where he was examined and treated by Dr. A. L. Farr. He stated that he had a bruise on his hip about the size of a small orange, which he showed to Dr. Farr when he was examined at the hospital. He stated that there was also a bruised spot on the right side of his head back behind his ear. He remained in the hospital eight days, and stayed in bed a week after he went back to his home. His hip was still sore, his back hurt him and Dr. Farr sent him to Dr. Charles T. Berry, a bone specialist. Dr. Berry gave him some electric treatments and X-rayed his hip, but he was never able to work thereafter. He had another fall in September 1954 while he was in the bathroom at his home, and was carried to the hospital again and remained there about a month.

Genette stated that he had worked regularly before he had his fall on November 15, 1953. He had always done heavy manual labor. He stated that he had one nervous spell in 1947, and went to Gamble's Hospital at that time for treatment, but he was in good health before his fall on November 15, 1953.

Mrs. Lois W. Genette, the wife of the claimant, testified that she received a telephone call from her husband about 9:30 P.M., on November 15, 1953, and that he asked her to come and get him and take him to the hospital. When she got to the mill Mr. Beckum and a colored man were there, and they helped in getting Mr. Genette into the car. She drove by her home to get their son Merl, and they carried Mr. Genette to the hospital. She stated that there was a knot on the right side of his head behind his ear, almost as large as an egg, and his hip was bruised. Merl Genette testified that he accompanied his father to the hospital, and he found out about his father's fall on the ramp the night that it happened. He heard his father say that Station No. 7 was the last station that he punched on the round that he was making when he fell, and he saw the black spot on his father's hip after his father left the hospital. He did not see the knot on his head, but he heard his father talking about it.

Harvey M. Beckum, maintenance foreman, and John W. Baskin, personnel manager, testified as witnesses for Alexander Smith, Incorporated. Beckum testified that Genette made his rounds as night watchman once every hour. There are 14 key stations that he was required to punch on each round, and it took 28 to 32 minutes to make a round. At the end of each round he returned to the gate and remained at the gate until time for his next round. Beckum stated that he received a telephone call from the mill about 9:20 P.M. the night Mr. Genette was carried to the hospital. He went to the mill immediately and found Mr. Genette sitting in a chair in the finishing mill office. He was perspiring profusely. Beckum offered to send him to the hospital, but Mr. Genette wanted his wife and son to take him. Beckum went to the gate with him and assisted in getting him into Mrs. Genette's automobile. Beckum stated that he took charge of the time clock which Mr. Genette was using in making his rounds. Seven stations had been punched on the round beginning at 8:00 P.M. Station No. 7 had been punched about 8:25. He stated that he visited Mr. Genette one time while he was in the hospital. He asked Mr. Genette what had happened, and Mr. Genette told him that 'he felt kinda dizzy and weak like,' and thought that if he got a drink of water at the water fountain he would feel better, and the next thing he remembered was that he was in the elevator. Mr. Genette did not tell him at that time that he had fallen on the ramp when he entered the building. Beckum stated on cross-examination that, when he talked to Mr. Genette at the hospital, his words were weak and one could hardly understand what he was saying. 'He was what I would call a sick man.'

John W. Baskin testified that he learned that Mr. Genette was in the hospital on Monday, and that he went to the hospital to see him the next day. Mr. Genette spoke mostly about an elevator that he got into before he made his way to the weaving room where he could call for help. Baskin stated that he went to Mr. Genette's home with a representative of the insurance company about a month after the accident, and Mr. Genette stated at that time that he had fallen on a ramp at the east end of the building. Baskin stated that the main building at the plant was about 100 feet long and 500 feet wide.

The three doctors were also called to testify as witnesses on behalf of the employer and its insurance carrier. Dr. A. L. Farr, who examined the claimant after he arrived at the hospital on the night of November 15, 1953, testified that the diagnosis made of him at that time was (1) cerebral thrombosis, left; (2) arteriosclerosis, general and cerebral; (3) hypertensive vascular disease, benign; (4) obesity, exogenous; and (5) duodenal ulcer, quiescent. He saw the patient again a few days later, and he was complaining of pain in his right hip, and there was a small bruise on the right hip. He found no evidence of trauma to the head. Genette told him that he had hurt his knee, but he did not tell him that he had had a fall. One week after Genette was released from the hospital the doctor sent him to Dr. Charles T. Berry, because he was complaining at that time that he had fallen and had suffered an injury to the left knee. The doctor stated that it appeared from his record that Genette had had a ten-year period of hypertension, which meant elevated blood pressure. He was unable to say whether Genette was suffering from embolism, a hemorrhage or a thrombosis. He did not think that a fall 5...