Atlas Coal Co. v. Corrigan
| Decision Date | 10 February 1931 |
| Docket Number | 21403. |
| Citation | 296 P. 963,148 Okla. 36,1931 OK 31 |
| Parties | ATLAS COAL CO. v. CORRIGAN et al. [*] |
| Court | Oklahoma Supreme Court |
Syllabus by the Court.
Rehearing Denied March 24, 1931.
One-year limitation on filing claim for compensation is limitation on remedy, not upon right itself (Comp. St. 1921, § 7301).
The provision of section 7301, C. O. S. 1921, that the right to claim compensation under the Workmen's Compensation Act shall be forever barred, unless within one year after the injury a claim for compensation thereunder shall be filed with the State Industrial Commission, is a limitation on the remedy and not upon the right itself.
Employer furnishing employee medical attention and hospitalization and paying sums equivalent to statutory compensation waived requirement for filing claim for compensation within one year; where employer voluntarily paid compensation during continuance of disability, filing of claim with Industrial Commission more than one year after injury, but within year after discontinuance of payments, was timely (Comp. St. 1921 § 7301).
The furnishing by an employer to an employee of medical attention and hospitalization, and the payment to him during the continuance of a disability of sums equivalent to the amount of compensation to which he would be entitled under the provisions of the Workmen's Compensation Act, are, in the absence of evidence clearly showing a contrary intent, a waiver of the requirements of section 7301, C. O. S. 1921 that a claim for compensation shall be filed with the State Industrial Commission within one year, and the filing of such a claim after the expiration of one year and within one year after notice that payments will no longer be made for said injury is within time.
Finding of Industrial Commission, if sustained by any competent evidence, will not be disturbed by reviewing court.
A finding of facts by the State Industrial Commission will not be disturbed by this court if there is any competent evidence to sustain it.
Original action by the Atlas Coal Company to review an award of the State Industrial Commission in favor of James Corrigan.
Award affirmed.
Jones & Randolph, of Muskogee, for petitioner.
Anton Koch, of Henryetta, for respondent.
This is an original action brought in this court to review an award of the State Industrial Commission in favor of the respondent herein.
The record shows that on Saturday, October 20, 1928, respondent sustained an accidental injury while employed by the petitioner. He was taken to his home. On Monday he was unable to return to work. He called the hospital and learned that the petitioner's physician was not in town. He notified the pit boss or foreman at petitioner's mine, who told him to see a doctor. He consulted a physician on Monday, and on Tuesday he consulted another physician. On Thursday he consulted the petitioner's physician, Dr. Bollinger. On October 29th, Dr. Bollinger executed a physician's report to the State Industrial Commission on what is known as form 4. That report was filed with the State Industrial Commission on the 30th day of October, 1928. Therein Dr. Bollinger reported the name of the injured person, the date of the accident, who rendered first treatment, who furnished necessary medical supplies, the nature of the injury, and the treatment given. The respondent was treated by the petitioner's physician for a period of 14 months, at the end of which time he was informed that he had recovered but that he could not ever work. During that period the petitioner paid respondent $18 per week, ending November 22, 1929.
The petitioner says that it did not report the injury to the State Industrial Commission or file with the State Industrial Commission receipts for payments made for the reason that it did not admit either injury or liability. Whether or not it is an admitted injury or liability is immaterial, and the rights of an employee to compensation as fixed by the act cannot be defeated by either the failure or refusal of an employer to report the injury or to file receipts for payments made. The record shows that payments were made by petitioner to employee at the maximum rate provided by the terms of the act for a period of more than one year.
The findings of the State Industrial Commission, being supported by competent evidence, are conclusive upon this court as to the facts. Nash Finch Co. et al. v. Harned et al., 141 Okl. 187, 284 P. 633.
On the 13th day of January, 1930, the respondent filed...
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